I finally started working on getting rid of the annoying underhood squeaks and whirrs that have been annoying me for some time now. Replaced the idler pulley, and that fixed the worst of the noise, and I swear the motor cranks a bit faster now.

Changing the P/S fluid seemed to quiet that down a bit, but it's still got that Ford P/S noise. Works fine, so I see no need to do anything more with that.

Now it's the A/c pulley, or more specifically the clutch bearing. It's a rapid squeak-squeak-squeak whenever the motor is running and warm. Whether the a/c is on or not has no effect on the noise. Over the past several months it's seems to have gotten worse(louder). I can turn the pulley by hand, but it isn't as easy as it should be and squeaks even when turning by hand.

How hard is it to replace the bearing there? Does it mean replacing the whole clutch assembly? Getting a shot of wd-40 in there quiets it for a minute or so, then it slowly comes back so it's definetly the pulley.

 

start off by taking off the clutch. should be just the center bolt and i forget whether or not you need a puller. if the compressor is leaking from the front seal then you'd need a new compressor unless your not worried about having a/c then i'd just replace the clutch.

 

The a/c works great and the charge level is right where it should be.

Just from looking at it it would seem that a puller of some sort would be necessary. At school I have to make an appointment to use the garage, so I want to have all the stuff I need before I start tearing into things.

I was just wondering if this has happened to anyone else and the pulley locked up or anything else bad, or if it's just an annoying squeak.

 

Really look close at the lineup w/ the p/s pump pully. It's common for the pully to be slightly forward of true if it's ever been replaced (p/s pump). People tend to under re-press the pulley & can cause the a/c pully to ride against the side of the bearing race instead of straight down the center.

 

i just fixed all those squeaks a while ago heres some tips. replace belt and the tensioner pulley assembly its just one bolt 15 min of work. dont just replace the bearing i did that and it started squeaking the next day in rain.