Alternator squeak

[kickass audio]

For your water pump/fan it is just a bolt on connector. If you actually get that tool to remove the fan it has 3-4 bolts that hold the pulley on the water pump and there are 3-4 tiny legs on the water pump itself. That part of the leg is where the bearing is and you cannot get to lubricate the actual bearings at all. There is no way to lubricate the bearings as they are a sealed unit, the only real way to fix them is to replace them. Typically the water pumps pulley doesnt make noise because if that pulley breaks it tends to leak a tiny amount of the coolant into the bearing and the fluid is somewhat oily so it will keep it lubricated. Thats why when most fan/water pumps go out the fan will wobble if you grab it and sound like its grinding. If you checked all the pulley's with no tension on them from the belt and they dont wobble then your bearing is fine but it may have dried up for one of them. In which case you will need to do the hose trick to try and pinpoint the squeaky pulley. For what i said about the bumps on the belt it would appear on the flat side that has the dayco writing on it. If you run your finger across it you would not feel any bumps but looking directly onto it you would notice that there are parts where it looks like the belt was scuffed at different parts and has a pattern. If you dont see that then its fine, that just indicates a worn tensioner.

Also a little tip, if your a/c had a problem and it stopped when the clutch engages you would hear a sound that is like scraping metal together. This is usually because dirt got into the clutch itself and just needs to be cleaned out to fix it. That only happens if the air compressor is mounted really low to the ground though.

[numatik]

wait, so I dont need a tool to remove the fan? I thought there was like a grabber tool, or is it just not necessary? Once its taken apart, is it easy to remove the bearings and replace them if there bad? I started walking again today with a cane so I'll be able to do SUPER light duty stuff, and GOD iv been out of my garage for 3 days and its driving me nuts!!

I am going to use some radiator hose and do the ear trick and see what I can find. I still have a hunch that its the water pump, just cause all the other factors just dont seem to be working out, you know what i mean? That does make sense about the coolant, but it could also be just a busted ass bearing for whatever reason. Im going to go outside in a little while with my fiance and im gonna have her use her ears and il fire up the truck. She has great hearing, and I dont wanna tweak out my leg. My surgery was insane, but my recovery is going well.Another problem is sometimes it will randomly not squeak, im really hoping it DOSNT do that tonight, I need to find this noise!!

[kickass audio]

No you need the special tool to remove your radiator's fan. All the tool does is get one part that wraps around those screws that attach the pulley to the water pump and another one is like a crescent wrench that you put on the attachment for your fan itself and remove it. Pretty much one part holds the water pump stationary while the other backs off the fan from the pump. The bearings are never replaceable, its not like a ball joint where you can just pop it off and replace it. These bearings are 100% sealed up and you can never pop them out and drop a new ball bearing in there and oil them up. Plus the bearings are integrated into the pump assembly so its not possible to replace just the bearing should they be shot. I had a tiny leak on the gasket for my water pump a couple months back where the coolant was coming out but not making a big mess but it was under warranty for 75% of the total charge so i said screw it and took it in for service. Well they found that my electronic fan clutch seized up, the water pumps bearing was just starting to go out and that the gasket was not bad the pumps metal just warped too much and caused the leak. I had them replace it and have had no problems since and my water pump always worked just fine for me, never overheated the engine or anything.

Do you notice the noise getting louder at all when you drive the truck around at all for awhile? If it appears to get louder and make any grinding noise then your bearing is 100% shot somewhere on the belt drive system. One thing you can attempt to do but be careful with your surgery and getting hurt is keep the hood closed and engine running. When the squeaking starts walk from wheel well to wheel well and try to spot which side of the engine it is happening on. This helped me locate that my noise is from the drivers side which is where my idler pulley is located. Then i had used the hose trick and tested my alternator, idler, a/c, water pump, crank pulley and found that it was loudest by my idler. I have yet to replace it but weather dependent i am going to attempt it wednesday this week.

On a side note glad to hear your recovery is going well. Just take it easy on yourself and dont push yourself too hard. I know thats easier said than done sometimes but a squeak like that wont harm anything as long as the pulley isnt buckling or completely seized up and not spinning.

[numatik]

No you need the special tool to remove your radiator's fan. All the tool does is get one part that wraps around those screws that attach the pulley to the water pump and another one is like a crescent wrench that you put on the attachment for your fan itself and remove it. Pretty much one part holds the water pump stationary while the other backs off the fan from the pump. The bearings are never replaceable, its not like a ball joint where you can just pop it off and replace it. These bearings are 100% sealed up and you can never pop them out and drop a new ball bearing in there and oil them up. Plus the bearings are integrated into the pump assembly so its not possible to replace just the bearing should they be shot. I had a tiny leak on the gasket for my water pump a couple months back where the coolant was coming out but not making a big mess but it was under warranty for 75% of the total charge so i said screw it and took it in for service. Well they found that my electronic fan clutch seized up, the water pumps bearing was just starting to go out and that the gasket was not bad the pumps metal just warped too much and caused the leak. I had them replace it and have had no problems since and my water pump always worked just fine for me, never overheated the engine or anything.

