anyone have squeeky idle pullies? I greased up the top one, but it still squeeks at idle? shall I do the bottom one near the A/C?


Denis

 

how did you determine it was the idler pulley, as oppose to the tensioner pulley, and how did you grease them because they have sealed bearings?

 

Sir: Reference to a squeeky pulley, my suggestion is to replace both tensioner idler units, for it is a matter of time before they will go bad and distroy your serpentine belt. What happen to me, first was to loose my serp belt, then continued noise until I changed both. With me I couldn't hear the squeeking pully, but all my passengers complained until I changed both units.

 

There are four units , not two....
there are two idlers with sealed bearings, and two tensioners with sealed bearings and two serp belts..

 

We took apart the sealed bearing on the top pully & jammed it with cup grease.

DEnis

 

which top pulley, the idler or the tensioner??or Both

 

wow, you guys ARE good here.

We did the drive belt tensioner as the noise seemed to come from that area. what shall i do now?

Denis

 

here is something I posted to a member with a similar question..

You have two belt systems on your car. One is the drive belt system, the other is the air conditioner belt system.
The drive belt system consists of the serpentine belt,the power steering pump, alternator/gen, water pump, harmonic balancer, idler pulley,belt auto tensioner pulley.
The AC belt system consists of the compressor, harmonic balancer,idler pulley, belt auto tensioner pulley.
First thing you need to do is isolate which system is squeaking. this can be done by releasing tension on the drive belt tensioner and removing the serp belt. This is the outboard belt of the two belt systems..if the squeak goes away, then it is the belt or a component of the drive system.
If the squeak is still there, then it is a component of the ac belt system.
to verify this release the belt tension from the tensioner and remove the belt. if the squeak goes away, then it is a component of the ac belt system..
A common problem is the belt tensioner on either system.. but verifying which system is at fault is the proper procedure.
At 25000 miles, you could replace both belts, but you may still have the squeak. So if you want to find the culprit, isolate the system, then spray the belt of the offending system and see if the squeak goes away. Try to stay away from the idler and tensioner while spaying..
I find that belt dressing may be good to identify a belt problem, but it is a temporary fix at best..
The real problem has been the tensioner and the idler.. both of these components have a sealed bearing which has been know to dry up or redirect the grease away from the bearing, thus causing the squeak.
If you find that a belt change does not correct the problem, then a change of both the idler and tensioner pulley is in order. If you just change the idler or the tensioner alone, it will cause the other component to go bad in a month or so. This has been the case with many members..There was a change made to the dusts seals to help correct this problem in newer C5's.
Lots of tensioner and idler pulleys have been identified as a problem.. and it can effect either system. One is not more prevalent than the other. So find out which system is squeaking first, in the drive belt system, it could also be the bearing of the alternator, power steering pump, or water pump too, but these are less probable.
I hope this makes things alittle clearer

ET

 

will do, thanx again

 

Any potential issues with greasing the pulley bearings? It sounds like good maintenance, and I'd like to try it out, but will have to hold off if it's a risky job.

 

Take a look at your harmonic balance while you're in there. Mine had to be replaced because it was seperating. I had replaced both idlers, both tensioners & both belts before I found the balancer to be the problem. Mine a 98 vert.

 

Take a look at your harmonic balance while you're in there. Mine had to be replaced because it was seperating. I had replaced both idlers, both tensioners & both belts before I found the balancer to be the problem. Mines a 98 vert.

 

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[Leaftye]Any potential issues with greasing the pulley bearings? It sounds like good maintenance, and I'd like to try it out, but will have to hold off if it's a risky job.
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I did it to mine at 90,000 miles. They were pretty dry. I used a small thin screwdriver and carfully popped the seal off one side, cleaned them out and repacked them. Then I went and did the same thing to my Buick and my S10 Blazer. The Vette has 102,000 miles....the Buick has 125,000 miles and the Blazer has 172,000 miles.