Squealing noise when accelerating from a stop

KYLEJ209

MEMBER
2002 DODGE RAM
V8
2WD
AUTOMATIC
130,000 MILES

Hey, how's it going. I have the truck listed above 1500 that I baby and take very good care of. Someone backed into my car today no damage at all, no dents, no nothing. But now it's making a squealing noise. Still drives great. No check engine lights, no leaks, no nothing. Just a squealing noise that happens when I take off and disappears while I'm driving. Anyone know what could be going on?

2 Replies

HARRY P

MECHANIC
2,292 POSTS

Hello. The squealing nose is probably caused by a slipping drive belt. That could be due to the belt being old and having stretched over time to a point where the tension pulley just can't compensate any more or it could be that the tension pulley itself is failing. To diagnose the problem, start with checking the belt itself. All you have to do is take a look at the ribbed side of the belt. If there are a bunch of cracks or other damage, then replace it. Here's our general guide:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-a-serpentine-belt-works

And here's our general guide on actually replacing a serpentine belt:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-serpentine-belt

As for specifics to your truck, there are 2 v8 engines available for it. The 4.7L v8 and the 5.9L v8. I'll dig up AllDatas information on both engines so you can see where the tensioner is in a separate post shortly. Here is the information for the 3.7 and 4.7L engines.

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