Toyota Repair: Toyota Previa has a squeaky belt, cold air intake, belt dressing

Question
Dear Ted,

I have a supercharged Toyota Previa DX that is about 8 years old with 34,200 miles on it. It is a model 5124A Previa.

I have been having a squeaky belt and initially it only squeaked until the car was warmed up and the squeaking would go away. But now, the squeaking is continuos.

I sprayed belt dressing on the belts, which are under the cold-air intake scoop. The squeaking went away while I was idling the engine, but it would eventually come back. Does it mean that I did not spray enough belt dressing or does it mean that it needs replacement?

Answer
At this age of the van I would recommend replacing the belts,it's not so much the mileage but the time factor, belts can deteriorate and develop small cracks or just dry up to the point where they just need to be replaced,before doing that make sure they are tight and if not sufficiently tight try adjusting them as needed and see if that helps.