"stryped" wrote in message
...
I have an intermittent noise in my wife's 2007 Ford Escape. I am looking
for an easy and accurate way to check pulley alignment on the serpentine
belt system. (Preferably without purchasing an expensive tool).

I have read about garages using lasers to check them. (Of course it is an
expensive tool that has to be purchased.)

Could a person somehow use a simple laser pointer? The other problem is
the tight quarters, it is a sideways front wheel drive four cylinder, so
it is hard to get to.

The noise is a kind of rattle/squeal that is pronounced when the ac is on.
I put a new belt on it sometime agao and the problem went away. However it
came back.

Visually I cant really tell that the belt is running untrue but again it
is hard to look at.

Spinning everything by hand there does not seem to be excessive play. I
sis note I could hear the alternator when I spun it by hand. I am not sure
if this is normal or not.

As always I appreciate it!

It is more likely a bad clutch on the air conditioning pump than a
misaligned belt. A simple square across a pulley face should allow you to
see any alignment problem so bad as to cause a problem. It is also possible
an old and badly worn belt is simply slipping under the increased load of
the air conditioning compresser causing a squeaking noise, but I doubt it
would cause a rattling noise.