for the last couple of days my pulley/belt has been whining bad. it sounds like a have a blower on there. i have a gatorback belt and stock pulleys. anyone know what could be the problem? its a 1998 4.6L

 

hold one end of a hose up to your ear and move the other around to verify where the noise is coming from. could be alternator, idler pulley, the pulley on the tensioner, etc.

 

I'll throw my money on power steering...

 

well it only does it at high RPMs. and doesnt really do it when im turing or anything.

 

tension or idler pulley

 

The gates right up says it's a good Idea to change the tensioner at the same time you change the belt.

Faster150 is right definitely. I just changed everything up front - even the clutch fan, but the idler pulley and tensioner pulley where noisy. Not a squealing noise - just sounded like a big *** boulder rolling down hill on concrete. The pulleys made the same noise , just lower pitched once removed from the truck. They where on the verge of becoming worse!!! Yea , squealing means their heating up, better change them.

The new ones don't make a peep - nice..

BTW - Rock Auto had my new ones here in two days and they don't beat you up on price.

 

the pulleys are like 13 bucks from autozone or u could get new bearings for 3 bucks

 

do you hear any whine at idle? could be alternator too

 

no. just when driving. the alternator is only a year old.

im just gonna replace all the pulleys. its a good excuse to get some aftermarket ones. will i need a new belt if i get aftermarket ones?

 

There really isn't much difference IMO in these parts from vender to vender. There might be, stick with a well known vender if you can.

No need to change the belt unless it's tired and missing pieces

 

While you're at it, you can install an underdrive pulley.

 

well i got me a new tensioner pulley to see if this fixes the problem. anyone know how to change them?

 

Remove belt/Remove 13mm bolt from center of idler/Remove 3 10mm bolts from tensioner. You should be able to figure the rest out ?

 

thanks. thats what i needed to know.

 

ya going to be replacing the tensioner pulley tonight in the 9* weather