Subaru 2005 Forrester Squealing like a pig

Question

Within the last few months I’ve done a lot of work to this car, changed the left lower ball joints in front of the car, put two stablizer links on both front ends of the car.

A few weeks later I put my winter tires on, and also cut the belt in the car that runs the AC as my car was squealing horribly and it was determined that the belt that runs the AC was unstable or overheating or something which caused my car to smoke.

I was also told the timing belt was in pretty bad condition but it still works, however it will need to be replaced eventually.

Anyway when I got my car back the loud squealing that sounded like a pig went away, however after about two hours of driving the squealing started again. When I turned the heater on of my car and the heating system which defrosts the glass the car started squealing especially when sometimes I would press the gas or go up a or break. Sometimes it would also squeal when I i was just driving straight. However after I turned the heating systems off and the squealing stopped however when i would steer with the car sometimes the squealing started like on a left turn. Or when I would do a 3 point turn and stop correct the wheel then hit gas, as soon as I hit the gas the awful squealing noise comes from the car.

Sometimes it sounds like it’s coming from the tires, but sometimes also it sounds like it’s coming from under the hood? At the end of my drive I parked my car and noticed a tiny little bit of smoke was coming from under the hood, when I popped the hood I notice a little bit of liquid dripping. However the smoke was nothing compared to before i cut the belt for the AC.

I would really appreciate any opinions the mechanics aren’t much help and I would like to ask him to check specific things when I go back. I know squealing can come from different things like, bad ball joints, poor tire pressure, belts, steering fluid? But I’m only 19 so I don’t know very much about how to pin-point specific sounds or the difference between them.

I know this is an extremely old car it also has over 200,000 Km on it I think so anything can break at any moment, but any help would be extremely appreciated thank you

Answer 1

A car engine uses several different belts.

• timing belt (or chain) to drive the camshaft and valves, often the water pump too
• Serpentine belt to drive engine ancillaries like the alternator and power steering, often also AC
• AC belt (optional)

In your case it seems your car has three belts since you already removed the one that drives the AC pump. The squealing is not from the timing belt because your car wouldn't be running anymore by then. That leaves the serpentine belt that powers the power steering pump, that is why the car is squealing when you turn the steering wheel at low speed. This belt is probably worn out too.

Top tip: do some basic maintenance on your car. Driving around like this greatly increases the risk of a breakdown. Be it because a failed timing belt, worn out water pump or drained battery because the serpentine belt failed that drives the alternator. It's just asking for trouble.