When my car is idling it sounds like there's a bunch of canaries under my hood and sometimes when I turn it off, it makes a very quick squeal/sqweak before the engine shuts off.

Is my idler pulley going bad or does it just need a shot of WD-40?

Which pulley on the engine's bracketry is it?

 

when looking at your engine its the pulley on the top left when standing infront of your car looking into the engine compartment. Its not conected to anything eg(alternator or water pump). I have the same problem just can't find one anywhere besides the dealer and they want to much money for it. Let me know if you find one somewhere cheap

 

It's either the serpentine belt tensioner (the one described as above) or the belt itself (not likely). In my case, it was actually the a/c tensioner pulley (only made the noise when a/c was on).

 

WD-40 is a solvent more than it is an oil.

it will actually dissolve the lubricants in the bearings, evaporate out and leave everything in worse shape.

seems like i've heard the pulleys are $50 or so bucks...watch ebay

 

So it's the one that moves a little and the same one that automatically tensions your new serpentine belt? How do you get the thing to come off and DEFINITELY determine that that's the problem pulley? When I have my hood open, everything seems fine, it's when I'm idling when it makes noise. As soon as I hit the gas it disappears.

 

Then just idle the car and pop the hood!



I actually used a car stethoscope. I can almost guarantee you it's your serpentine belt tensioner pulley (the one nearest your throttle body). I think the 99's particularly had a problem with these.