Car_Ramrod

alright guys...help. i brought my car to the ford dealership...but they said itd be $85 just to look at the car and tell me what the problem was...so...thats not happening.


theres a squeak coming from the area that has an arrow pointing to it in the pic. ive pretty much narrowed it down to either the drive belt/drive belt tensioner....or the idler pulley that sits next to the alternator there. am i making the correct diagnosis?

i brought it to a guy and he said it was the drive belt tensioner/drive belt. ive never been to him before though and i dont know how good he is. the sound sounds like it is coming directly from where the arrow is pointing...which is the inner idler pulley...not the drive belt tensioner which i believe is right under that. any input/advice anyone has would be welcomed.

also...is it hard to change out these parts? i would like to do it myself to save the $95 labor fee that the guy was gonna charge me to do it. please help someone.

[IMG]local://upfiles/13981/B0CA632F1C3045469431D5828FE05596.jpg[/IMG]

white04gt

Have you tried some lubricant on the inside of the belt tensioner and maybe some belt dressing on the belt if the belt doesn't need to be replaced?

Car_Ramrod

yea tried it with some betl dressing...it goes away...but it always comes back when i start the car cold. it goes away once the engine warms up. but it sounds awful and even if its not harmful or bad for the car...its embarrassing at the least.

03sonicgt

Try a new belt maybe, get a gatorback.

Car_Ramrod

gatorback? never heard of it...where can i find those? website...or like autozone or something?

Edit...nevermind...i did some footwork and found out i can find them at autozone i believe.

Car_Ramrod

how easy is it to replace the belt/tensioner by myself? on a scale from maybe 1-10. short shifter install or similar being 1...headers being 10 lol.

bryanec

Watch the spring loaded tensioner and see if it moves when it makes the noise. Mine was doin the same thing, I havent fixed it yet, but you will have to pull off the arm then replace the pulley, I think the pulley is around 15 bucks.

Car_Ramrod

anyone have a write up or anything on how to change the drive belt/tensioner? i would like to do it myself but im not that mechanically inclined. im trying really hard to learn though and dont wanna bring it to a mechanic.

so1o2k3

Dang gary, that sucks. Get that thing fixed before we go run at gainesville raceway. Still probably won't be for at least 3 weeks being that my clutch still hasn't come in

4.698GT

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say a two. Its only a couple of bolts but if you retarted like me and try changing it when everything is hot, it will be slightly harder.