Beaw

So my idler pulley has been EXTREMELY squeaky as of late when I accelerate. And I've found a few threads on here about repacking the bearings with grease. However I'm a noob mechanic. What tools do I need and how exactly do I remove the pulley?

Any videos would help. :s

Thank you.

eseibel67

iTrader: (10)

It is a Torx bit, can't remember what size. Mine was in so tight, I had to heat the boss that it's screwed into in order to crack it loose.

Once it's out, just pry the dust seal off the bearing and repack with fresh grease.

Schnell

Depends on which idler you're talking about. The main v belt pulley's and lower ac belt pulley you'll need 15MM socket on 3/8 drive. The upper ac pulley is torx. T45 or T50, can't remember which one. If anything is squeaky pull all and repack ALL of them. I've had some success and some failure with this. Worse case scenario is you eventually have to buy some new pulley's. I just picked up the 2 ac pulley's for $16 each at AA on an AZ price match. They are aluminum so this is a nice little upgrade from the plastic which was wearing anyhow. If you haven't replaced the belts in some time this would be a good time too.

Both the V belt and ac belt will come off when you use the 15 mm socket. For v belt apply tightening tension to the pulley tensioner and take the belt off. For the ac belt use the 15 mm socket on the lower pulley/tensioner in the same manner and that belt will come right off.

Beaw

Thank you. That helped a lot.

Beaw

I took the a/c belt off. Just to see if that would end the squeaking. And.. still squeaking. What pulleys should I take off to regrease?

Edit: Nevermind. I regreased every pulley I could in the serpentine belt. But still a squeak. I assume it's the belt..

eseibel67

iTrader: (10)

If it's squeaky (screeching) when you accelerate, it's probably the belt.

I thought you already had it narrowed down to the idler pulley in my earlier response.

King Nothing

iTrader: (9)

i was having this issue . . . ended up being the pulley on the water pump that was going bad i found it when i had my old one next to the new one and when i spun the old pulley it free-spun fr a second or 2 and the new one doesn't free spin at all

Beaw

I thought I did, too.

Schnell

The best way to test squeaking is to remove the belt. Since you already tried with the ac belt off and you still get the squeak try with the v belt off too. If you can normally hear the squeaking immediately when starting the car this method will work as you should not car the car long without the v belt ---the water pump will not be rotating. You'll also get a check guages light as the alternator will not be spinning. I do this in my garage for a very short period and shut the car off.
If you did not replace the belts it is very possible a new belt(s) will stop the squeaking alone, just determine which belt is the problem and whether or not you greased all pulleys. In a bad scenario the bearing in the alternator is going or even the ac compressor.