1999 Merc weird thing pullys?

[Islandguyhere]

1999 Merc Mountaineer 95k miles (Right find one w that mileage

Serp belt came off out of nowhere. Didn't break. Just came off. Didn't hear a sound but wasn't listening for it. (Good tunes

Replaced belt with new just in case just stretched. Drove it 10 miles all good. Parked for a week. Started today. Hella loud clanking coming from somewhere on the pully side. A/C Compressor? Any suggestions greatly appreciated I'm at a loss.

 

[Mr. Alligator]

Might be your belt tensioner needs to be replaced.

You could also take off the serpentine belt and spin each of the pulleys by hand to make sure they are all spinning properly.

Good luck.

 

[Mbrooks420]

5.0? Water pump may have given up the ghost.

 

[Islandguyhere]

Uhg. That belt is a rough one to get on.

Guess have no choice.

little more background

.. It runs fine. Engine solid
got it last year from the son of the original owner who was really not wanting to sell it, Dads car right, but his landlord said it's gotta get out of the front yard. That sons father bought it drove it to his favorite fishing spot 12 miles away everyday then drove it home. For 18 years. Then passed. My guess puts it sitting from 2017 till Feb 2021.

Replaced the radiator & stat. Control arms (which suck need a special removal tool only works on Mountaineers.. One left for sale in Ohio $300 cost me). Had an A/C shop hook it up to the machine got it blowing cold. And other little things.

But there's deff a thing going on with the belt. Water pump sounds clukd be right but new Stat shows temp fine.

Had an 97 Expedition A/C clutch went out years ago froze the engine. Put a bypass pully in that one. (Not knowing the hoses are under pressure cut them with tin snips. BTW - once covered in A/C fluid it does wash off in shower lol)

Plus I live in a condo complex now and they are not so fond of hoods up. But I have somewhere can do it. (Lost the house Covid).

Any other thoughts or suggestions before I dig into this?

 

[donalds]

As suggesd above remove the belt spin the pulleys

 

[410Fortune]

Is it a v6 or v8

Never heard of a control arm tool only for mountaineers

 

[J_C]

If the belt isn't damaged at all, then I bet your tensioner is worn/weak, along with maybe some other driven pulley/component, or maybe the tensioner by itself. Then again just coming off while engine still runs can cause damage, I mean like the grooves being worn away from another pulley giving too much resistance.

 

[CDW6212R]

The belt should only come off it something is wrong with the various pulleys, out of alignment, bearings bad etc. Look at all of the pulleys, replace all of those which can be easily replaced. check the tensioner well to be sure the pulley is perfectly aligned. If anyting looks not centered with any pulley, that one most likely has to be replaced. It won't be just one thing, high mileage and age means changing all of the idler pulleys together.

 

[Islandguyhere]

Okay. Some wrench has to have an idea...

Took Serp off. all spin. Crank no but can start without belt crank spins normal.

The new belt with 100 miles has fraying on one side. Same as belt that originally came off.

It's possessed. Lol.

Uhg. Slam a 5.0 into an Explorer not much room in there. Haha.

Any clues?

 

[J_C]

If there's no excessively play in any of the pulleys then I suspect your tensioner is worn out. There are marks or something (triangle marker cast into it?), that indicate that it's at the end of its travel or you can manually check for excessive belt deflection from insufficient tension.

 

[JrBrown]

Might be your belt tensioner needs to be replaced.

You could also take off the serpentine belt and spin each of the pulleys by hand to make sure they are all spinning properly.

Good luck.

My keep falling off 2004 mercury mountaineer and I had to replace the tensioner pull so may be the best bet. I never knew the A/C PULLY NEVERY TURNED UNLESS A/C was engaged.

 

[RangerNutt]

No mention of putting an eyeball on it. Engine off and with excellent lighting, first sight along the belt edge between pulleys as best possible. Then if nothing obvious, lay a straight edge along each segment. Misalignment severe enough to cause belt ejection should be obvious. ...Unless of course, it only occurs when running. But that behavior can be observed also. ...Unless intermittent, then just watch longer. ...Unless intermittent and only occurring at higher rpm. Then rev it while watching (and being careful).

The troublesome part should become obvious.

 

[allmyEXes]

I wonder if there are very many Explorer/Mountaineers in the junk yards in Hawaii?