Hi Gang

New to this forum, but not new to working on cars. Well my wife's car is a 2004 Crossfire, and there seems to be a lot of noise coming from the Alternator. So I was wanting to take the tension off the serpentine belt so I could rotate the Alternator pulley by hand. Is there a secret size 6 point tamper proof torx/star bit that is in the center of the Idler pulley.

All the sizes I have are either too small or too big, what size is that.? I just want to take the tension off the belt, not remove the Idler Pulley.

Thanx....Gunny

 

ve-10 female torx bit. get a set from harbor freight 20$

 

That is not the way to take the tension from the belt. It will work but you stand a very good chance of ruining the socket and you will have a hard time to remove the pulley at a later date.
There is a thread here somewhere and I will look for it.
Here it is;
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...tml#post610912

 

Hi 32 crazy

I guess you understand what I am trying to do. Funny thing is when you look in the manual it does not say anything about this, and one guy is saying he took 2 17mm bolts lose, this idler is tensioned by a gas charged cylinder, no 17mm bolts. Was there some changes or diff mods where there could be these differences.?

Thanx....Gunny

 

the tensioner has a torx male stud that is used to remove the tension on the pulley allowing the belt to be removed. also on the same shaft is a thread that has a nut that holds the tensioner pulley on. many use the nut after stripping the torx head due to using the wrong size torx. your on the right track gunny

 

Gunny, it takes an E-10 torx socket on the tensioner pulley....crank it CCW and it will release the tension on the belt and you and slip it off.....

This is much easier if you take the fan out first and have lots of room to work.....two clips on top, unplug the connector near the drivers side top of fan, move the radiator overflow hose out of the way and pull it up and out....

 

Why would you use a Torx when there is the 17mm boss specifically for the purpose. Mess up that Torx socket as has been done before, TJ, I believe and you are in trouble.

 

because that is what the torx is for!! the nut is NOT for releasing tension but to hold the pulley on. use the right torx and it be ezpeazy, use the wrong torx and you will strip it

 

You had better read the repair manual and look at the photo in this post.
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum/tsbs-how-articles/51409-serpentine-belt-replacement.html#post610912
That nut as you call it is cast on the arm.
That Torx screw holds the pulley on.

 

Thank you! We were able to drop the belt off the alternator like the "article" said. Great! Now, question please

We were unable to determine any noise/bearing problems when turning the alternator by hand. We wanted to check where the noise is coming from. We put the belt back on. The noise is back and very bad. It's a "rattle". But, here's the thing. It only happens at idle (idler seems find, btw). The rattle has a definate rhythm like vrrrOOM vrrrOOOM over and over while the speed of the belt/pulleys are consistent. I wish I could type this better to make the noise LOL. Let me try again.

The noise is definately a rattle, not a squeal, etc. While in idlvve only. The rattle has a rhythm like RATtle, RATTle, RATtle, RATtle. The caps are when the rattle is loud, then goes soft, then loud, etc etc. Like marbles that are rattling. Ugh. We are about 90% sure it's the alternator, but when when accelerating, the noise goes away? That isn't typical of alt noise, is it?

Gads, I hate this lol

 

no need to read the manual. thats a n/a tensioner and gunney is referring to a s/c tensioner. 2 different pulleys so i guess we are both correct!!

 

Gunny mentions a 2004 Crossfire, so presumably if it's not a Euro spec car it's not a SRT6.

 

Hi Gang

Looking back on my posts I must apologize for some of my misnaming things. Being this one has an Idler pulley, and a Tensioner pulley. My mistake. And I did feel under the tensioner and thought that was one of the 17mm bolts the one guy was referring to. But taking a mirror and a light then I seen what you was referring to.

So as my wife said we think that it is the Alternator, like 90% sure. I am going to take it off tomorrow and run it up to the Auto Zone, and let them run it up on their machine, to see if it will make the noise. I told them it is putting out ok just noisy, he said a lot of the times we can get them to make a noise if it has a bad bearing, etc.

So I will post on here what happens tomorrow, and I appreciate all your help and time.

Thanx....Gunny

 

well gunny as long as you got the info you needed thats all that matters. 10080 is rarely incorrect and depending on the car it does make a difference. i defer to 10080 in this as he knows more about the xfire than me im a amg guy and theres small but pertinent differences

 

Hi 32

Ya that is what is important, we are on the right track. I know it is hard enough to help a person with a problem with out the right info or enough of it, and it always helps to call things by the right name. So we all can get on the same page. I am glad all of you was able to figure it all out. I am basically a Ford man, I hope I don't get tossed off here by saying that word. And these Xfires are a little diff bread of cat.

All these good tips are locked away in the old Mind vault now, until the next problem.

This one good forum, super fast replies, and knowledgeable people, what more could you ask for.

Thanx....Gunny

 

Hi gang

Boy this is tight squeeze to get that Alternator out of the bracket, any tips how to rotate it.

Thanx....Gunny

 

The bolts go into bushings that get tight in the mounting brackets and hold tight against the alternator. These bushes have maybe made a slight impression in the alternator and just need to be loosened up.
The following is a post that had the same problem and managed to loosen the hold.
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...tml#post614646
I hope this helps, it is just held in by the tight fit once the bolts are out.

 

Hi All

ya I knocked the bushings out, and flattened the ends a little, and when I put them back in I made sure they did not protrude into where the Alt brackets went. It went in much easier then it came out.

The good news is the noise is gone, HHHOOOORRRAAAYYY That was a $200 gamble. Some days it just pays to get up, because things are meant to work out right. I was 90% sure that was what it was but the other 10% can bite you in the butt sometimes.

Much thanx......Gunny

 

I hope all you experts out there are still reading this thread.
UPDATE: While the alternator was the problem noise-wise, there is another problem now

A short while after replacing the alternator with a brand new one (not refurbished), my batterly light now comes on indicating what? The manual says belt problem? Everything is working GREAT, but that light is on. It came on briefly yesterday, but went out. Still out this morning when I took her for a drive. Came back on and stayed on.

Ideas?
Thanks!
Cissy & Gunny

 

Go to Auto Zone and see if a fault code has been set - no charge for this they say.
But if the battery is not being charged I'm not sure how far you can get and then restart it. As it sounds like it's not charging the battery now.
Are all the connections tight?
Can you do a voltage check at the battery with and without the engine running?