Hey y'all, I had to tune up my MIL Taurus on New years eve. It hadn't been done in 100,000 miles and it was setting the cel for random miss. Anyway she goes to leave yesterday morning and the accessory drive belt is squeeling like a banshee. The humidity was really high, but the noise would not go away after running the engine for a few minutes. I took the belt off and checked the pulleys and all I found was the alternator had just a slight bearing noise when spun by hand. It still works, but should I change it anyway? Also, does anyone have a belt routing diagram for this thing? Most cars have the sticker...not this one!

TIA

Duncan

 

There should be a belt diagram in the owners manual, if not then Haynes manuals have them. You can also google it.

I would change the alternator if it has a bearing issue.

 

The problem is that she has neither a pot to **** in nor a window to throw it out of....The cheapest price I could find for a alternator is 149 bucks...Then you factor in the free labor on top of that LOL

 

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3.0L V-6 OHV

 

Thanks for that!!!

I've had nothing but bad luck with this car.

D

 

Find an electrical repair shop and have them replace the bearings in the alternator.
We have a shop named Hammetts here.

 

I'm going to do that. We have a small local shop that does excellent work cheap. I tried to lube the bearings and threw a new belt on it and it is pretty quiet now. However, I just got back from driving it to the store and while setting at a red light I turned the rear defogger on and the cel came on again.. No time to get the codes checked today....

 

Your alternator is failing. Just replace it and take the hit.

 

I just took a hit on the f-350 to the tune of around 3 grand....Can't afford many more hits! LOL

 

I hear ya bro, been there and done that.

 

It has been a long time since I had to rebuild an alternator, but if the modern ones are anything like the old AC Delcotron, rebuilding it is pretty simple.

Usually all you need to do is replace the bearings and put in new brushes. Maybe an hour or two under the car and on the bench. Essentially pull the shell apart, pull the bearings, press on new ones at same depth and then put new brushes in the holders. Also should turn the commutator, but all I ever did was clean it up with a strap of sand paper to remove any grooves.

The bearings cause the squeel, the brushes are usually the cause of electrical error messages or inadequate charging. Once In a great while the diodes or regulator will go, but I think I only had to fix those once each in 40+ years of working on my personal and family cars.

If you are mechanically inclined and dollar disinclined, this might be an alternative. I recall rebuilding my alternators for something like less than half the cost of a parts shop rebuild with questionable reliability. I think most just did as above plus a spray paint job and MAYBE a bench test. I say maybe since I had several parts store rebuilds fail within days of installation.

I haven't had a modern alternator fail on me since maybe the mid 80s. Seems like they are much better now.

Hope this helps.

Jim Henderson