OK, new alternator fitted for just over a week and then the other day I got this continuous squeeling from the engine bay. Lifted the bonnet and it was definately a belt slipping but couldn't determine which one.

 

I'm pretty sure the belt was good and tight when I fitted it and I used the old belt (it seemed in good nick) so there shouldn't be any stretch.

 

Having thought about it, I think it manifested itself when I hit the demist (and hence the air con kicked in). Since then, there's been no noise but some faint burning smell from the front after a drive. The air con still works and the pulley clutch seems to kick in but it does have a slight wobble in the pulley.

 

I'm suspecting that a bearing may have given way in the air con compressor causing the temporary belt squeal and subsequent wobble. Should I cut the belt now and save the compressor from futher damage or is there nothing to save and I might as well keep using it whilst it works? Or is it something else?

 

Answers on a postcard...

 

Cheers,

 

Ian A.

hmm have ya overtightned the belt and knackred the bearing??

 

try taking the belt off and having a feel of the pulley bearing by hand!!

Didn't touch the air con belt. Would overtightening the alternator belt affect the air con pulley?

 

I'll try to spin the air con pulley by hand when I get a chance.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

Ian,

 

Sounds a bit familiar I'm afraid. If you do a search on my user name you'll find a few posts about aircon. The compressor was broken when I got the car so I had a second hand unit fitted. The guy who fitted it commented on the wobble and asked if the donor car had been in a crash but it seemed to work fine.

 

The system was gassed up by ACS (I think - label inside engine bay if its still there) using the r12 drop in replacement gas. They gave it a clean bill of health and all was well for a while.

 

After a while I started getting a bit of a squeal but didn't have time to look into it so I removed the fuse (rather than cutting the belt).

 

Last summer I went back to ACS. System was confirmed leak free again but was completely empty. Once again, after the re-gassing all was well.

 

I wonder if the system is loosing gas or something. It certainly doesn't seem to last long. I wonder if the system has the correct amount of oil/lubricant in there since the compressor was fitted.

 

David

Cool, thanks for the reply David. Doesn't seem to be making the squeal any more and the air con is still working. I'm going to check the sight glass sometime over the long weekend to see if the gas has leaked.

 

The burning smell appears regardless of whether the air con is on but strangely, that appears to have disappeared recently as well.

 

When I washed it a few weeks ago, it ran on 5 cylinders and once again, after 10 minutes, it fixed itself and has been fine since. At one point, the CD player refused to accept CDs and now it's fine.

 

Could I have a self-healing Zed?

 

Ian A.