I think I finally fixed my squeal under the hood.....OMG!

[92muddyXJ]

Wow, what a pain in butt.

I have a 97 Sport 4x4 4.0 SOHC that had a horrible squeal right at start up and if you ran the A/C it would squeal like crazy. I thought it was the belt and or tensioner, I replaced both and it got worse.

Then I thought Idler pulley....replaced today, NOPE!

Then I noticed my alternator pulley was discolored and extremely hot and did not spin very freely...probably should have checked that first

Went to Autozone and just bought a new one. I get back home and come to find out, the wrong alternator was in the box, didn't quite line up. I bought a Duralast part, but it was a mastercraft alternator
They got me the right part and I was back in business.

I got the new alternator in and hooked everything back up and started. There was a little squeal right at first and when I took off out of my neighborhood but I think that was because of all the WD40 on the belt from my troubleshooting because it went away within seconds and never came back. I drove for miles turning the A/C on, letting it run then turning it off and back on in stop and go traffic, and no squeal. Tomorrow will be the real test....I really hope I am done with this expensive ass annoying problem. I don't know of much else to replace if this doesn't do it.

Anyway, just thought I would share if anyone has had a similar problem and has found no solution....

 

[John Frank]

Well done on the fix, hope it has gone now.

 

[Khaelbee]

i hope its gone too, but i've noticed that every time i play with my belt the squeak stops for a couple days and then comes back. i've got a 97 xl (sport without all the fancy schmancies) and mine is ohv... i've narrowed mine down to the a/c pulley bearing. i'm not brave enough to take mine all apart to try to fix it, so its going in to the shop soon. good luck!

 

[lunchfist]

Hmm. I'll have to try this next time it's above 30 degrees outside. lol. I have a 2001 explorer xlt with the 4.0 sohc that squeals after starting it... wasn't so bad a couple weeks ago, sometimes it would do it, sometimes it wouldn't.. but now it's every day and quite loud. i'll have to get on this soon. Hopefully mine is an easy fix too.. i'd hate to have to take it to the dealership already!

 

[koda2000]

if the squealing continues it may be that the belt was glazed from the heat being generated by the alt pulley. if thats the case, you'll need to replace the belt.

 

[lunchfist]

Well, Long story short, my squeal was from the tensioner/belt. Looks like it was factory equipment as the parts had ford stamped in them and were very very worn looking. i'm pushing 127k miles. I replaced all the belt drive (tensioner, idler, and belt) and no squeal for 5 weeks so far.

BUT

it did seem that the alternator pulley did not spin as freely as i would suspect? Is there supposed to be some resistance felt on the alternator pulley?

 

[Joe Dirt]

Was this a one year fix update? Nice!!