Yet another squeaking belt thread!

[EMB1230]

It wouldn't do it unless it had rained, recently since the snow has hit, it's doing it all the time now. Well, this morning, I did a bit of searching and it really sounds like it's the A/C making the noise, I sprayed it with WD-40. The squeak was gone - then came back 10 sec or so later. my belt and both pulleys look fine. Anyone else have the dreaded squeak and it turned out that it was the A/C compressor? I hope that's what it is, that's the one belt-driven accessory that you CAN bypass!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

could just be a dried out AC clutch bearing, or it could be a cam syncro making a chirp given the year of your 3.0?

 

[EMB1230]

could just be a dried out AC clutch bearing, or it could be a cam syncro making a chirp given the year of your 3.0?

It's definitely belt-related. I'm hearing a lot of people saying it's one or both pulleys. Inexpensive but looks like a pain to change due to the mechanical radiator fan.

 

[basketranger]

it appears if it is the cam synchro they tend to go at 80,000 miles. if not then serpentine belt idler and or tensioner. if you know the full history of the truck then gage appropriatley. tensioner and idler rule of thumb if you replace any of the three comopnents (belt, idler, od tensioner) than make the investment and do all three at same time.

 

[EMB1230]

it appears if it is the cam synchro they tend to go at 80,000 miles. if not then serpentine belt idler and or tensioner. if you know the full history of the truck then gage appropriatley. tensioner and idler rule of thumb if you replace any of the three comopnents (belt, idler, od tensioner) than make the investment and do all three at same time.

My aunt's husband bought it brand new 09/02, he barely drove it and took meticulous care of it.

 

[McCormack]

3.0 serp belt tensioners are famous for going out of alignment, and it's a possibility that that's what's wrong with your Ranger. Put a straight edge on your tensioner pulley and compare it to your crank pulley - if it's out of alignment then there's your problem, and you can either shim your old tensioner back into alignment, or else buy a new one. But be aware that a new tensioner does not guaranty proper alignment - once the new tensioner is installed you'll need to check it with a straight edge, and shim it if necessary.

The easiest way that I've found to get at the tensioner removal bolt is to unbolt the fan shroud and pull it back towards the engine, then you'll be able to stick a socket wrench through the fan blades and unbolt the tensioner.

 

[fourwheelford]

To the op mine makes the same noise after it rains, it sounds like its coming from my power steering pump but I cant tell for sure, my tensioner and syncro are fairly new so its not those my belt only has about 12,000 on it so I doubt its that. I would focus on your AC or PS pump. On a side note it doesn't matter how good you are to it those syncros will still go out. If you hear a squeak from the passanger rear change it asap, hell I did it before started making noise just to be safe.

 

[McCormack]

....my tensioner and syncro are fairly new so its not those....

Just because a tensioner is new does not necessarily mean that it's not out of alignment - the 3.0 tensioner is a poor design, and even new ones have been known to be out of alignment right out of the box, so once installed it needs to be checked with a straight edge to make sure.

There are two different pulley sizes available for the tensioner and the idler pulleys (the idler and tensioner pulleys are interchangeable), and some Rangers like my '00 came from the factory with the larger sized pulleys, and as a result the serp belt puts too much pressure on the tensioner and pulls it out of alignment. I swapped in a smaller sized pulley (it's been awhile since I did it - I think I have a large pulley on my tensioner and a small pulley on my idler), and now the belt doesn't put nearly as much pressure on the tensioner, and after shimming my tensioner 8 years ago it's stayed in alignment ever since.

 

[EMB1230]

My other car is a '97 Taurus GL so it has the Vulcan too, so I am familiar with the Cam issue. I replaced it on the Taurus 2 summers ago, But what's weird is that I only had to replace sensor. My Ranger only has 45K. Yes, it has not been driven much, lol.

 

[fourwheelford]

Yeah tensioners can be faulty but with a mechanics stethoscope its pretty easy to pinpoint. When my tensioner was going out I knew it and it would always make noise not just when there is moisture in the air. I know exactly what his is doing because mine does the same thing and when I scope it I know its coming from either the AC or PS.

 

[jeffw920]

try some spray silicon, just for the heck of it...mine behaves similarly, starts to squeak when there is snow/alot of rain, wd-40 only works for a second, but silicon sprayed on the serpentine belt shuts it up for good...well at least until we get a few consecutive days of wet weather again.

much like yours mine is hard to pinpoint, at first i thought it was the ac pulley then i thought it was an idler pulley, its very hard to tell, but silicon sprayed on any location of the belt shuts it right up