Rinsed motor, now it's squealing

Few weeks ago @mynameismudflap challenged me to a large mud puddle in Big Bear hahaha. (its all his fault haha jk)

I rinsed the motor and used some simple green on it. I did not pressure wash.
Was the Simple Green a bad idea because after this rinse, my belt is squealing.
I bought some belt conditioner spray and that will quiet it..then after it sits for a while and dries, it will squeal again on next start up? 3 days of liberal spray on lube at every startup so far.

Looking closely at everything I also feel as though im seeing an Idler Pulley that appear to spinning with a very slight wobble. Maybe thats normal?

Im wondering if the Simple Green permanenty fucked up my belt?

Any advice, input, or better engine bay washing procedures are greatly appreciated.

 

Tighten that pulley. It shouldn’t wobble. You talking about up and down motion? Might be the tensioner pulley (or whatever it’s called). That one will move up and down a little

 

It's possible the simple green soaked into the belt somehow and is causing the squealing. They are rubber and I have heard of it soaking into rubber which would make it hard to remove. That may be why the conditioner you spray on quiets it until it wears off and then it goes back to squealing. Can you try getting a replacement belt and see if that resolves the issue?

 

Water was too Cold. Has to be the problem.

 

well simple green themselves, show that you can use it under the hood:

https://simplegreen.com/cleaning-tips/rooms/automotive/engines/

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2045051 this one shows others have use simple green without issue, while others do (mixed bag) ?

 

How old is your belt? Is it at the proper tension?

If anything mud getting caked up in the belt probably messed it up more than cleaning it off would have.

I've never had a problem with simple green. Love that stuff.

 

It was fine till i cleaned.

30K miles on 2019 , original belt

yeah might be the tensioner pulley that i mentioned.

Cold water? I assume your kidding right?

 

Everytime i washed my engine bay, i had something go wrong everytime. They were all minor things but still. I would never wash my engine again unless i really really have to. Just my 0.02, good luck.

 

Same. I usually just wipe down the stuff I can see with a microfiber and water

 

steam clean or with a spray bottle and hand towel only. i washed the engine bay in my first vehicle and regretted it.

 

I always wipe everything down with a rag and degreaser by hand. Water messes with everything and causes issues that I don’t want to cause.

 

I’ve always rinsed my motor with it running. Never had any issues. Not sure if that’s why or I just got lucky.

 

Yeah unfortunately simple green didn’t fuck up the belt...you did

 

what would you have done differently?

 

Yep, i regretted it every time haha. Not touching the engine on my taco, fuck that.

 

I always use simple green under the hood. No squeaks. If you use the lemon simple green, run you a/c with the engine to dry and the a/c will smell like lemons for a few days.

 

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I take full responsibility.

 

Take ownership for my own actions rather than blaming the tools.

 

well you sound like a Tool..so ill blame you then

 

I used to love racing through the mud on my mountain bike. Having to do a complete teardown and overhaul once a week it quickly changed my mind on how fun it was. One of these days, Im going to learn not to do that with my truck either.