[militant54]

Guys, I think my belt tensioner is the source of a loud ass 'squeak', yes, please add me to the other 9 squeak posts. Anyways, would it make sense that this could be the source if it only happens with the a/c on? I don't see any problems with the a/c compressor, pretty sure the sound comes from the tensioner. Also, it can get louder with braking when I get down to 20 mph and less.....doesn't make sense to me.

How can I ultimately diagnose and how could I fix the tensioner? Thanks.

[Triple A]

take off the fan belt and spin the pulley
if it sounds rough then thats the problem
a new pulley costs abt 20 bucks
its not that hard to put on if you know what you're doing
but if you don't know what you're doing
you should let a friend who works on cars put it on
maybe they'll do it for cheap/free

[militant54]

Cool, thanks for the info, I will check that out.

Also, it goes away once I have run the a/c for about 5 minutes. If I don't crank up the a/c for 20, then crank it up, it will squeal like a pig for 5 minutes......could it still be the pulley?

[Triple A]

i think so
could just be a coincidence
cause i had the same problem with my 99
i would start it and i would have the radio and the a/c off
and it wouldnt squeak, and then i would turn them on
and drive, and when ever i would stop i'd turn them off
and it would be squeaking
then i replaced the pulley and it hasnt squeaked since

check your idler pulley too
cause both of my pulleys were bad