First, before doing eanything else, check the condition of the belts. If
worn, replace!! You do not want to be caught out at some inconvenient
place when a belt lets go -  like maybe on I-40 in the middle of the
prairie at midnight. Next be sure your belt tensions are correct. Even
brand new belts will squeal if tension is not correct. Finally, if the
squeal is still there, with the engine running ---- and be very careful
of the hands, remove any long sleeved shirts, etc ---- press a block of
parafin against the pully side of the belt and hold it there for several
revolutions. The parafin will dress the surface and eliminate the
squeal. Old trick I learned years ago from a really oldtime aircraft
mechanic. Works on seat tracks as well.

I never found a belt dressing that worked as well as the parafin.

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Marc Perdue wrote:

>Okay, so the '87 Westy is the oldest vehicle I've owned in quite some
>time, so I'm a little (make that a lot) rusty at these things.  I
>noticed that my fan belt (okay, it's not really a FAN belt, but you know
>what I'm talking about) has started squealing over the past week or so.
>I've also observed that a lot of cars' fan belts squeal more in the
>winter time.  Is this pretty much normal?  Back in the old days, when I
>had a Ford truck with 246,000 miles on it, was a student with negative
>money, I'd just spray the sucker with belt dressing and be on my way.
>Now that I'm an adult (sort of) with negative money, I'm curious if this
>is still the best solution.  My real question is this though: Is a
>squealing fan belt necessarily an indication of a worn-out belt?  I know
>what to look for to figure out if a belt needs to be replaced, but it's
>dark out just now and I'm basically lazy.  On a vanagon, will a broken
>fan belt destroy the engine?
>
>Okay, that's enough of the stupid questions for the moment.  Thanks for
>your support,
>Marc Perdue
>
>
>