FTO AUSTRALIA

Hi all I'm new here, more of an American muscle car man myself ('67 Fastback Mustang) but I acquired my ex's GPX FTO when she left and have kept it as a runaround vehicle. I've had a squeal upon startup for a few weeks so I replaced the alternator and power steering belt yesterday, along with both tensioner pulleys. Adjusted the tension to 8mm-12mm and 3mm-5mm accordingly but still have a rather loud squeal upon startup for about 5-10 seconds. I took the alt. belt off and took a closer look at the pulley on the alternator itself. It definitely doesn't spin as freely as the other two. As I don't know a lot about FTO's, could this pulley be seizing up? Is this a common problem with FTO's? If not, what do you suggest could be the issue causing the squeal? I am in WA where it's pretty warm so rain is not an issue right now.

Some more info on my car is: 2000 Mivec V6 95 GPX, new pulleys and belts from Camskill replaced 2 days ago, correct tension on belts, alternator not touched in the 5yrs the car was owned by my ex, car has done about 220,000kms.

Thanks in advance for your help, guys and girls

Gonna go ahead and assume that 2000 is meant to be 2.0?

put more tension on them

Mine does the same. Check pulley to see if its loose. Side bolt may not be on properly. Also pulley may not have right amount of threads, or could move side to side.

Also, everytime you drive, check to see if belt has become loose. New belts are still tight. Once theyve been driven and spun, they get loose until theyre worn in.

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Taz wrote:Gonna go ahead and assume that 2000 is meant to be 2.0?

Nah bro he has a 2000l engine, dick you're meant to help the guy not just be a retard
And yeah what Daniel said... When I got my car back from my mechanic after my engine swap. 3 weeks or so later, my belts started squealing for a bit... So i got Matt to retighten them as they were brand new and have never squealed since

Sahin wrote:

Taz wrote:Gonna go ahead and assume that 2000 is meant to be 2.0?

Nah bro he has a 2000l engine, dick you're meant to help the guy not just be a retard

You should have put in there somewhere (and I got matt to retighten them)

Taz, I just went off what this picture suggested.


Ok so the popular suggestion seems to be to tighten the belts. Is this still a valid suggestion if I've tightened then to the recommended tension? I took off the alternator belt and started it up... no squeal. Perhaps I'll play around with the tension on that belt, but then that also leads me to suggest it could be the alternator bearing? Anyone had this issue before?

Thanks for your help thus far, people

Once again, check alternator belt tension after driving. Should move about 1cm from pulling it UPWARDS, not pushing downwards.

Daniel2019 wrote:Should move about 1cm from pulling it UPWARDS, not pushing downwards.

Your explanation seems a little confusing. All you need to do is push in the direction the arrows are pointing on the diagram. With "2000cc" being the top of the engine.

Yeah.. im talking same way we checked mine?

EXAMS ARE FRYING MY BRAIN, HELP ME ROB!

lol. Yes like we checked yours, if you are reaching down from the top then you would be pulling up. If you are doing it from underneath the car, you would be pushing up.

Yeah I got what Daniel meant. lol I'll use the day off tomorrow to go over a few different areas with my dad and see if we can't eliminate this annoying squeal.

Vectose wrote:lol. Yes like we checked yours, if you are reaching down from the top then you would be pulling up. If you are doing it from underneath the car, you would be pushing up.

Checking alternator belt from underneath car? Why! Laziest way is from the top!

I dunno man its 12:30am and my head is cooked. Half the time I dont even know what im talking about when I AM thinking properly.

Generally speaking with auxiliary belts, you check tension on the longest unsupported run of the belt. In the case of the alternator belt, its from underneath. Dunno why they say front of the PS/AC belt though

Tweekender, when you have that belt off, best way to check the alternator bearing is just by giving it a spin by hand, same with the tensioner. I've had a few cause that noise, but not many. Primarily its belt adjustment as mentioned. Also keep in mind those types of belts will stretch a couple of mm in the first few days, so I always tend to over tighten in the first place.

Keep in mind if you can't fix the squeal with these suggestions, that there is a timing belt running on pulleys behind the timing cover that can also make a squeal, mine did

Bennoz, the alternator pulley will not spin if I give it a flick like the others, it's kinda stiff. Is that unusual for an alternator?

I hope it's not the timing belt. That one's not cheap and not an easy job. lol Hell, removing the alternator is in the same boat.

Although, I tightened the alt. belt this morning and while the squeal is still there upon start-up(after letting the car sit for more than 10 mins) it's only for a couple of seconds. I'll keep a close eye on the belt tension for the next few days and keep it tight while it stretches itself out. That failing, I'll look at the alternator bearing next.

Anyone recommend the old talcum powder fix as a temporary solution?

Tweekender wrote:Bennoz, the alternator pulley will not spin if I give it a flick like the others, it's kinda stiff. Is that unusual for an alternator?

I hope it's not the timing belt. That one's not cheap and not an easy job. lol Hell, removing the alternator is in the same boat.

That alternator pulley should spin freely, I think you found your problem..

There's a trick to getting them out too, I'm sure everyone will share their stories with you, I tend to drop them out from underneath.