squeak when AC turned on.....

[wide body]

when i turn on my AC, and the compressor kicks in, i usually get a very loud sqeal. if i turn it off and on several times i can get the squeak to go away and the AC seems to work fine. i'm going to assume it's the belt. i have done a search and printed out a write-up on how to change the belt and man does it sound FUN ! I'm going to tackle it myself vs having a ford shop do it since it seems they charge a ton of dough to do the job. is there any way to tell for sure if it's the belt or the clutch on the compressor? the truck has just over 65k on it.

in the "belt change" write-up i did come across a TSB for the belt tensioner but i don't believe that would be covered under warranty. (truck is an 08 with a build date in '07). i don't believe that is the issue on my truck though since mine only squeaks when i kick on the AC.

[JBB1970]

My freightliner used to do that and turned out it was the clutch...however, before I tried changing the belt or any other components I would think about getting some belt dressing and spray the belt down. Maybe then you can determine if it is the belt or something different.

[wide body]

excellent advise, and i did exactly that. when i spray it with the belt dressing the squeak goes away temporarily but eventually comes back. am i safe in assuming that would tell me it's the belt?

also, i checked on prices for the belt yesterday and apparently there are options there? does this system have a seperate belt for the AC? i can supposedly buy an AC belt for for $25 or the serpentine belt for $55? i was also asked if it's equipped with the dual alternator? pretty sure i don't have dual alts, but the other stuff threw me for a loop.

[strokinpower]

Mine does it. Like when I'm driving around on a warm day to a job site I don't have the a/c on but when I get done there and am hot as balls I get in the truck and when I'm accelerating I hit the ac button and when it engages it will give a nice little squeal but when I let off it goes away and is fine. It doesn't really do it unless it's under a load.