dr.apex

I think one of my pulley bearings has gone bad, but not sure which one. It's making a squeaking noise. I doubt it's the belt because the belts make that annoying screach when they slip. The sueak is consistant with the motors rpm's.

Any ideas on how I can find out which one it is?
Thanks

SeeingRed

Squirt some tire grease on your alternator pulley first to make sure it's not the belt. If you squirt tire grease on the pulley and the squeak goes away, it's a belt.

dr.apex

I'm positive it's not the belt. If it were the belt, it would squeal under load. It's a consistant chirp.

cajungt

Old trick to I.D. bad bearings. Use an old broomstick a foot or so long, hold one end to your ear and place the other on alternator, or whichever accessory U think is going bad, the wood will transmit the sound of bad bearings -sort of like a redneck stethoscope..

dr.apex

As comical and dangerous as this sounds and after a finished laughing, it really seems like it would work. I don't think I'll be trying that one though.

vanquish

Yeah I only do that on something thats not spinning. This works well for alternators, p/s pumps, etc. but idk about a spinning pulley.

dr.apex

In my quest to find which pulley is sqeaking, I found that my belt did need to be replaced. Went to the local auto parts store and grabbed one for $18. Popped the old one off and decided to check all the pulley's with the belt off.

My idler pulley as well as the p/s dir pulley have a slight wobble to them. When investigating the squeak it came from the general area of the idler. I put the new belt on and there is no longer a squeak, but I still believe I need to change the idler due to the fact that I think the wobble is causing premature belt wear. I don't think I need to change the p/s dir pulley because it has the grooves in it and the wobble is barely noticeable.

What do you guys think?

SeeingRed

Change it. If the idler is wobbly, it may be causing the belt to flex just enough to rub on the front or rear lip of the pulley before and after it.

jr50rider

While your at it i would change both. I just replaced both my idler pulleys this weekend along with the belt, no more noise. The pulleys should not wobble. both idlers are the same. They were 18$ and change a piece.

by the way that trick with the stick, broom handle or whatever does work, the bad bearing will make a grinding metal sound, just be careful!!!

dr.apex

Well I just changed the idler pulley. It was a five minute job. The bearing in the stock pulley was toast. All seems well, for now.