Serpentine Belt

S

sjbusa

Registered
Took my 98LSC out of storage a month ago. Over the winter when I would start it to check on the battery I would hear an intermittent squeak. Well the last 2 days this has turned into a high pitched squeal. I thought the belt was loose. A buddy and I replaced 2 pulleys since one was bad and a tensioner. The squeal is still there but not as loud.
Belt dressing only makes the noise louder. There aren't any cracks on the belt.

SO now I'm wondering if one of the accessories has a bad bearing...
Noise doesn't appear to come from the alternator but lower - hard to tell if it's the ac compressor or water pump..

98 Mark 8 LSC
 
RE: Serpentine Belt

If you replaced the tensioner, the tensioner pulley and the idler pulley, you must have an accessory pulley issue.

Sounds likely to be a water pump. You need to remove the belt and inspect each pulley by hand and feel/listen for any abnormalities.

You may also carefully use a mechanic's stethoscope(or a simple piece of heater hose) to isolate the noise. Even better, if you have a small funnel, you can attach a length of hose to the small end of the funnel. Hold the large end of the funnel cupped over your ear and use the opposite end of the hose to carefully pinpoint the noise source while the engine is running. You'll look silly but you'll save wads of money instead of throwing parts at the car. ;)
 
RE: Serpentine Belt

Driller - we used the stethoscope twice and we got fooled. One pulley had a lot of play and the noise got louder once it was installed. Replaced the tensioner/pulley and the noise is greatly reduced BUT it's still there.

Tomorrow - time to inspect the accessories - at least I know it's not the alternator. That leaves the AC compressor or water pump.
Thx for the tip.
 
RE: Serpentine Belt

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
Tomorrow - time to inspect the accessories - at least I know it's not the alternator. That leaves the AC compressor or water pump.[/div]

Power Steering pump?
 
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