Found Squeak on 1996 Sable - now what?

[Hookmaster]

I looked for the squeaky pulley on the 1996 Mercury Sable again this morning and found it. It is the one coming off the engine/flywheel. I tried putting a little oil on the engine side of the pulley but it had no effect. How serious is this? Could it leave you on the side of the road or is it an annoyance? Any estimates on the cost of the repair?

[Surface Tension]

You have 3 threads going with much the same subject.

Belt tensioner replacement

Bypass pulley and now this one.

It would be best if you kept this to one thread as your leaving info out that is related to all 3 threads.

The bypass pulley in place of the AC is what I'd suspect on the grounds of belt misalignment.

So my question did the squeak start after you replaced it?

If you remove the belt and run the engine for a short time does the squeak disappear?

[Hookmaster]

Sorry about the multiple posts. Here's the history. Car broke down in Duluth due to ac locking up. Don't need AC so had the shop put in the bypass pulley. Squeak was there when my daughter got home with the car. Replaced belt tensioner, squeak still there. This morning I isolated the squeak to the flywheel pulley. Misalignment due to ac bypass pulley makes sense since it is adjacent to the flywheel pulley. I haven't tried running it without the belt on. It is quite difficult to take the tension off the belt to get it off, not much room to work. I'll try again tomorrow. If it is the ac bypass pulley, do I just try another bypass pulley or what?

[Surface Tension]

No Problem, I only mentioned the multiple threads because they have helpful info.

All the bypass pulleys I've seen didn't have any adjustment to them, not even a slotted hole.

I guess that is what I'd check for first. IMO its the cheap material the pulley is made from.

You can grab it and flex it. If there is too much tension this might be flexing the pulley.

If it were me I'd get another compressor from a bone yard. That is assuming the cause of the squeak is the bypass pulley.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Usually the pulleys can be fine tuned with washers behind the pulley. Most of the ones I have installed have come with multiple "spacers" to fine tune the alignment.

[Hookmaster]

Thanks I was wondering if adding spacer washers will work. I will try that but I'm having trouble generating enough torque on the tensioner to get the belt off. Not much room to work with. I'm used to working on my Silverado.