Vintage Air Top Mount Squeal

[nsb29]

Originally Posted by racecougar

Just came across this thread as I'm fighting this dreaded squeal. I have the "new" Kwik mounting setup, and I've experienced a squeal since day one. At first, I thought it was the idler or tensioner pulleys, but replacing them has not corrected the issue. I've changed belts as well. Listening as closely as possible, it almost seems as if the squeal is actually within the compressor clutch itself. I haven't charged the system yet, but I'm tempted to, just so I can see/hear what happens with the compressor clutch engaged. That said, I don't want to lose a charge if I end up having to replace the compressor.

I'm honestly fed up with it, but I may try loosening and realigning the Kwik mount before reaching out to VA tomorrow.

You are not alone it’s the bracket

[MalibuSSwagon]

This thread is the reason I passed on the Vintage Air supplied bracket, and will be ordering the holley setup soon.

[nsb29]

I’m going to try a different belt but if it doesn’t work I’m going to send it back to VA I talk to them once and they had me talk to the place that makes it I think that guy is a jerk I don’t understand why VA fools with him

[racecougar]

Further diagnosis this evening points squarely to the compressor pulley bearing. Adding tension via a ratchet to the tensioner makes it scream; relieving tension makes the squeal disappear. Soaping the belt makes zero change. Using the hose in the ear trick, the idler and tensioner pulley bearings are silent, but the compressor pulley is screaming (I think I'm still deaf in my left ear from testing earlier). The air gap between the compressor pulley and clutch plate is 0.025", which is within spec, and I see no sign of it rubbing. The gap is also even/square all the way around.

I'll forward this info to VA and Kwik and see where it goes now.

[TA_C10]

Nice find. Makes sense too because I'm still using the original qwik bracket and suggested belt and I still have no squeel. So if there is a manufacturing issue on their compressor bearing/assembly that makes sense why some have issue and others don't.

Could be slight tolerance/alignment differences too though from engine block model to model... Interested to hear what VA comes back with.

[racecougar]

VA is going to replace the compressor under warranty. Once it arrives, I'll post back with the result. REALLY hoping this cures the issue, as I'm pretty well done with this problem.

[MalibuSSwagon]

well thats good to hear since I'm going to go with a ICT billet bracket, the Holley bracket is silly money after the spacers and tensioner. Just hoping for good luck with the compressor then.

[jjzepplin]

Linky to the ICT you plan on using?

[MalibuSSwagon]

Originally Posted by jjzepplin

Linky to the ICT you plan on using?

I was looking at this:

https://www.ictbillet.com/sanden-508...t-kit-lsx.html

Or this:

https://www.ictbillet.com/ls-truck-s...s3-lsx-ac.html

I'm not really sure what the $90 difference is with the heavy duty bracket bracket vs the standard one, besides including the belt tensioner.

[prodjay10]

I have the ict high mount and it’s a pain. Squeals and if it rains or I take my truck to get washed the belt pops off.

I think the squeal is a misalignment. It sounds like the clutch is squealing but it’s the belt.
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[prodjay10]

An odd thing to note about the ict bracket and sanden sd508 I have, you have to install the compressor and the brackets all at the same time. The compressor won’t lay or pop into the bracket if you install the bracket first.
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[jjzepplin]

Dang! I might have to spring for the Holley kit even though the LSX Innovations is one piece, I am worried that there is no one around that has used it. I may have to be the Guinee pig here. I think I will try the LSX and at the first hint of trouble, Boom, Holley.

[04ls1gto]

I used the Holley mount and it worked perfect. I would highly recommend using one of there brackets

[nsb29]

Well hopefully I have it figured out the belt Kwik chart with different belts for different model motors was wrong after calling and talking to them several times they recommended gate K060966 and of course it squealed I finally got around to replacing it with the next size smaller which is K060960 A half inch smaller belt and it seems to have stopped the squeal my motor is out of the 2009 Pontiac G8 With the low mount alternator if this helps anyone one I did notice is with the the first built the tensioner was almost completely relaxed were with the last belt it barely went on a 1/2” in the right place makes a big difference but with that said I was surprised the tensioner returned as much as it did when released I wonder if there positioning of the tensioner is correct ??

[TA_C10]

I wanted to give an update on my setup. I jumped in on this thread way back in 2019. I also daily drive my truck so it see's a lot of miles.

I am using the original KWIK camaro bracket setup and I was fortunate to never get the squeal like others, until a month or two ago, it started squealing. It looked out of alignment to me(you could really see the belt not in the middle of the water pump pulley) so I simply threw some washers between the heads and bracket and so far, 2 months later ish, no squeals. Callling it fixed.



.

[racecougar]

I totally forgot to post an update. After a whole lot of headache, I was able to determine, via laser, that the cheapo tensioner arm provided with the Kwik setup was the culprit. It physically wasn't square (the base of the tensioner arm and the face of the pulley were not parallel). I provided this info to Wayne at Kwik, who dismissed it. In the end, after wasting ~$500 and waaaay too much of my time, I ditched the Kwik setup and installed the Holley mount.

[jjzepplin]

Originally Posted by jjzepplin

Dang! I might have to spring for the Holley kit even though the LSX Innovations is one piece, I am worried that there is no one around that has used it. I may have to be the Guinee pig here. I think I will try the LSX and at the first hint of trouble, Boom, Holley.

I have not run the engine yet but opted for the Holley. Looks really stout. Holley also has a great belt selection process which I will be using to purchase my belt. You can look it up in the directions for the mount.

[racecougar]

Further update, as this is making the rounds on FB again lately: the Holley mount has been great. I've had it on for ~6 months and ~1k miles. No squeals, squeaks, or other issues to report. The Kwik Performance setup sucked.