Housekeeping

[89FerrariShelby]

Good Morning All!

So a little while back I got really sick of my alternator belt squeaking and put the car up in the air to replace the water pump (for no apparent reason as it still made noise after).

While it was up in the air I decided what the heck, and started in on some maintenance that was probably well overdue.

For example, my swaybar bushings were shot, I could tell by the broken rubber sticking out the sides, as you can see by the pic below, it was clarely a waste of time



Those look fine to me lol.

So after taking off everything for the water pump, when putting it all back together, I couldn't get the alternator back together as the studs appeared to be stripped on the posts and the nuts wouldn't tighten. I ordered a new one, but after some waiting I took the old one to a machine shop and had them cleared up. Now the car is back together, and after some fiddling, my alternator belt noise seems to be gone (knock knock knock on wood).

However I do have one last item I would like to clear up, but I am at a loss for what is making the noise. I have added a video below. The picture probably isn't worth anything, but hopefully someone on here can identify what the heck is making that raspy rattling noise in the backround. Any help or ideas are appreciated. I origiinally thought it was the alternator bracket, but that is tight and shouldn't be making any noise.

http://s986.photobucket.com/user/MKw...attle.mp4.html

Thanks in advance guys!

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Bueller? Any info I can provide or a new video from an angle that might help someone?

Just an annoyance, still going to drive it, but i'd be just about 100% done with it (til the next issue pops up) if I can iron this out.

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I am going to throw it in here, but based on the view/reply ratio I should put it in a new thread.

Dropped the car back on the ground and it looks ridiculous.



Will this settle at all? Or is my only recourse to do the rears? I'd prefer to get the front to drop, but not sure if there's any way to do that?

[cordes]

I can't tell what the noise is, but I would certainly look for a loose metal thing clacking around somewhere.

That does look super high. Conspicuously high really. Can you try jacking up the car just a little and letting it down again? What all did you do other than the sway bar bushings?

[89FerrariShelby]

I just did the water pump, removed and re-installed the alternator, flushed the power steering system, and the swaybar bushings...

maybe i should put it up, loosen the "clamps" on the bushings a little bit, then drop it down and worm my way under to tighten? I mean the original bushings were SHOT...it has settled a tiny bit, but it still looks like it's a RWD car launching to me...

[supercrackerbox]

Any chance you installed the sway bar upside down? I don't know if that would cause that problem or not.

[89FerrariShelby]

So I talked to Johnny last night, he said that new bushings shouldn't raise the car up. He also mentioned the upside down possibility. I really thought I took great care in making sure I always kept the sway bar in the position it was removed so I wouldn't do that, but with all the swapping on and off I would say anything is possible. I'm not sure if anyone will be able to tell, but I took a few pics, maybe someone will know if it's upside down?







As an aside, is there any danger to driving it if it is upside down? I searched some posts last night and I see some people drive without them in there at all, just thought i'd ask since I was really hoping to drive it today to CT, but don't want to risk anything if its dangerous

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Well. Johnny said the bar should go down then up. The movement is so subtle I wasn't sure, but that first pic made it look like it wasn't doing that. I wanted to wait for a response on here to see if it wasn't just my eyes and because taking out all those bolts and putting them back in would take time I simply didn't have.

Then I remembered I have an air compresser and impact driver. Though the compresser isn't strong enough for heavy duty car work, it can screw and unscrew loose bolts easily enough. Since it wouldn't take the 90 minutes I thought, I dropped the sway bar, and upon inspection I think it might have been in upside down. So I flipped it and re-installed. The pic below is how it sits now. It's a little dark, but I think it's much better?



still look high to anyone else? I dunno... I think its lower than before, so I think i'm gonna roll it this way unless anyone thinks i'm crazy

[Pat]

It's upside down.

[Reaper1]

You should never tighten down bushings or mounts of a sway bar without the weight of the car on the suspension. If you do, you will preload it and get what you had...not to mention it being upside down (done that myself...oops).

