Well as everyone knows certain parts on these cars seem to enjoy repeatedly dying for no apparent reason.

Anyway, several months ago I started hearing this annoying squeaking noise. Several weeks later with the help of an old dude at advance auto and a can of wd-40 I find the culprit: the tensioner.

No problem. I buy a new one, replace it, squeak is gone.

Now it's back again, ready to irritate me again whenever I start up the car.

When I first heard it, I took the sucker apart and lubed it up w/ some high temp grease. It worked for a while, but came back.

Now, I can spray it with wd-40 or some engine oil and the noise will disappear immediately, only to come back a few hours later, when the stuff has dried up or worn off.

Is this one of those parts that can be out of spec when manufactured (did I get a dud)?

Is there something that could be misaligning the pulley system causing the tensioner to wear unevenly?

Is the tensioner supposed to be lubed up or something initially?

The sound drives me nuts, so any insight into this is greatly appreciated.

 

Did you just replace the pulley, or the tensioner/pulley assembly??? If you just replace the pulley, your tensioner might be going out and not within specs......

 

Replaced whole assembly, got it from Advance Auto.

 

Take it back and try another one... It should be still under warranty... You could have gotten one that got by quality control....

And by the way, the bearings are self contained, dont add or spray anything on it.....

 

Is there something else that could be squeaking on it or something? I don't understand how it will shut up so fast when I spray it with some lube, it's almost freaky. Now you hear it, now you don't...

I guess I might as well just replace it and see how it runs, they're not that expensive and it's one of the easier parts to replace...:blah:

 

GreenDemon,
I had the same problem with mine. I bought a new one from gm and it squeaked as well I took it back to gm and they gave me another one and told me that if the belt needs to be replaced. So I installed the new tensioner/pulley assembly and it squeaked. I bought a new belt and that fixed it. They said something about if the belt is stretched it will cause the tensioner to squeak.

 

Ah I think I may have your answer! The tensioner on my car has been giving out, but at very odd times. Almost exactly as you described your situation...No biggie, just adjust it right?

Well its not that easy. Several things for you to consider--When my tensioner swung out of position, the belt of course lost tension so the accesories start running dim, voltage drops, etc.
Somehow I barely ever had sqeaking though, but of course I could see the voltage drop to the yellow and I knew I had to quick tighten it and it ran fine for either 50 miles or 500 miles, acts very weird like that, mind of its own....
When does this happen? Mine for example happens only if I give the car extreme throttle from low to high rpm....so if I am sitting in neutral, and rev it to 5k, just to goof around, I can almost sense the tensioner ever so nicely just lose its tension.

For you, you must have one that gives out instantly. The squeaking develops, which could be from the belt actually being pinched between the crank pully and the tensioner pulley or any combo of the 2. When this happens, the bely actually used to shred itself as well, now it calmy swings out of place, most likely from being worn, and isnt as forceful when it gives out

In 2 weeks when I fire the car up again for summer, I have a new tensioner in the mail right now that should fix this problem. I'll probably get a new belt too just to make sure everything is fresh. You may want to try this as well...

Hope this helps...

 

Any chance when you sprayed WD40 you got it on the belt (that will temporarily quiet the belt). I had this problem, ended up spraying belt dressing on the belt that "cured" the problem for about 3 days. Replaced the belt...solved!

 

agreed. 9/10 times it;s the belt