Do you notice the noise getting louder at all when you drive the truck around at all for awhile? If it appears to get louder and make any grinding noise then your bearing is 100% shot somewhere on the belt drive system. One thing you can attempt to do but be careful with your surgery and getting hurt is keep the hood closed and engine running. When the squeaking starts walk from wheel well to wheel well and try to spot which side of the engine it is happening on. This helped me locate that my noise is from the drivers side which is where my idler pulley is located. Then i had used the hose trick and tested my alternator, idler, a/c, water pump, crank pulley and found that it was loudest by my idler. I have yet to replace it but weather dependent i am going to attempt it wednesday this week.

On a side note glad to hear your recovery is going well. Just take it easy on yourself and dont push yourself too hard. I know thats easier said than done sometimes but a squeak like that wont harm anything as long as the pulley isnt buckling or completely seized up and not spinning.

Gotcha!! I just looked at a few of the water pumps on kragens site, and the bearings are inside just like you said, so the bearing idea is out the window. Something thats weird is my pump is working fine, no overheating at all, but I do think the bearings must be shot. Im really running out of ideas!!

I figured Id need the tool I just wanted to double check. Im still healing from surgery, but hopefully in a few days I can pick up a water pump (they range from 40-60$, im gonna get the cheaper one cause im broke) and try replacing that next.

It definitely getsd louder as im driving away, then I stomp on the gas, it shifts, then stops... most of the time.....Also sometimes it wont really squeak when reving on the gas in park, and other times it does. But it is mostly when the truck is driving, even really slow. Today I can probably get outside on crutches and have my fiance do your idea with the hood closed and the ear into each wheel well. Problem is my water pump is in the center, so it will sound very similar, and hopefully the brain dosnt trick itself with how close the noises are the same if it is the water pump

I really appreciate your long responses, you always have alot of info and I appreciate it!!

[numatik]

One more thing, since my factory tensioner is moving a pretty good amount even at idle, should I just put the aftermarket one back in or leave the stock one? Since the aftermarket tensioner is stiffer it shouldnt mess anything up, but I read earlier it could possible damage bearings. Does anybody have more info on this?

[kickass audio]

The water pump on mine worked just fine but you would hear the fan wobbling at random times when i take off from a stop. It drove me nuts until i took it into the shop to get it fixed. With your tensioner its hard to describe it but what i do is pull on the belt and see how far it moves. I like to keep it so that when i yank on it hard it wont move more than an inch and a half. I have never had a pulley fail on me other than it being old and getting over 100k miles on it. I think thats pretty fair for the lifespan on a pulley.

[numatik]

The water pump on mine worked just fine but you would hear the fan wobbling at random times when i take off from a stop. It drove me nuts until i took it into the shop to get it fixed. With your tensioner its hard to describe it but what i do is pull on the belt and see how far it moves. I like to keep it so that when i yank on it hard it wont move more than an inch and a half. I have never had a pulley fail on me other than it being old and getting over 100k miles on it. I think thats pretty fair for the lifespan on a pulley.

Mines a different sound but a similar problem if the water pump is my mystery squeak. My truck has 80,000 on it, factory tensioner moves a bit, not exactly sure how much. But when I put the aftermarket tensioners on the belt is real tight.

Iv heard of people saying that sometimes a tensioner thats too tight can damage alternator bearings, is this true? Are the aftermarket ones safe for this h/o alt? Or should I just leave the factory one?

Part of me says its old replace it, the other part of me says if it isn't broken, dont fix it. I think im gonna swap the water pump, try it with the factory tensioner and see if it squeaks. Unless people think I should just replace it while im doing all this?

[kickass audio]

What you heard about ruining the bearings on your alternator is true but not just for your alternator. The bearings can be worn out on other accessory belt drive systems such as your water pump, power steering, a/c, idler, etc if you have an over tightened belt. I always just do the test with a ruler. I tend to find a spot where i can grab onto the belt with a good grip and then a place to mount the ruler to so that the measurement position doesnt change (sometimes i place it on the water pump's pulley or another nearby pulley depending on your belt diagram) and pull and push on the belt to see how far i can get it to move before it gets really tight and feels like the belt is slipping loose. If it tends to be more than a inch and a half but nothing at all more than 2 inches then i will replace the belt. If it still has the same slack on it then i replace the tensioner.

Also please note this, for vehicles with an automatic belt tensioner (the ones that are spring loaded and dont require you to move a device like your alternator and stretch the belt to tighten the tension) if you get a bigger or smaller belt it wont affect your tension power no matter how big or small of a belt you get. The tension is limited to the tension of the spring in the tensioner itself so getting a smaller belt will still make the belt have the same tension as you previously had. The reason your new pulley is probably really hard and stiff to move is because it more than likely is a heavy duty (high tension) pulley. These pulley's are made to try and eliminate belt slip under heavy loads such as towing or anything else that will cause high strain on your belt system and could cause the belt to slip right over one of your pulley's. For the most part its rare to see a heavy duty tensioner burn out a bearing on any of your stuff but it is possible. Id try the ruler test and install the new tensioner on your vehicle and see how much it moves. I have always had my tension so tight that it wouldnt budge more than an inch and a half if i really yanked on that belt. The ONLY time my belt slips on my envoy is when i punch the gas and it slams into gear but thats a split second chirp so im not worried about it. Ive never killed a bearing from having the belt too tight or loose. My bearing is just going because of its age, plenty of envoy/trailblazer owners complain about the stock idler pulley not being worth shit and going out very fast so its my turn. lol.

