Pulley squeak | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Pulley squeak

Ryo

Member
Joined
January 1, 2018
Messages
25
Reaction score
1
City, State
Levittown PA
Year, Model & Trim Level
2001 Ford Explorer Sport
hey guys I have a 2001 sport 4.0 and I have a loud squeak coming from what seems to be a belt driven component. I’m hoping it is something I can fix but I can’t seem to figure out what is causing it. I took a video last night but it won’t let me upload it on my phone, I’ll try on my iPad when I get home. thanks for your help.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Remove the belt and spin ALL the pulleys by hand checking for roughness. If no problem found, start the cold engine for less than one minute and listen for internal engine noises. 4.0L SOHC engines are known for timing chain guide issues. Hope not.

How to: - Timing chain rattle resolution process - SOHC V6
 






Thanks I’ll start with that. Is there any way of narrowing down which pulley might be the bad one if it is one of them? I was thinking water pump.. the squeak is def louder or faster when accelerating
 






Usually pretty easy by feel. Pulleys should spin smoothly without any feel of binding, "grittiness", or play.
 






Ok thanks for your help
 






My money would be on the idler tensioner pulley.
I have the same motor and mine had the same symptoms and it was the tensioner.
 






I was thinking it could be the tensioner. Was it easy to replace?
 






Watch it, if you see it moving more than usual is a good sign that it's shot too.

Sure was easy to install, but you need a second set of hands to get your belt back on, unless your a pro.

The only way to have enough room to get proper amount of slack was from applying the breaker bar to tensioner from below the engine if I remember correctly.
 






Cheater pipe on the end of the ratchet or breaker bar will give added leverage to remove and install the belt.

One bolt to remove the tensioner.
 






PRO ^^^^

I got a kit, with a new idler pulley, belt, and tensioner since my belt was worn.

Due to its location it was harder to pinpoint the noise, but when it blew into 5 pieces it was easy to find, luckily I wasn't driving.
 












Watch it, if you see it moving more than usual is a good sign that it's shot too.
Good advice. Visual inspection of ALL the pulleys and belt with the engine running should be first thing that should be done.
OP, these two videos are well worth your time. Please be careful around the fan and all other moving parts.



 






I had the same problem after a belt change. 5 months later the pulleys started to squeak. I had to change both the idler pulley and the tensioner. It's an easy job and some people recommend to change those pulleys after or with a belt change.

The tensioner pulley had a broken ball bearing, so it was time to change it. Same for the idler pulley, but it was in better condition.

Also, depending on the millage, you should inspect your alternator. It needs maintenance and the pulley there also fails and can be repaired by a technician... or even DIY.
 












Thanks guys! My alternator looks newer but sounds like it’s probably the tensioner which I hope since that should’ve be too expensive or hard to do
 






Thanks guys! My alternator looks newer but sounds like it’s probably the tensioner which I hope since that should’ve be too expensive or hard to do

Tensioner pulley, idler pulleys, A/C pulley, water pump can all squeak as well as the belt itself. I'd remove the belt a figure out which pulley(s) needs to be replaced. You can tell a lot buy spinning each by hand. If they feel dry and a bit rattley change them or change them all. The only one that's costly is the A/C clutch, which runs around $100-120. All are pretty easily changed once the belt is off.
 






if it's the ac you can pull that clutch apart and replace the bearing probably a 6205-2rs bearing
roscoe
 






if it's the ac you can pull that clutch apart and replace the bearing probably a 6205-2rs bearing
roscoe

The clutch wears down too. You may need to remove the air-gap spacer while you have it apart to change the A/C bearing.
 






I finally got around to checking out my pulleys and I replaced the idler, tensioner and belt for a total of $75 but squeaking is gone. Thanks for your help everyone.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Glad you got it solved. FYI if your water pump bearing is failing, first sign is usually coolant loss out the weep hole on the housing.
 






Back
Top