My car just started to make a loud rattling noise the other day when the car was idling. Whenever I give it a little RPM, it quiets down. It seems to be coming from the left side of the car where all the pulleys are, more towards the rear and a little lower. I've now changed the power steering pump, the tension idler, and now the water pump. It doesn't make the noise when the belt isn't on either, so I know it has to be something that works from the belt.

Can anybody give me some idea what possibly could be the problem?


P.*. The car is a 91 LE. It'* almost made it to 200,000 miles, It'* currently at 196,xxx

With the engine off, can you grab the belt and make it move enough to turn a pulley some? When my harmonic balancer (crank pulley) went bad, it rattled like hell. But it was quiet when I took the belt off. Does the rubber portion look like it'* disintergrating?

You'er on to something. I just noticed what looks to be a little piece of rubber that looks like it was tore off but is wedged in there. The outside of the rubber doesn't look too bad but I guess it may be having issues on the inside.

How hard is it to change out yourself? Where would be a good place to get some instructions on how to as well?

http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...223&highlight=

It takes some time, have a free afternoon and evening, and a harmonic balancer pulley puller rented from a local parts store, and it may not have the right bolts with it, so do a search for "harmonic balancer puller bolts" and you may get the right size. But the money you save and the rattle free idle is worth the time. Just make sure it is in fact the balancer before you order it. You can get one from gmpartsdirect.com. If you do a search here, you may even find the part number you need beforehand.

thanks for the helpjwikoff99

The puller bolts are 1/4 X 28 X 3 1/2. Or, fine thread 1/4 inch bolts 3 1/2 inches long. You need three of them and you may need a tap to run in the holes of the old balancer first to clean the rust out so the bolts will thread in decent. Don't thread the tap or bolts in too far or you may damage the crank sensor, but make sure you go in far enough for the bolts to hold good. Also, they should be grade 8 bolts.

Maestro:
Did you find your problem? I'm having the exact same issue.

I noticed that my tension pulley looks like it wiggles a tad bit while the engine is running.

lmk, thanks