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noises coming from passenger side of the engine

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TopangaPat

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I took the riot in for an oil change today and asked the mechanic to take a look at the belt and mentioned that the engine seemed louder than usual. He said the belt needed to be changed ($165 aprox) and he wasn't sure what was causing the additional noise but I thought it might be the water pump going south.

Any thoughts on this?
 
Discussion starter · #3 · (Edited)
#6 ·
Do not pay $165 for the belt if someone still has to go in and determine source of the noise
Problem could be any of the pulleys or accessories
Most of the labor is accessing the belt and pulleys
Might as do it under 1 labor charge
Recently had alternator replaced at dealer while there they changed idler pulley, belt tensioner , belt and some other part i forgot and only charged me $100 total parts and labor for those since they were in there anyway
Check prices are n parts before hand so you know what to expect
If replacing 1 part labor should be about 1.5 hrs
Combined with other parts no more than 2 hrs
 
#7 ·
Terasec said:
Do not pay $165 for the belt if someone still has to go in and determine source of the noise
Problem could be any of the pulleys or accessories
Click to expand...
I second this, for a $20 belt and a 0.5hr job in my mind $165 is way over priced. When my alternator pulley went it also sounded like it could have been the water pump or something from that area, even sounded like a front passenger wheel bearing for a lil bit.

Mechanic showed me a trick to somewhat see for yourself. Take a rubber hose and place one end on the part that is suggested to make the noise and other end in your ear. Now move it to different parts of the motor. Be careful of belts, pulleys and other moving parts to not get the hose caught. Mine made some noise on water pump and ac condenser but all originated from the alternator.
 
Discussion starter · #10 · (Edited)
The guy in this video says the clutch pulley is unnecessary .. which is interesting because apparently they are supposed to be replaced every 50k miles.. and considering that it's not that easy to do and from what I've read it wasn't always easy to buy just the pulley meaning the service place might want to change out the alternator.. for example I called Pepboys just see if they'd quote me the same cost as my other mechanic and they said they didn't offer just the pulley.. really?? c'mon!! ridiculous! I can't decide if I want to get a quote from the dealership just for laughs or not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUs4Y5ZMiTU
 
#11 ·
sask_riot said:
Mechanic showed me a trick to somewhat see for yourself. Take a rubber hose and place one end on the part that is suggested to make the noise and other end in your ear. Now move it to different parts of the motor. Be careful of belts, pulleys and other moving parts to not get the hose caught. Mine made some noise on water pump and ac condenser but all originated from the alternator.
Click to expand...
When i had rattling
Sound wasnt coming from the alternator,
Sounded like it was coming from elsewhere
Slight wobble on alternator pulley was causing slap elsewhere
 
#13 ·
Just a ratchet on the tensioner, remove belt off one pulley and the whole thing comes off. Just remember how it came off so it's easier to put back on.

Depending on price, like it did for me. OAD pulley alone was $30 less than 120A alternator. 120A alternator $20 less than 140A alternator. I saw it as a hassle to change just the pulley for those prices, so guess which option I went with. Ya 140A.
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
sask_riot said:
Just a ratchet on the tensioner, remove belt off one pulley and the whole thing comes off. Just remember how it came off so it's easier to put back on.
Click to expand...
mmm ok

sask_riot said:
Depending on price, like it did for me. OAD pulley alone was $30 less than 120A alternator. 120A alternator $20 less than 140A alternator. I saw it as a hassle to change just the pulley for those prices, so guess which option I went with. Ya 140A.
Click to expand...
Well the prices I'm seeing is $38 for AOD pulley versus $120-270 for a rebuilt or OE alternator.. but I have seen some places listing the AOD for over $90 (pepboys for example even though on the phone they told me they don't carry it)
 
#15 ·
I have been getting some odd noises and figured I would replace my belt since I am close to 120K miles and that is scheduled maintenance anyway. The shop ended up getting the wrong belt which doesn't connect to the AC condenser and the noise went away when they figured they would give it a try, but when they eventually got the right belt the noise came back. Just ordered myself a new AC condenser to replace it.
 
#16 ·
TopangaPat said:
Hmm from what I'm reading on the forum changing the belt may be harder than I thought
Click to expand...
The hardest part, honestly, is getting the new belt onto the pulleys in the correct order.

sask_riot said:
Just a ratchet on the tensioner, remove belt off one pulley and the whole thing comes off. Just remember how it came off so it's easier to put back on.
Click to expand...
I would suggest a decent 16mm box-end wrench, honestly. Getting a ratchet up between the pulley and frame rail is a serious PITA.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
SO I found my stethoscope and put a longer hose on the end listened around.. it definitely seems like the AOD is louder than the other pulleys.

nth256 said:
The hardest part, honestly, is getting the new belt onto the pulleys in the correct order.
Click to expand...
Sure... that's what I figured ..but looking into the compartment.. I'm having a hard time imagining doing it at all but I assume it'll be easier to get at it from beneath. I was also thinking that taking the washer and coolant reservoirs out might help top access
 
Discussion starter · #18 · (Edited)
So I'm finally doing this repair and not a moment too late. This morning I was going to go pick up a few extra tools and the noises were much worse and I was getting the generator warning and the jeep went into limp mode.

Anywho.. I got the belt off and ran the engine for a short bit and no noise.. go figure. Then I started working on removing the alternator and it was not easy. I eventually had to borrow the wife's car and go get a longer wrench (one that had a hinged head) and a longer 13mm socket and a better shop light.

Once I had unbolted everything it was still no picnic to get the alternator to drop out between the oil filter and the AC compressor.. I really had to yank on the compressor to get it out of the way.

The alt tested fine.. the AOD spins freely in both directions so it must have just finally gone out today. Still no real visual evidence that it was bad.. the other pulleys are going to be replaced but none of them sounded especially rough.

Wish me luck.. hopefully putting it all back together will be easier than taking it apart!
 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
Well I'm finally done. I can't say this was easy.. it'll be easier if I ever need to do it again which hopefully won't be anytime soon. I could not get the clutch off the alt so I ended up buying a rebuilt one .. not cheap but still cheaper than if I had went to the dealership in the first place and I doubt I would have gotten my car back on the road as soon.

Also the replacement tensioner I bought wasn't the right part and probably just not needed... so I wasted time on that... hopefully amazon prime will take the return.

And then it turns out the battery was pretty much cooked so I bought a new one of those that'll hopefully last longer than the one I had to get from AAA.

Getting the belt back on was really difficult. I finally used a strap to tie down the tensioner wrench so I could use bought hands to get the belt back onto the pulley.
 
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TopangaPat
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