Stalling when in Gear along with Flickering Lights

[Gorb]

It had to be jumped. That battery was swollen and missing 1/4 of the acid inside it too.

 

[07EddyB]

While you have the belt off make sure everything turns. You have a pulley on the tensioner along with three idler pulleys. Check the fan, a/c compressor, power steering, and most importantly, the alternator. Considering the shape of your battery you also need to check the voltage on the alternator once you get it running with the belt on. Sounds like it may be putting out too much voltage.
I don't think the belt itself is your problem - you have a bad pulley somewhere since it runs without the belt.

 

[MotorCityFats13]

sounds like there is way too much drag on the system and then the alternators field activates and that is the last straw and it cant handle the load.... a longer belt cant change the pulley ratios....too long and the tensioner cant adjust so you will get slippage and as mentioned lots of squeal and smoke.... an activated alternator needs around 8hp to spin add that to the added drag when the idlers fail and you have problems holding 900rpm

 

[Thafisher]

While you have the belt off make sure everything turns. You have a pulley on the tensioner along with three idler pulleys. Check the fan, a/c compressor, power steering, and most importantly, the alternator. Considering the shape of your battery you also need to check the voltage on the alternator once you get it running with the belt on. Sounds like it may be putting out too much voltage.
I don't think the belt itself is your problem - you have a bad pulley somewhere since it runs without the belt.

Well it doesn't stay running with the new belt. The tensioner pulley is going to be my next bet. It definitely wobbles alot more than it should. That would cause this correct?

 

[MotorCityFats13]

Well it doesn't stay running with the new belt. The tensioner pulley is going to be my next bet. It definitely wobbles alot more than it should. That would cause this correct?

how did all the other pulleys feel when you spun them by hand when the belt was off.... one of them or more has to be really hard to turn.... you are driving many pulleys they all but the crank should be easy to turn by hand

 

[Thafisher]

how did all the other pulleys feel when you spun them by hand when the belt was off

I didn't check all of them, I didn't read that until a few minutes ago. But I checked a few of them and nothing was out of ordinary. I have recently pulled off the tensioner pulley to look at it. It's still too stiff to move by hand but it sure does bounce around while the engine is running.

 

[Thafisher]

how did all the other pulleys feel when you spun them by hand when the belt was off.... one of them or more has to be really hard to turn.... you are driving many pulleys they all but the crank should be easy to turn by hand

I'll pull the belt off real quick and give them a turn. You think it's more likely to be something hard to turn rather than the tensioner being worn? It also still has a belt squeal noise.

 

[Rcflyer330]

I'll pull the belt off real quick and give them a turn. You think it's more likely to be something hard to turn rather than the tensioner being worn? It also still has a belt squeal noise.

Yes, it's more likely that something is putting a load on the engine than the tensioner beiing bad. but the tensioner may not be turning freely adding to the problem.

don't worry about the squeaking belt yet until you get the major problem fixed if it is still there after that then work on solving that problem.

 

[Thafisher]

Yes, it's more likely that something is putting a load on the engine than the tensioner beiing bad. but the tensioner may not be turning freely adding to the problem.

VID_20190310_174047751 - Streamable
A squeaking belt is often associated with it being loose. It almost seems like its getting loose as the tensioner bounces and tight as it comes back down.
I could be wrong though..

 

[MotorCityFats13]

on the face of the tensioner there are markings that let you know if the belt is out of spec but if the tensioner is weak then the belt will slip under load first making a squeel and ending in smoke but a slipping belt does not add drag it actually reduces drag since its slipping, this problem could be a bad bearing in the tensioner, one or more of the idler pulleys, alternator,water pump, power steering pump or a locking up air conditioner pump which can lock up and cause alot of drag.... the a/c compressor will make a noticeable clicking sound when you cycle the settings on the hvac controls

 

[Thafisher]

on the face of the tensioner there are markings that let you know if the belt is out of spec but if the tensioner is weak then the belt will slip under load first making a squeel and ending in smoke but a slipping belt does not add drag it actually reduces drag since its slipping, this problem could be a bad bearing in the tensioner, one or more of the idler pulleys, alternator,water pump, power steering pump or a locking up air conditioner pump which can lock up and cause alot of drag

Everything moves freely without any resistance. What do you recommend I check/do next?