[89FerrariShelby]

So funny story, I am an idiot and forgot to tighten the grounding nuts on the alternator. Found out the hard way when the power in the car slowly went off accessory by accessory while driving until the car died! Yay, fun times.

In any case, the alternator belt is back to it's squeaking ways, and I am at a complete loss as to how to stop it. I have pretty much replaced everything, I have brand new bushings, brand new tensioner (or whatever the part that rbryant makes is called), brand new water pump, and the alternator itself is only 2 years old (though I have another one coming eventually, in case that is it).

What I am hoping someone can help me with, is, can someone take a picture of the top bolt for the alternator for me? I think maybe i'm using the metal disks incorrectly? That's the only thing i can think of is that i'm putting those on incorrectly and mis-aligning it somehow (though the eye test tells me it's lined up). I will post a pic when i get home, but if someone could post a pic of one that is working correctly maybe i could see where i'm going wrong...its the only thing left that i can think of...after that I think it might just be permanent =(

[turismolover22]

You can always put some belt conditioner on the belt to help with the squeak

[cordes]

How does the water pump pulley look? I had one that was somewhat corroded where the belt would ride and after a while the belt would wear off some of that corrosion and cause it to be loose enough to squeal.

[89FerrariShelby]

Hi Guys,

First of all, Thank you for all the help. I really shouldn't be working on cars, as it seems like pretty much every single time I forget something simple, and end up creating more problems than I fix. I look at a thread like Johnny B's and laugh at how stupid my questions are in comparison. But I'm trying to do the best with what god gave me lol.

So, I've heard about the belt conditioner, it is certainly a possibility, but I'd like to leave it as a last resort, since this hasn't always been a problem, so I'm thinking it should be fixable with some kind of adjustment.

1st, the Water Pump Pulley, I think it may be a bit corroded, but it doesn't look like much to me, maybe it is the reason?


And this is how the belt lines up on that pulley:


Last but not least, this is how I have the long bolt installed, it goes bolt head -> washer -> through the gap -> washer -> nut. Is that how everyone else is set up? If I tighten the nut with a ratchet, eventually it will tighten, then there will be a loud snapping noise and it will be loose again...I don't remember it doing that before. But I tighten it as much as I can before it breaks loose again...


Thanks again guys. I know they're stupid questions, but I appreciate all the help.

[cordes]

The belt and pulley look good. How does the screw that adjusts everything look? The factory had some lock-tite on there I believe.

[89FerrariShelby]

These were the best 2 I could get. It's a tough angle to get the whole bolt/screw... unless you mean another one...

[cordes]

That's the one. I think that discoloration toward the bottom is the original factory thread locker. Do you have some of the green loctite? If so it would be easy to tighten up the belt a bit and then apply it. The green stuff wicks into the threads and is meant to be applied after assy. If not you could always use some of the blue stuff. I used to shred belts all the time because they would get so loose. Since I've started putting a little loctite on there the problem has gone away. Of course the rust being worn off my pulley sure helped out too.

[rich tideswell]

is it me, or is the water pump pulley on backwards?

[cordes]

I think it's right.

[89FerrariShelby]

i'm 99% sure it's on right, i'll have to find some other pics and see if they look different.

that bolt is bent, though i'm not sure if it was meant to be...think its replaceable with any old bolt from the hardware store? I don't think it's the cause just because it's been like that for years, but who knows, maybe it got just worse enough to start messing it up...certainly cant hurt to replace it...

[Reaper1]

The pulley looks ok. Plus, they have "FRONT" stamped on them.

The thing that concerns me is the "tighten, pop, loose again" thing. Which component does that?

[89FerrariShelby]

The long bolt that goes through the alternator bracket at the "top" of the alternator. Picture #3 in post #11. Worries me too...but I have no idea why it does it...I figured maybe I used the spacers wrong or something...

[85boostbox]

The long bolt that goes through the alternator bracket at the "top" of the alternator. Picture #3 in post #11. Worries me too...but I have no idea why it does it...I figured maybe I used the spacers wrong or something...

I despise that bolt. That bolt is a sick f***ing joke. Epecially in a l body