[numatik]

What you heard about ruining the bearings on your alternator is true but not just for your alternator. The bearings can be worn out on other accessory belt drive systems such as your water pump, power steering, a/c, idler, etc if you have an over tightened belt. I always just do the test with a ruler. I tend to find a spot where i can grab onto the belt with a good grip and then a place to mount the ruler to so that the measurement position doesnt change (sometimes i place it on the water pump's pulley or another nearby pulley depending on your belt diagram) and pull and push on the belt to see how far i can get it to move before it gets really tight and feels like the belt is slipping loose. If it tends to be more than a inch and a half but nothing at all more than 2 inches then i will replace the belt. If it still has the same slack on it then i replace the tensioner.

Also please note this, for vehicles with an automatic belt tensioner (the ones that are spring loaded and dont require you to move a device like your alternator and stretch the belt to tighten the tension) if you get a bigger or smaller belt it wont affect your tension power no matter how big or small of a belt you get. The tension is limited to the tension of the spring in the tensioner itself so getting a smaller belt will still make the belt have the same tension as you previously had. The reason your new pulley is probably really hard and stiff to move is because it more than likely is a heavy duty (high tension) pulley. These pulley's are made to try and eliminate belt slip under heavy loads such as towing or anything else that will cause high strain on your belt system and could cause the belt to slip right over one of your pulley's. For the most part its rare to see a heavy duty tensioner burn out a bearing on any of your stuff but it is possible. Id try the ruler test and install the new tensioner on your vehicle and see how much it moves. I have always had my tension so tight that it wouldnt budge more than an inch and a half if i really yanked on that belt. The ONLY time my belt slips on my envoy is when i punch the gas and it slams into gear but thats a split second chirp so im not worried about it. Ive never killed a bearing from having the belt too tight or loose. My bearing is just going because of its age, plenty of envoy/trailblazer owners complain about the stock idler pulley not being worth shit and going out very fast so its my turn. lol.

When were talking about bearings on all accessories, does this include systems with spring tension belts? It seems like they can only grab so hard, I was just worried about my new tensioner grabbing a bit to tight, I figured the alt would be the weakest link to fail.

I did know about the smaller belt theory, I leanred that one at the beginning. I was wondering at one point if a different belt would get more 'grab' but now I think thats just silly. No belt should be slipping on a factory motor with a h/o alt. I am gonna put the new tenioner in. If I grab the belt between pulleys, it moves about an incha nd a half, then I can pull harder and make the entire tensioner move hellla far... So screw that factory tensioner...

One thing that still has be confused, is the friction on the alt. When I would fire up the truck for 5 seconds and it would have the mystery squeak like crazy,Turn of the truck run back under the hood, I would touch the alt pulley for a centimeter second and it would be red hot, a sign of slipping . But if its a bearing in the water pump thats squeaking why is the belt slippping on the alt or making that much friction? I think this is the big question at this point.

God damn this is like a murder investigation!! Kickass Audio, your a smart dude, I really appreciate your help, you have alot of knowledge.

[kickass audio]

Im really not sure about your alternator pulley being hot. Mine gets pretty hot but really only under extreme loads like charging my batteries back up from a deep cycle. I was playing around with my belt today since i got out of class early and didnt have work and i think my alternator's bearing is taking a shit on me. I can grab it and it doesnt wobble or anything like that but no matter what direction i spin it, it will chirp. I took my belt off, sprayed the shit out of all the pulley's from what i could get to (didnt mess with my alt for the fear of getting grease in the wrong spot and ruining it) and even removed my idler pulley and it seems to move pretty easy. The alternator squeaked when i first got it from mechman but only if i spun the rotor backwards (counter clockwise) my engine turns clockwise so im not sure why its all of a sudden squeaking. Also it got warm a few days ago and it squeaked for a minute when i first started it up but then it was not squeaking the entire day. I do still have my problem where the tensioner likes to bob up and down when the engine is running so im really close to just removing that tensioner and putting a new one on. I didnt get to do what is in the videos of giving the belt a quick shot of water to see if the squeaking got louder or stopped. I really hope i dont have a mis-alinged pulley on my truck. I know when i got my mechman alt the pulley didnt seem recessed as far as my OEM alt because of the wear marks on my idler pulley which is right below the alt. The stock one seemed to be back a little where my mechman one is up to the front more.

Here is a video you might enjoy as it will help you troubleshoot and know what to look for with your belt:

Here is another:

Id give the water test a try because that will be a lot easier for you with getting on the road to recovery from your surgery and will help you diagnose it fast.