On Mon, 7 Apr 2014 11:27:09 -0700 (PDT), stryped
wrote:

On Monday, April 7, 2014 12:16:34 PM UTC-5, Bob La Londe wrote:
"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.

I did replace the belt several months ago when this started happening. And it seemed to fix the problem. But, then the noise came back. Maybe not as bad but did come back. The area is so tight not sure if I could get a square in there.

My thought was since it went away after replacing the belt that a possible misaligned pulley is doing damage to the belt. I will say when I replaced the tensioner and idler this past weekend, at first the belt looked ok, but after putting it back on, I noticed in the sunlight it looked like fine hair or something was fraying off the side of the belt. I am not 100 prevent sure on that. Visually looking at it while running the belt seemed to track straight. However when I turn the ac on, the tensioner starts vibrating visually a lot...
Don't put on a cheap belt. Get a Gatorback. About the only thing that
will stay quiet on an escape/trubute for more than 3 months.