88red4cyl Posted November 14, 2009 Report Share Posted November 14, 2009 I had a question about some belt noise on my 95... Last Saturday it started making an embarrassing amount of noise, and it seems to be coming from the belt area. I pulled the belt off and spun the pulleys by hand... The water pump, ac condenser, and the tensioner all made some noise when spun... So, unable to figure out which was the culprit, I put the belt on and continued to drive it... Flash forward to today, and it is driving me crazy with all the noise. So I popped the hood and decided to listen and see if I can hear where its coming from better... So I put my ear right next to the water pump, and I didn't hear anything that sounded like my noise... When I moved my head above the power steering pump, the noise was very loud... I think it is echoing up off the strut tower through... So that would have to be the power steering pump, tensioner, or the huge pulley at the bottom of the belt, unless the noise is echoing from the front back... A few other notes about the symptoms: The sound seems to get drown out at higher rpms... When I rev it a little bit, the noise does not seem to get louder with the engine load... The car has also been idling rough since this started happening... Not super rough, but not smooth like it had been before... Not sure if either of those things are helpful, but I thought it was worth noting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted November 14, 2009 Report Share Posted November 14, 2009 What kind of noise is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfewtrail Posted November 15, 2009 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 Get a mechanics stethoscope and CAREFULLY listen near the pulleys while the engine is running and you should easily be able to discern which pulley is producing the noise. Harbor freight has them for ~$5 and part stores are usually no more than $10 for them(autozone has a lifetime warranty on their 'scope and the other stores might as well). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venom Posted November 15, 2009 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 Does it sound like a metallic grinding noise? Could be your A/C clutch going bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 olds vert Posted November 15, 2009 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 When mine went bad it squealed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted November 15, 2009 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 Does it sound like a ringing bell? If so, it's the A/C clutch... Turn on the A/C so the compressor kicks on and it should go away. Replaced it on the 96, part was $40 from the dealer and I can't remember how it was to do, on the 97 it does it intermittently so I just let it go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 Does it sound like a ringing bell? If so, it's the A/C clutch... Turn on the A/C so the compressor kicks on and it should go away. Replaced it on the 96, part was $40 from the dealer and I can't remember how it was to do, on the 97 it does it intermittently so I just let it go. I've had that noise for a long time.. This noise is still present when the ac compressor kicks in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted November 15, 2009 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 I should have asked, does the A/C work? If it doesn't, the compressor wont kick on and the noise will stay on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 The ac does work. The compressor takes a while to kick in on really cold days, but it does eventually come on.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted November 15, 2009 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 Ok, then it must not be the A/C clutch. Take a screw driver and put it on different things and listen through the handle... you should be able to hear what is going bad that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 Dumb question, but how do you put the screwdriver on things that are spinning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted November 16, 2009 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 Yeah don't put it on moving things that won't be good. Put it on the top of the alternator, or on the snout of the water pump...or on the body of the A/C compressor. You should be able to hear whichever is making noise through the screw driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 All right... Whatever day it quits raining I will try that and report back with what I find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regal_GS_1989 Posted November 17, 2009 Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 I wouldn't be surprised if it is the alternator....My Cutlass made noise, the one in my truck made noise, and the one in my 2000 also seems to make a tiny bit of noise when cold. If you wanted to, you could spray a little bit of spray lube/penetrating oil onto the bearing and see if it makes a difference. The whine can sound like power steering whine as well, and in the case of my truck, I actually replaced the pump because that is where it seemed to be coming from. The noise actually even changed when I would open up the power steering reservoir. Alas, it was the alternator all along. New alt and now it is silent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 So what exactly am I listening for, as far as sound goes? I did the alt, power steering pump, ac compressor, and water pump, and it sounded almost exactly the same for all of them.. To me, it just sounded like a low hum on the water pump and power steering pump, while the ac and alternator had a higher pitched hum... I couldn't safely reach the tensioner or the crank pulley with the longest screw driver I had, so I don't know how they sound... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted November 18, 2009 Report Share Posted November 18, 2009 Generally a hum that is different from the rest or more of a vibration in different components...or both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 I've got an alternator I've been needing to throw on it for some time anyway... Planning to do that Saturday, and then see where I'm at... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 Put the new alternator this afternoon... While the car definitely needed a new one (now the lights don't dim to the point of barely being on when you turn on the fan), it didn't help the noise from the belt area... Since I can't tell anything from the screwdriver, I guess I am going to have to invest in one of those stethoscopes tomorrow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted November 22, 2009 Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 I bet it's the actual tensioner since you can't seem to pinpoint the noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 I bet it's the actual tensioner since you can't seem to pinpoint the noise. When I listen with my ears, it sounds the loudest right above the tensioner, but noise can carry and echo off the fender... I was kind of leaning towards that to begin with, but the tensioner doesn't have any side to side play that I can detect, and I can't get my screwdriver to reach a spot on it that isn't moving to listen to it... Could it still be the tensioner even without play? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White93z34 Posted November 22, 2009 Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 yeah, the bearings could be going bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 yeah, the bearings could be going bad. Would that require replacement of the whole tensioner, or just the pulley? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2009 yeah, the bearings could be going bad. Would that require replacement of the whole tensioner, or just the pulley? Anybody know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to eaton Posted November 24, 2009 Report Share Posted November 24, 2009 i dont think you can buy just the pulley? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2009 i dont think you can buy just the pulley? http://www.autozone.com/autozone/catalog/parts/partsShelf.jsp?categoryDisplayName=Routine+Maintenance&fromType=parts&fromString=search&parentId=42-0¤tPage=1&filterByKeyWord=tensioner&isSearchByPartNumber=false&navValue=14200657&categoryNValue=14299999&fromWhere=&itemId=657-0&displayName=Belt+Tensioner&searchText=tensioner Don't know if that link will work or not, but Auto Zone sells the pulley... They have just the pulley for $17.99 or the whole tensioner for $49.99... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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