Hey Guys,

I've done some research here, but wanna nail it down.

1. A few months ago, I began to hear a sqealing noise under the hood. I didn't think much of it, car had been running fine since then.

2. Every once in a while I get, "Recharge System Check". I changed to a new battery. I still get that message, but rarely now.

3. Last week I heard a really bad griniding noise in the front diver side wheel, like the bad bakes... But I knew that's not it, cuz I had changed the brakes last year. After a few miles on the freeway, the noise went away. I thought something might have gotten stuck in there, and got cleared up.

4. Last night noticed my steering wouldn't work. Looked under the hood, the belt had jumped off the Pulleys. The belt is still not broken, and doesn't seem really worn out either..... So, what's the reason it jumped off?

Are all these things related somehow....??? I'm more concerned about the #4 problem, at hand. Should I just buy a new belt and put it in there? Or do I need to change a pulley, or something? Sticking a belt in there doesn't seem so hard, however, loosening the pulleys and then getting it to the right tension seems quite awkward. I don't want to go out and buy every single pulley, etc.... Just want to do the needed, for now.

Thanks in advance...

 

Put the belt back on, crank the car and eyeball the belt and its pulleys. You'll probably see run-out/wobble somewhere (if it doesn't jump back off immediately). Just idle speed, don't give it gas. Tension is not adjustable as I understand it--uses a spring-loaded tensioner. They can sometimes need replacing, or maybe your balancer is coming apart (common on higher-mile C5s). Balancer wobble can be seen immediately.

 

Sounds like to me--it's not the alternator or battery (charging system) but rather the air conditioner charging--although the A/C has a separate belt-check to see it it is gone--When it goes it often takes out the main belt--If the A/C pump froze and locked up- that would explain why the belt was thrown---

 

Geez, this is getting more difficult than I thought. How would I know if the AC pump froze? My AC hasn't been very cold lately, but I thought that's due to Freon...

 

You need to find someone with basic automotive skills. Apparently you know nothing about spring loaded tensioners, or how easy they are to check...Chances are very slim that it is a tensioner...You don't have much squeal issues but when you throw a belt it is usually because of the balancer... I have literally posted hundreds and hundreds of post on this subject Belts and pulleys ). Best guess would be you need a new Harmonic balancer. You have a 12 year old car, and you are throwing belts... Its very easy for anyone with very limited automotive experience to look down and see if your ac belt is on. Yet you are not sure as how to do this,., Like I said you need someone with some automotive skills.
A new balancer will cost you about 800 dollars installed ( 5 hours shop time labor )..that's parts and labor ... including two new belts and a front seal, which you will need. If the balancer goes completely, you will loose your engine..
Bill aka ET

 

Both of your systems run off the crank balancer, which is well known to be a problem. This is easy to check. Your belts won't align, and sometimes the crank pulley is closer to your steering rack than it should, even to the point of scrapeing it. A 15/16 box end offset (or 19mm, I believe) will fit on the balancer bolt, and you can check to see if it's actually loose. If it needs to be replaced, unless you are brave, or mechanically competant, you're gonna need to take it to a shop.

 

there are two completely different failure modes with the harmonic balancer.
1) is the bolt backing out.
2) the HB is a three piece unit, 1)the internal balancer connected to the 2)outer pulley and the 3)elastomer center, when the elastomer becomes degraded through heat, it will cause the outer pulleys to wobble... when the elastomer starts to smell like burning rubber and you are seeing little pieces of rubber, the HB is about to let go. In either case you need to remove the steering rack and get to the bolt.. at this point, you want to change the HB anyway. You can use a steel underdrive pulley and get 10 extra ponies. I would not use a New 3 piece GM balancer. IN either case you will need a new crank bolt. While you are in there you want to replace the crank seal.
Bill aka ET

BTW search is your friend.. see some of the hundred post on this subject under my name.

 

Dang... this is complicated! Besides, I'm so busy working, hardly have time to work on car/look under the hood. But I do like the idea of changing to the underdrive pulley and gaining 10HP. Anytime we're talking gains in HP, I like that..

1.Which pulley am I replacing with the new under-drive pulley?
2. Now, What's the bad news? Do I really have to change the HB? How much does it run for anyways...
3. And should I change both, or one belt?
4. Any other pulleys need changing?

Thanks.... Love the forum....

 

Op did you even read his reply? He answered all of your questions prior to you asking them!

 

Hey guys,

So I pulled the codes, but don't really understand them. Here's what I got -

10PCM - P1637 H
28-TCS NO CODES
40BCM NO CODES
58-SDM B1001 H
58-SDM U1016 H
60-IPC NO CODES
A0-LDCM B2282 H
A0-LDCM B2284 H
A0-LDCA U1064 H
A1-RDCM 82283 H
A1-RDCM 82285 H
A1-RDCM U1064 H
BO-RFA U1096 H
BO-RFA U1064 H
BO-RFA U1016 H

I have the codes worksheet with all codes, showing the problems, but these codes not listed there . Please help...