Squeeling V belt and CVF alternator
See...
If it ain't broke don't fix it!
Was going to ignore this but… after sitting on that idea for 4 hours, I decided I have to comment. Why? Because that saying is only going to last the life of that belt… once that belt breaks or starts to squeal… the OP will be in this boat again having not solved it properly the first time.
The answer is “Read the big factory service manual” and it will tell you everything you need to know. Every time I ignored it my Mopar friend would always ask “What does the big factory service manual say?” Guess who had to admit he didn’t open it, and guess where the answer was… it was in there… read belt tension and it shows a belt tension spec, if you have the tension gauge you will find that without leverage to tension that alternator, you are not even close to spec just “pulling up the alternator by hand”. The manual even shows a lever on the alternator to tension the belt. I’m not saying the method of pulling up alternator by hand is totally wrong, because if I break a belt on the side of the road that’s how I would tension a replacement I carry in the trunk, and I know that until I get back to my tensioning tools (a form of leverage) it will work to get home and it will squeal until tensioned properly.
Back to rant, last summer I posted about questionable cooling on my 340, and everyone asked “Is it overheating?” And because my answer contained “No” I was disregarded with “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” by most responders. I opened the big factory service manual and learned that my 340 should have a 7 blade 2-1/4 pitch 18” fan, and I had a 7 blade 1-1/2” pitch 17” fan, correct for slant 6 AC car… So I put the correct specified fan on it and the car ran 180 degrees on a 90 degree day with spirited driving this summer, never reaching last summers operating temps of 200 degrees on 80 degree days. Is this rant long, probably, but if I had “left it alone” as advised maybe it would have overheated this summer instead of enjoying the car…
My advice, please just lever that alternator until the new Gates belt is tighter than when you try by hand and report back. I hate chasing problems when I’m trying to have fun, and I believe you want reliable fun or you would not have changed the belt.