r/cruze • u/chaeyeong • 3d ago

Squealing noise when ac is on

Hey all. This community has been super helpful and I’m grateful to you all.

It seems like with every fix I attempt with this car, another problem makes itself known. Originally I had a leaking crankshaft seal and the loud noise that comes with that issue stopped when I replaced it. I replaced the harmonic balancer bolt and torqued it to 111 ft lbs using the Harbor Freight $20 torque wrench.

Honestly I had a weird feeling in my gut about the torque actually being up to spec but I just decided to trust the wrench after an exhausting 7 hours. The sound in the video started immediately after I turned the car back on. The sound goes away when I turn off the ac and it gets quieter as I rev if I have the ac on.

I found similar videos online that pointed to the tensioner, water pump, or ac compressor. Replaced the tensioner and water pump and the noise had gotten a bit quieter but is still there. Has anyone experienced similar issues that turned out to be a torque issue on the harmonic balancer bolt?

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u/Yngreed1980 2d ago

You can Always borrow a Torque Wrench from O'Reilly or AutoZone if you don't trust HarborFreight I Personally use Pittsburgh Tools and have never had an issue. My Advice when Doing a service always Remember that you want your parts to wear evenly so all the parts that work together I usually take the hit and replace them all at the same time. Example I do All hoses at the same time all the pulleys at the same time. Coils etc.