 

[Thafisher]

on the face of the tensioner there are markings that let you know if the belt is out of spec but if the tensioner is weak then the belt will slip under load first making a squeel and ending in smoke but a slipping belt does not add drag it actually reduces drag since its slipping, this problem could be a bad bearing in the tensioner, one or more of the idler pulleys, alternator,water pump, power steering pump or a locking up air conditioner pump which can lock up and cause alot of drag.... the a/c compressor will make a noticeable clicking sound when you cycle the settings on the hvac controls

Also, the AC turns on just fine. As long as I'm keeping the engine running by pressing the gas.
Here's a video of what's happening. You can hear the squealing that I hear too. - Streamable - free video publishing (Click link)

So are you basically saying that it's got to be one of the pulleys that are causing it to drag?

 

[Rcflyer330]

That sounds more like a wissle than a sqeak.
Did that sound go away with the belt off?

 

[Thafisher]

That sounds more like a wissle than a sqeak.
Did that sound go away with the belt off?

Yes, the noise completely goes away with the belt off.

 

[MotorCityFats13]

leave the belt on and if your alternator has a small plug with a single wire that is the magnetic field activation wire with the engine off unplug that wire and start the engine your dash will throw up the charging warning if it runs fine then take the alt up to the parts store and have them test it ... if it doesn't have a single wire plug just unhook them all it will meet the same goal

if the noise also goes away with the alt unplugged then its a gonner

looks like the 4.6 alt only has a single plug with 3 wires so just unplug that and start it up

 

[Thafisher]

leave the belt on and if your alternator has a small plug with a single wire that is the magnetic field activation wire with the engine off unplug that wire and start the engine your dash will throw up the charging warning if it runs fine then take the alt up to the parts store and have them test it ... if it doesn't have a single wire plug just unhook them all it will meet the same goal

if the noise also goes away with the alt unplugged then its a gonner

looks like the 4.6 alt only has a single plug with 3 wires so just unplug that and start it up

Are you talking about that black plug on the top right of the picture?

 

[Rcflyer330]

Yes that would be the one

 

[Thafisher]

Yes that would be the one

I will have to pull off the alternator to reach it if I'm not mistaken. It's on the back of it, out of reach. But I will give it a go tomorrow.

 

[MotorCityFats13]

Are you talking about that black plug on the top right of the picture?

View attachment 168289

after looking into it Im reading the little single wire plug is for the light on the dash so pull the one with the 3 wires unless you have a volt meter and can confirm the small plug while engine is running drops you below 13 volts... on mine the plugs face up if yours face down then you might have better luck pulling the alt off.... I know on the 4.0's pulling the alt is like a 2 minute job.... I wish I knew of the fuse that would do the same but I dont because that would be way too easy


just to add when an alt starts to die its not always low voltage they can do really strange things ive seen them put 16vdc and even send out AC current when the diod trio fails in a rare way im suspecting yours has failing bearings that bind under load

 

[Thafisher]

after looking into it Im reading the little single wire plug is for the light on the dash so pull the one with the 3 wires unless you have a volt meter and can confirm the small plug while engine is running drops you below 13 volts... on mine the plugs face up if yours face down then you might have better luck pulling the alt off.... I know on the 4.0's pulling the alt is like a 2 minute job.... I wish I knew of the fuse that would do the same but I dont because that would be way too easy


just to add when an alt starts to die its not always low voltage they can do really strange things ive seen them put 16vdc and even send out AC current when the diod trio fails in a rare way im suspecting yours has failing bearings that bind under load

Do you think I'd be better off just bringing it to autozone and letting them test the alternator for me? It's a half mile away from me.