On Monday, April 7, 2014 7:59:03 AM UTC-5, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh wrote:
stryped fired this volley in

:



I am looking for an easy and accurate way to check pulley alignment

on the serpentine belt system



You're not really thinking this out, Stryped.

Everything in a serpentine system is rigidly mounted. There are no

adjustments for lateral alignment. Belt tension is provided by a spring-

loaded tensioner.



The tensioner bearing is the most common problem, and they're cheap to

replace, but a mother-bitch to get to in some of the compacts.



The Mazda AC compressors have the same basic defect as the Mitusbishi

ones. The front of the pulley is vented, and the vents are so large that

there are only three little 5mm tabs of steel holding the entire pulley

to its spline hub. With time, they flex JUST enough to crack.

Eventually, if that happens, the pulley will let go of the hub. It won't

fly off, but it will create a terrific racket and possibly break your

belt.



If one or more tabs are cracked, you can see that as a wobble in the

pulley, whether the AC is on or not.



And you never said whether or not the AC is working properly. You could

have a plugged system deadheading compressor pressure, and causing the

belt slippage.



Still the idler is most suspect, then probably the AC clutch/pulley,

followed by the alternator bearings.



LLoyd

I replaced the tensioner and idler pully this weekend. Did not help.

I did note that I am getting vibration on one of the lines going to the power steering pump. The pulley seems to spin freely and has no play, but when I looked into the reservoir, the fluid was gray to black! I emptied the reservoir, cleaned it, and put in new fluid. This morning it had gray in it still, but was not nearly as bad. I can feel a slight vibration at idle in the steering wheel and can hear a faint wine at idle. It all goes away once I take off down the road....