Why does my car make a squeaking/squealing noise when I pull out of my garage on a cold start? I only really seem to hear it when I turn on the AC and press the brakes when driving forward or in reverse. I think it happnes too when I only have the AC on but haven’t been able to really test it, but I don’t hear it at all when the AC is off, even if braking. Is it the drive belt? I know a mechanic looked at recently and said it was fine but I do have a 100,000 miles on it almost. How could I find out?
Why not just put a new drive belt on ? They are not that expensive .
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You can’t tell if a belt is worn by visually inspecting it.
You use a belt wear tool to determine that.
Take the vehicle to a mechanic who’s up to date on servicing today’s vehicles.
Tester
@oldwaysx You never answered my question . Is this your first vehicle or did someone take care of the service for you ?
Also it might be a good idea to find an independent shop to look this Sentra over and bring service up to date.
… and replace the belt tensioner while you’re at it.
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My Corolla did that, and just tightening the belt solved it. I expect however your Sentra uses a tensioner, so no way to tighten the belt. Then just replace the belt, likely will solve the squeak. Sometime it is possible for a shop to verify the problem is the belt by spraying a little water on the belt as the engine is running and belt is squeaking. If the noise goes away, very good chance the belt is worn out.