I'm pretty sure I have a bad bearing in my idler pulley. I have a tick/squeak that increases with engine speed. When I listened to each engine accessory with a stick, the idler pulley was the only one that made a clicking sound that matched in perfect time with the tick/squeak.

Here'* my real question. Does anyone have a procedure outlined for changing the idler pulley?

Pull the belt.

Remove the torx head bolt.

Remove the pulley.

Put new pulley on.

Install torx head bolt.

The highest risk in this is stripping the torx head bolt. If that happens, cut the pulley off any way you can (I used a hand grinder with a 4" wheel) and remove the bolt with a pair of vice grips. Remove the idler bracket assembly from the engine, and you will see the tapped hole goes right through to the back. Drill the hole out to clear a 3/8" bolt. Install the new pulley using the bolt with a washer, pass the bolt through the bracket and double nut it from the back side. The washer needs to be large enough in diameter to cover the central hub (that middle part that does not turn) but does not contact the rotating section.

I can walk you through this,

Thanks for the advice, that was very helpful. I'll attempt this one of these weekends coming up. It might end up waiting until Christmas time when I think I'm going to have to do the LIM and UIMs.

By the way, is that torx bolt a reverse thread?

I forget if the idler pulley bolt is a left hand or right hand thread. Perhaps someone else who has changed their'* lately can chime in. If you don't have a response when it comes time to do the work, post up again and we will find out for sure.

By the way, if the pulley siezes and throws the belt, you are okay to drive the car without the belt on the supercharger.

I believe it is reverse, I checked my service manuals and it don't say. It should be the opposite direction of the belt travel.

On a LeSabre the only pullies are in the accessory belt path. The bolt should be a 15mm head. (Torx should only be on SC belt paths).

Loosening a tensioner bolt is always in the opposite direction of loosening the tension. If you push clockwise to remove tension on the belt, then counter clockwise is how you loosen the bolt.

Idler pulley replacement went without too many hitches. It wouldn't be hard to make a write up about it. However, it didn't stop the chirping sound, and the old pulley seemed to work quite smoothly when taken off. Therefore, it'* something else making that noise.

The alternator had a little play, but I couldn't hear the chipping sound when listening through a stick attached to the alternator. In fact, I could only hear some knocking in time with the chirping when the stick was attached to the idler pulley which is not the cause of the chirping.

Any ideas before I go and spend money on an alternator?