MY 94 LEBARON HAS A BELT CHIRP ABOUT EVERY THREE TO SIX MONTHS, IT WILL CHIRP AWHILE THEN GO AWAY THEN COME BACK.
It sounds like either a spot on the belt is beginning to wear, or one of your pully flanges may be dinged, which squeezes the belt every revolution. This can come and go with wetness getting on the belt.
One test to determine if it really is the belt is to use the old candle trick… Hold a candle (or any wax) against the contact surfaces of the fanbelt while the engine is running. If it’s the belt, the wax will quiet it immediately. By the way, this was taught to me by “three-finger Joe”. You can also get an aerosol can of belt dressing which you spray on which does the same thing. This is a very short-term remedy, primarily to determine if the belt needs replaced. So unless you really know what you are doing, let a shop check it out.
The candle trick works well as does touching the belt for a revolution or two to each side of a V-belt with a new bar of soap. I use Ivory because it’s white and offers a good contrast against black belts. Besides, after using it on the belt, just wash your hands with the soap and use the bar of soap up. I’m assuming that your belt is a “V” groove belt. Is that correct? As previously replied, it’s only a very short-term diagnostic tool. Both candle and soap will wear off very quickly. Do not use any kind of an oily substance. Belt dressing is o.k., however. BE SUPER CAREFUL whenever working on or around belts on a running engine. (See above about “3-finger Joe”). You just might find that the belt tension is out of adjustment. Before starting it up, check the belt for signs of wear while you’re there. If in any doubt, for instance cracks or fraying, why not just change the belt out with a new belt? But for now, I’d do the candle or soap trick and ensure that you have the proper belt tension. If you’re uncomfortable at all with performing these checks, ask a buddy or two who are familiar with these types of operations to either help you do it or ask them to do it for you. If you don’t know anyone, then find a good local independent mechanic to check it out for you. Like I said, it might be a simple tension readjustment, but a knowledgeable person will do a thorough check of all of the belts and pulleys. Heck, you can quite often get a knowledgeable buddy to do this stuff usually for the cost of new belts and maybe share a 6-pack? (But only after you’re done fooling around a running engine!). And remember that life’s too short to drink cheap beer, eh? And it isn’t just ‘Stupid Chrysler’. Any vehicle needs belt maintenance. Just another fact of automotive life. If I’m wrong about the V-belt, then you have a single serpentine belt and it’s a different ball game for checking a serp. belt including checking the idler pulley and other grooved pulleys. Please fill us in as to year and engine type, i.e.: 4-cyl., V-6, V-8 and cubic inch displacement and the mileage. Have you ever had the belt(s) replaced? At what mileage? That’ll help us out tremendously as to what we might recommend for other checks to be done to your vehicle.