Yes, thats what I thought it was too because they were leaking, but I changed the hoses, cleaned everything up, and replaced the belt. Problem came back in about 3 weeks.

And yes, I turned all of the bearings by hand. Everything seemed smooth. Plus, I dont see how it can be a bearing if it runs quiet for 2-3 weeks after changing the belt.

I'll have to look at it again. Maybe the power steering pump is leaking of something.

Thanks for the help.

 

First... the belt noise complaints are new to me though I've been active on car forums well over twenty years, the few that came up were either attributed to misalignment {usually after pulling the PS pulley} contamination {previous tries at fixing misalignmetn chirp with belt dressing} or no-name parts from discount stores. Some people did express brand preferences but most chimed in they had no problems with Gates, Dayco or any particular brand name

Before I had the belt noise problem, I had a Delco labeled belt with rib cracks about every 1/8 inch but the back was pristine for its age and the part number not at all worn off.
When I got the Bravadiva I made a plan to keep close eye and ear on the underhood indicators and when I heard a bit of noise, pulled the belt off and found the tensioner pulley was singing pretty loud. I ordered one from RA along with a new belt, I picked the Dayco.. unfortunately didnt read the specs close and got the 'short' belt which wouldnt fit but I never got around to returning it.
A couple months later, started hearing noises again.. now the idler and compressor clutch were in the chorus, so I picked up an idler locally because it was showing some slop and ordered AC clutch bearing from RA.
Once again the noise went away but seemed to slowly get more intense so I finally got around to the AC bearing. Short story, I ended up replacing the whole AC clutch assy but it was smaller dia than the OE so now I HAD to use that new Dayco belt. All was fine at first but less than a week later got more noise underhood. Pulled the belt and checked all bearings including water pump and PS. Nothing wrong.

But I noticed the back of the belt wasnt like it had been when I installed it nor did it have the touch and feel of the old one, it was a tad more sticky. With little 'bumps' that hadnt been there before.

Leading me to speculate that the real cause -in this and many cases- is a change in the belt compounds, especially the backing and that the noise is the sound of the belt pulling off the smooth pulleys as they rotate.

To illustrate, get your favorite roll of tape out and pull off a foot or so. Or kitchen clear wrap.

As I said, I've had that Gatorback on there a couple weeks longer than it took for the Dayco to get noisy and it's all good so far.

I find it hard to believe that my miniscule seepage from Oil lines {yep, I got that too} or a coolant weep from somewhere just started when I changed belts.

 

if everything seems ok than i would take pettyfog advice and change belt brands go to the deal and get it or a different store.
The only reason i mentioned about oil leaks is because when rubber comes into contact with the belts its causes them to swell and go tacky and cause belt noise.

 

I've got the same end result as most of you.

My Blazer was detailed. A week later I heard a squeak. I opened the hood and found someone left the cap off of my coolant overflow reservoir. As deep as it is, some must have splashed out and gotten on my belt & pulleys. ( I always keep dye in the radiator so a pass with the UV flashlight pretty much confirmed this. )

The water pump was 2 months old at that point, no problems.

Replaced the belt, idler pulley, tensioner pulley and alternator. Squeak remains but with each piece seems to change how the squeak sounds. I tried the soap trick on the bottom, top and sides of the belt. I checked the alignment of the pulleys with each other with dental floss around the same groove in each pulley; they all look fine.

It's just got to be this Dayco belt, and the Dayco before it. These are garbage. It reminds me of that scene in Tommy Boy where Dan Aykroyd's character explains how the auto parts business works, putting crap products into a box that instills confidence.

Currently looking for a store that sells gatorbacks but ultimately resigned to the idea I need to buy one online.

 

Installed GatorBack and noise went away.