gnewtong Posted August 24, 2017 Share Posted August 24, 2017 Whenever I start my car up, or turn at low speeds, a high pitched squealing occurs, and I learned the source the other day. The squealing is caused by the pulley on the power steering pump momentarily coming to a stop, and the belt continuing to spin, sliding against the stationary pulley. It only lasts for a second or two, then the pump will operate normally. Like I mentioned before, it happens when I start the car, or turn at slow speeds, but can also occur at random. It also seems the longer the car has been running, the less likely it is to occur. Has anyone else experienced this? Why might this happen, and how can it be fixed? Pretty new to this so take it easy if this was a dumb question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relative4 Posted August 24, 2017 Share Posted August 24, 2017 The belt is either loose or worn out or both. It can be fixed by replacing or tightening the belt as appropriate to the circumstance. Unless you have recently removed the belt, it's probably worn out. You should also make sure you're not experiencing the dread Subaru crank pulley delamination failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesA Posted August 24, 2017 Share Posted August 24, 2017 The drive belts wear out with time and miles. You have two, one for the power steering, one for the A/C and alternator. They are inexpensive and easy to replace. The drive belt tension can be adjusted. Usually, by the time that needs to be done, your belts are on the way out and it makes more sense to just replace them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rougeben83 Posted August 24, 2017 Share Posted August 24, 2017 agree, start with the power steering belt first - its cheap. And you only need a 12mm socket ratchet and 10 minutes to do. You don't even need to take anything else by the plastic engine cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnewtong Posted August 28, 2017 Author Share Posted August 28, 2017 Thanks for the responses, everybody. I'm not sure if it's the belt though. A guy from Tire Engineers helped me take a look at it and noted specifically that the belt itself was in fine condition. If it's not the belt, could it potentially be the common o-ring problem? Or something else, if anyone has something in mind? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesA Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 Try adjusting the belt tension. The o-ring problem does not cause the pulley to stop turning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relative4 Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 The belt could be loose, but if it was installed correctly, it should not loosen up until it starts to go bad, typically a solid 50K+ miles. Do you know when it was last off? Squealing is not a primary symptom of crank pulley disintegration, but it would be a good idea to post a pic of the crank pulley here just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apexi Posted August 29, 2017 Share Posted August 29, 2017 Check the belt tension and go from there. The belt condition could be perfect, brand new, but the tension could be wrong and create noise. I don't think I've read about delamination on a 2008/2009 yet. Of course it's possible, but I wonder if subaru improved the design? I have 219k on my oem crank pulley, no issues, yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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