Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #45 – August 28, 2007, 01:08:41 PM There's about 13 different tensioner pulley's on PartsAmerica's website. Which one will work for the A/C belt...or will they all work? It's a little confusing because they say "Right side" and "Left side"....but don't specify if that's sitting in the car, or looking at it from the front? Just out of curiosity, what on the pulley would chirp and go away when hit with WD-40? Quote Selected
Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #46 – August 28, 2007, 04:21:47 PM Quote from: JeremyB;172220My '85 manual has tissue thin pages. If you scan it, the page behind bleeds though. The air gap may/may not the the source of your problem, but it is out of spec so you need to correct it to rule it out the trade space. Every time the clutch engages, there is a tiny bit of wear. Over years the gap grows. At some point, the clutch's ability to grab will be overwhelmed and slipping will commence.How do you quote two different people in the same post? Quote Selected
Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #47 – August 28, 2007, 04:28:26 PM Ok guys, now I'm really flummoxed. I put on the new Pulley Wheel, got the belt on, fired up the car and turned on the A/C...Chirp, Chirp, Chirp!!! It's still making that noise.While it was running and making this noise, I got the can of WD-40 and shot some directly behind the Pulley wheel where it's mounted. The chirping instantly went away. So, I've pretty much narrowed down the location of this noise, but can't get rid of it! Any ideas on what to try now???New Wheel:I don't think it's the Tensioner, as I have already shot some WD-40 directly into it, and the noise remained constant. And with the Bolt in place, no WD-40 could have somehow gotten into the Tensioner via that route. The chirping is coming from the Pulley wheel assembly, but I don't know what to try now. Quote Selected
Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #48 – August 28, 2007, 04:53:29 PM Does the pulley have some wobble that causes it to rub? Quote Selected
Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #49 – August 28, 2007, 05:06:20 PM I checked for play, but couldn't really detect any. While running, I noticed a Slight...almost imperceptible...movement in the Pulley, but nothing major. Quote Selected
Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #50 – August 28, 2007, 05:53:52 PM Put your feeler gauge between the mounting bracket and the pulley.Push on the pulley and see if you can pinch the gauge.Can you see a spot were the pulley may have been rubbing on the mounting bracket? Quote Selected
Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #51 – August 28, 2007, 06:33:13 PM I couldn't accurately use the feeler gauge because the Pulley itself is Concave, which resulted in the gauge having to be bent slightly to fit it into the mounting bracket area.As for the Pulley itself, I examined it and noticed a faint ring of grease around the metal bushing. Very thin, but I could see it.Also, I tightened down the pulley without the belt on, and grabbed it to see if I could move it straight up and down. I did noticed there was a very small amount of up and down play. Very slight, but it was there.(I suppose now would be the time to ask if any Junkyard cars have the same Tensioner Assembly that I could use. I'm not quite ready to shell out $60 for a new setup) Quote Selected
Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #52 – August 28, 2007, 09:14:19 PM Forget the pulley....Spray your WD40 inside the tensioner assembly... Quote Selected
Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #53 – August 28, 2007, 11:11:21 PM I've already sprayed it on the top of the Assembly...where that "crack" is between the part that actually moves, and the part that is bolted to the frame....it didn't make any difference. Like I said, I sprayed it directly behind the Pulley...and the noise goes away temporarily. How could the WD-40 seep into the Tensioner?(I'm going to the Junkyard Tomorrow...can anyone give me a reliable list of cars that have the same A/C belt Tensioner assembly?)I'll take off the whole assembly and shoot the entire thing with the WD-40...but...I need to know what size nut is holding the thing to the body.EDIT: Someone over at NATO suggested placing a thin Washer between the Tensioner and the Pulley. Is this advisable? Quote Selected
Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #54 – August 29, 2007, 10:13:44 AM i love threads like this.... it makes me feel good that the 8,000 dollars i just spent going to tech school might have paid off... or not :)tensioner pulleys suck.... i had the same problem you do and i bought a new tensioner w/pulley from carquest to fix it ($60 my cost... ouch freakin 91 motor)... anyway, believe it or not, it didn't fix it.. that's because even though i bought it from a quality place, my new tensioner had the same problem as my old one, the base of the pulley bolting surface was not true... so i took the tensioner back off, swapped it out with another new one, and voila, no more chirping..... sometimes when you buy new parts, they can be defective too....... the first thing i'd do is take the pulley back off, sand down the mating surface on the tensioner til the contact point is smooth, then reinstall.... see if that helps, if not, try exchanging the pulley under a defect warranty..... install the new, new one... if it still chirps, even though the tension part of the assembly seems ok, i'd try to buy the whole assembly.... if that doesn't do it..... well, that's the problem with diagnosing noises on the internet :)the noise i was hearing is like when brake pads squeel.... it's not the pad itself that's noisy, but where the back of the pad hits the caliper... i think that's why the wd-40 temporarily fixes your noise, it masks the harmonics of the pulley surface imperfection... but then again, what do i know???? Quote Selected
Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #55 – August 29, 2007, 10:19:40 AM Kinda sounds like you need a new bearing in the pulley. The tensioner arm part has spring inside to hold tension on the belt that is all. Unless the tow pieces are rubbing I don't see them making the noise. What makes me think bearing is when you spray WD on it the noise goes away. I bet if you took the belt of and turn the pulley by hand your could feel the resistance in it. If the pulley is plastic most are made so you have to replace the whole unit. If it is a metal one then you should be able to drive out the bearing with a socket and tap in the new one. The ones I replaced on my 94 cost me $8 per bearing. Quote Selected
Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #56 – August 29, 2007, 11:18:53 AM Ok, Here's exactly what I got:This is the back of the Pulley. You can see the "Mating" surface is smooth. It's that Round metal bushing in the center. (Is this the "Bearing" you're referring to? If so, wouldn't I have to find one that has a smaller inside diameter?)This is the Bolt and saucer looking thing that go into the front of the Pulley and tighten it to the Tensioner. These last two shots are of the part of the tensioner which the pulley slips onto. What part do I need to sand down? And should I try using a washer first? Quote Selected
Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #57 – August 29, 2007, 04:28:25 PM That inner metal part is part of the bearing. The inner metal ring and the outer metal ring(covered by plastic) are both part of the bearing. Those black rubber pieces are the seals that keep the grease inside the bearing. With it being plastic you will have to replace the pulley. Goto the parts store they should have them there. Have the parts guy pull many so you can find one that is metal that is the same size as the one you have. Almost all of them use the same bearing. Quote Selected
Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #58 – August 29, 2007, 04:39:50 PM But the pulley is BRAND new. The old one I had on there was also plastic, and it never squeaked until about 2 months ago. Why would buying a new metal pulley stop the squeak?What I'm trying to say is, since the pulley I have on there right now is new, why would it squeak? And why would a metal one not make that noise? I'm starting to think it may be the stud that the Pulley rests on that's causing this. After all, why would a brand new pulley make the same noise??? Quote Selected
Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping Reply #59 – August 29, 2007, 10:13:53 PM Because the brand new pulley is JUNK! It was made wrong or something else is messed up inside the bearing. Maybe the company forgot to grease it before it got boxed. WD makes it stop but WD runs out of there about as fast as you spray it.Really sounds like low or no lube in there. I've seen alot of bad parts right out of the box. I do work at a parts store.Go into any parts store and have them test a whole bunch of TFI modules I bet money that 1-2 of those brand new ones are toast. The metal one isn't going to stop the squeaking. But it will make it cheaper in the long run. Instead of buying a new pulley each time The metal ones you can replace the bearing witch is cheaper than the whole unit. So is there any sort of extra resistance when you roll the pulley buy hand? Those sealed bearings suck no way to add grease with out breaking those seals. So clean it up take it back an get them to warranty it out. What brand is the part you have? Maybe find another parts store to buy one from. Also why would a perfectly good bolt and washer go bad unless they were hit and bent or where rubbing on the spinning parts. If you look at the Stud part and the washer part. See how they are shaped alike. That is to stop thing from getting into the plastic seals. Just like a Hub Assembly bearing on the newer cars the bad ones squeak and the good one don't. Quote Selected
Topic: Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping (Read 7620 times)
previous topic - next topic
Topic: Project Elimination: The Mysterious Underhood Chirping (Read 7620 times)
previous topic - next topic