remove idler pulley

[procharlie]

I have an '87 T-Type that has a squeeky serpentine drive belt. I squirted water on the belt and it stopped squeeking for a short time. I replaced the belt but the squeek is still there. I looked online for how to diagnose squeeky drive belts and it sounds like I have a pulley misaligned. I removed the belt by rotating clockwise the idler pulley just below the alternator to reduce belt tension. With the belt off, I found that idler pulley turns very free, which I read could indicate a lack of grease on the pulley bearing. I tried to remove the pulley by turning counter-clockwise the bolt head on the pulley (the one I turned to reduce the tension), but it doesn't want to come loose. I tried pushing pretty hard with a breaker bar but the bolt didn't turn, and I am wondering if it should be able to come loose. I don't know any other way the pulley could be attached to its bracket, but I don't want to break anything. Can anyone tell me if I should be able to remove the pulley by removing the bolt that it turns on? Do I have to remove the whole bracket, etc, that the pulley is mounted on?

 

[procharlie]

OK, I got the pulley off, just had to push a little harder on the breaker bar. Didn't find anything wrong with the pulley so I put it back on and still don't know what is causing the squeeking. Sounds like it is coming from the area of the crank pulley. All the forum discussions of squeeky belts talk about old belts or misaligned idler pulleys, so I'm still stumped.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Check the balancer bolt. Also, check the crank end play.

 

[m233roller]

Do you have stock pulleys or aluminum pulleys? Could be an alignement problem but I doubt it. What kind of mileage do the pulleys have on them?

 

[scgnx2]

Check the AC compressor mounting bolts.

 

[Boostdeznuts]

I had the same problem and change 3 belt and it last for a few hours each belt before it start squeking again. The mechanic didnt tighten up the power steering pump so the pulley was misaligned. Check the steering pump

 

[mikestertwo]

I had that problem a few years ago and turned out it was the rebuilt alternator I had put on it. The pulley had the wrong offset. Changed the spacer behind the pulley and all was good.