Back from overseas for just a few weeks now and she is already being a bear. First the waterpump seal went south and that was kind of a pain. Not difficult per se but first two bolt heads sheared off and then to get the old pump off i had to pound on the pully bracket with my cheater bar and a big old hammer. Damn that was ON THERE.

Well now I've got this problem where my alternator belt is slipping or something or something is stuck or maybe one of the pulleys isn't rotating fast enough, I don't know. Anyway, when I have the heater on, and particularly from a stop, my belt will start squealing and getting hot and the motor will run at lower rpms than normal like there is a load on it and my voltage will drop to like 12. After a few seconds of squealing and sometimes stinking like burned belt it will come back again and the rpms will be normal and the voltage will go back up. Oddly enough if I turn the heater fan off it will also go back to normal. I can't really localize the source of the squeal with the hood open as it's so loud, but I can smell the belt and its hot to the touch and the alternator pulley is hot. Everything looks like it's turning though, not stuck. I've tried tightening the belt at the alternator (I mean REALLY hauling on it sometimes) and that seems to work for a while but it always starts doing it again after a few days. The belt seems tight enough but of course when it gets hot I bet it loosens up.

Any ideas? This is maddening. It's the dead of bloody winter here in ND and all I need is a discharged battery or a broken belt haha.

Also, I should note that the alternator is new, as I thought that might be the problem, but it wasn't, apparently. The ac compressor and clutch/pulley is also newer as of this summer. Maybe applicable as the belt goes around that pulley too as well as the water pump and an idler pulley and crank pulley.

Ok lets take a step back and narrow down the route of the issue before hand.Now did the car have any belt noise prior to replacing the waterpump?Next you could have done something that created the problem you have.You said all the new parts but,the belt tensioner pulley you did NOT replace correct?I would do one thing at the moment and that is take the belt tensioner off and replace it.If by you wacking on parts damaged the bearing in the pulley this may be the problem.The waterpumps are not super hard but,old parts that have not been removed can be tight due to time.The voltage drop may be due to the tensioner bearing is sticking which ALSO ties into the alt as it runs in that loop of the belt and causes the noise and making tensioner turn slower under a LOAD and get the belt hot and whine.Over tightening a belt can do more damage to the components you soley want a 3/8 or so of push of play on the belt (or just snug but not super tight).Tired I am and just replace the tensioner pulley and adjust the belt to a NICE snug setting and try again.I want say get the alternator tested unless you indicate the belt issue was PRIOR to waterpump replacement.R

Not too familiar with the 2.8 belt routing.
But from my experience with other GM cars, start buy looking at the belt tension-er like Ron said. Common for those to work fine until you move them to change belts. Also look at any other pulleys with bearings in them, have had those start to squeal also. Hopefully you can still get these parts off the shelf. Sometimes you can just get the bearings and press them in to pulleys.

I'm not familiar with the setup in yours, but on the 2.0 I had back in the day, I had a problem where the belt kept loosening and then slipping off. Took a few belts until I figured out it was the rubber grommet on the alternator bracket that needed to be replaced.

Good points all. I don't know why but it didn't occur to me that it could be the idler pulley. I'll replace that and see what happens. Wayne, I did actually have that problem with the lower bolt/spacer/grommet assembly on the alternator bracket this summer but I ended up cobbling a new one together from farm hardware store parts as the parts guy at the GM dealer swore that assembly simply wasn't available any longer. It's very very cold out today so I don't think I will be doing anything under the hood but I will post further updates as events warrant.

Probably the alternator if it only happens with an electrical load. Spin the pulses by hand and see if one binds or feels funny.




On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.

Probably the alternator if it only happens with an electrical load. Spin the pulleys by hand and see if one binds or feels funny.




On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.

Rob you posted 2x but no harm!!!! OH my gah a double poster .Anyhow if the idler is not the issue I already thought of the alternater being faulty as the new REMAN stuff is really sucking these days.So if the quick fix does not correct it,take off the alternator and get it BENCH tested multiple times as I said the reman quality sucks lately.I did not suggest the alternator bc IF this was not present prior to the waterpump work I would have ruled that out soley bc it was not a issue!

ok so... my idler pulley comes tomorrow and I'm planning to do the work tuesday, however my useless for a lot of things chilton manual doesn't have any information on how to replace the thing. By looking at it im guessing that I'll need to take the whole bracket off along with the alternator as there is no room to get anything inbetween it and the fender well when its on the car. Is that correct? Also, what sort of bolt is that on the pulley? I can't see anything except for that I need to insert some kind of bit into it. I want to make sure I have the appropriate tool before I go taking the thing off.

The bolt head I imagine is a star bit or like a T40 in the size just guessing.In short the head is like a star but with more points as these tend NOT to strip on removing them unlike some bolts based on the specific parts.I will link the tool and or set like from auto zone later.Removing the alternator on your engine def will give you room as you will need it.

Thanks Ron, I would really appreciate that. I have a set of star type bits that I used to replace a seatbelt on a jeep, maybe I have the right one already? Maybe not. Best to be sure.

http://www.autozone.com/screwdrivers/driver-bit/otc-52-pcs-master-torx-socket-set/112536_0_0/ This set is way more than what you need.But if you look close you will see the bigger torx bit heads like T30,T40,T50 and yes like the bolts for the seat belts anchor bolts in the floor and mounts literally all the seat belts assemblies top or bottom.I am just tired and showing this quick.I would check the set of torx bits head in the head of the tensioner to the one's you have.If you do not have the right size go to auto zone or advance or napa they carry these in a variation of sets.Some come as shorts in a 3/8 rachet style or the the entended ones like for wheel bearing hubs front or rear on our cars.You clearly need the short socket style for space of course.The increments I provided are not quiet like the sets but a good general idea.They come in increments of 5 or 10 so like 20,25,30 OR 30,40,50 just varies based on the set.