Belt and pulley systems are an essential part of your engine, especially the serpentine belt. However, it eventually wears out and will need to be replaced. It will wear out more rapidly if it's not maintained properly. Then, the belt might start making a loud squealing noise.

Your Car Will Need to Be Inspected

Determining what is causing the engine to start squealing can be very difficult because there are several components that can fail. Therefore, you will want an auto-engine repair technician to inspect the belt and the engine to find out for sure why it is making so many noises.

To determine what is wrong with the belt, the technician will raise the hood while the engine is turned off. They will look for any cracks or tears in the belt. There might also be areas of the belt that are shiny because of leaking fluids.

There Are Several Ways to Repair Belts

Once the auto engine repair technician finds out why the belt is squealing, they will then perform the necessary repairs. There might be more serious underlying issues that need to be addressed before your belt and pulley system will stop squealing. In some cases, the belt might simply need to be tightened or it might need to be replaced.

Your Belt Might Need to Be Lubricated

If you are not able to have your engine serviced as soon as you want to, one option is to apply a lubricant to the belt so that it does not create a squealing noise. The best time to apply the lubricant is when the engine is running. However, you should be careful when doing so. You might decide that this is too dangerous and you might decide to have the problem fixed by a technician instead. 

Clean Your Belt

Cleaning the serphantine belt is very straightforward. With soap, you might be able to clean the pulley of dirt and grime. This might be all it takes to fix the squealing problem. 

You Might Need a New Belt

In some cases, the belt isn't actually damaged but you simply had the wrong-sized belt installed in your engine. If this is the case, you will want to have your belt replaced with one that is the correct size. Regardless of what the problem is, there is a way to have your squealing sounds fixed so your car isn't annoying to drive and so you don't have any engine problems later on.

For more information, contact a local engine repair shop.