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!

On 07-Apr-14 8:18 PM, stryped wrote:
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!



Alternator bearings or idler pulley bearings are u/s

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

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....

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


Ac has always worked properly by the way.

When my wife goes through a drive through by the way she has to cut the air off to make the racket from the belt or whatever stop. Only seems to happen in gear with the ac on and stopped or nearly stopped....
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

stryped fired this volley in news:a6e020d6-237f-4579-
:

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

And the belt? Please tell me you didn't cheap-out and only replace the
tensioner?

Lloyd

"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.

On Mon, 07 Apr 2014 07:59:03 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com 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.
-------- -------
Oxymoron Alert!

--
No greater wrong can ever be done than to put a good man at the mercy
of a bad, while telling him not to defend himself or his fellows;
in no way can the success of evil be made quicker or surer.
--Theodore Roosevelt

Larry Jaques fired this volley in
:

Oxymoron Alert!

G

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...

On Mon, 7 Apr 2014 05:18:08 -0700 (PDT), stryped
wrote:

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!
Escapes and just about all Mazdas have a bad habit of producing a lot
of belt squeel. Get a Gatorback belt and it will go away. Plan on
replacing annually

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.