Constant squealing from the belt area?

Tiny
SHARON NEVAEH BRUNO
  • MEMBER
  • 2007 FORD TAURUS
  • 3.6L
  • 4 CYL
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 155,000 MILES
There is a constant squealing coming from the area where my belt turns. I replaced the serpentine belt, so I know it is not that. Someone said I needed to replace my belt tensioner pulley. I am a single woman living in downtown LA and I cannot afford for my engine or motor or transmission to go out.
Saturday, August 26th, 2023 AT 8:53 AM

6 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 108,262 POSTS
Hi,

If you replaced the belt and it is still making noise, I suspect it is the tensioner. Check to see if the belt is tight. If not, then replace the tensioner.

I attached the directions below specific to this vehicle for replacing the tensioner. Take a look through them and let me know if you have questions.

Take care,

joe

See pics below.
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Saturday, August 26th, 2023 AT 10:16 PM
Tiny
SHARON NEVAEH BRUNO
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
So, to respond to your diagnosis, it is not the tensioner pulley because my boyfriend spun all the
pulleys and the only one that did not spin freely was the power steering pump pulley. The serpentine belt is tight. I felt it too. Definitely not a half inch pull or more (1/2-inch play in the belt says loose). I bought this car from someone who completely lied to me about everything and had me pay the full price of 1,600. The first day I had the car I had to change the serpentine belt because it was all used up and old and screeching. It was an easy fix. Screeching stopped. Obvious fix. Then the check engine light came on at about 50 miles of driving it. So, I'm almost 100 percent sure they knew about all the problems but knew they wouldn't get more than $1,000 for it so they went to a shop or auto zone and had the light cleared right before we met for the test drive. If I had known that I had to 1. Replace the belt $80 2. Replace the alternator $200 3. The most annoying one is the one that we can't figure out. And
4. Engine light was on. It coded for a misfire in cylinder 1. Maybe letting a misfire go for so long and then lying about the true condition of the engine(putting it as a 9/10---9 out of 10 on the car sales app)contributed to this mystery problem when we could have fixed it when we did the belt. I know a misfire, bad spark plugs, and or bad coil pack can tweak your engine/cause problems if left unfixed. Also, my mechanic found that my spark plugs to cylinder 1 were caked in oil?Also around the same time the screeching started I was getting ready to go somewhere in my car and noticed near the front left wheel all my power steering fluid just randomly leaked out. Did not think anything about it because I bought some more fluid, filled to line, and it never did that again nor was the level of PS fluid rapidly lowering either. I know this is long but I wanted u to know everything to properly diagnose or guess or however you do. Lol. Wait! 1 more thing. The 10 amp fuse for the air conditioning clutch/loss of power fuse is blowing out often.E.G. Every 1 to 2 days although recently it hasn't blown in a week. That is why I believe it is something to do with the ac compressor.A bad/failing one, bad pulley (are there pulleys on that thing? Like the idler pulley is also not the problem. Tested it. Spins freely. The power steering pump pulley is broken. There is a piece of the pulley that is actually missing like somebody was adjusting it and pried a piece off accidentally. Would that make a constant screeching? That is our newest find. But this is what we DO know. It is one of the components of the serpentine belt. Because we took the belt off completely and then started the car and lo and behold there was NO screeching or squealing. So this is everything that is going on. Now I'm just waiting for my bf to put the belt back on so I can record the squealing sound for you. Please lmk if you have any new advice now that I'm pretty sure I included everything. Thank you so much for trying to help me figure out the problem.
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Monday, August 28th, 2023 AT 9:35 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 108,262 POSTS
Hi,

Is the power steering pump still driven by the belt? Also, does it happen only when the AC compressor is engaged? For example, do you have the AC on or the Defroster?

The idea that the PS pump did not spin freely leads me to believe that is the problem. Does the PS work?

Joe
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Monday, August 28th, 2023 AT 6:48 PM
Tiny
SHARON NEVAEH BRUNO
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Hello, Joe, so you did get my last post. And did you also get my images? Do you see the big chunk missing out of the power steering pump pulley?
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Tuesday, August 29th, 2023 AT 3:12 AM
Tiny
SHARON NEVAEH BRUNO
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
  • 2007 FORD TAURUS
  • 3.6L
  • 4 CYL
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 155,000 MILES
There is a loud squealing coming from my belt area. I replaces the alternator recently. About 2-3 weeks ago because the Diodes were failing on the test. The car had not yet started losing power or draining battery. Then one day everything turned off and we were stuck. Thank God my bf knew how to get in there and replace it for me. Now starts every time. But the squealing is definitely at acceleration but also when still parked right when you start up the car. My bf thinks it's either one of the pulleys. The tensioner pulley specifically. Is there a way to test the tensioner to see if it's the cause? Or test pulleys etc?Thank you
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Tuesday, August 29th, 2023 AT 10:20 AM (Merged)
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 42,959 POSTS
It sounds like the belt is loose, did the alternator have the same size pulley, if not this can be the problem. I would check the tension of the belt.

Here is a guide to help:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-serpentine-belt

Remove the belt and spin the pulleys by hand to see which one makes a noise. Can you please shoot a quick video with your phone so I can hear the noise? That way I can tell for sure what's going on. You can upload it here with your response. Check out the images (below). Please let us know what happens.

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Tuesday, August 29th, 2023 AT 10:20 AM (Merged)

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