On the '96 SSE, I'm getting a bird chirp off of the drive belt. It has a steady cadence like its on one spot of the belt or one of the accessory pulleys, tensioner,etc . Not hearing any whirring or clacking like its a bearing and everything is operating. And I can't hear exactly where it is. I'm going to release the belt and handturn everything. The belt only has 15K on it.

Any guesses, or is there anything else I should check? Thanks!

Charlie!!!!!!

Sounds like a good plan. Also pull on the belt with it attached. See if the tensioner springs back to life and appears to hold tension well.

From personal, and direct, experience, and follow-up research, I found that, over time, road dirt/oil/whatever, will find its way onto the actual 'pulley'. The result is that very sound, when the underside of the belt makes contact with the layered dirt/oil/whatever embedded onto the pulley.

In my case, I simply took a putty knife and scrapped the 'layer' off. It was quite a surprise when I figured out just what was causing that very distinct "chirp".

As a side note, this case arose on my 1995 Saturn, which, by the way, now has 511,745 miles on it.

Thanks guys... It has something to do with the tensioner. Everything handturns fine. But I'm stuck.

I don't have a gauge for checking the tension. So I wanted to check for range. Kicked the engine over. Used no more than a few lbs of pressure to release some temsion using a ratchet on the pulley bolt. Chirp gone immediately.

So I go to look on the tensioner for the belt tension indicators.... No lines.

IHas anybody seen a tensioner like this? Is there any generic way to release a few lbs of tension on a tensioner? This thing looks like it operates at one tension and that'* it. It goes back and forth fine though.

edit: I didn't think about it. When I put the pressure on the pulley, it could be stabilizing the pulley. :?:

Didn't like the tensioner pulley bolt on the aftermarket tensioner. 2 piece bolt and washer type thing. Swapped my '95 pulley and bolt on. Perfect. Drove around for an half hour in the rain, as it had all day. Sounds of silence.

Dried up nice overnight. The wife is pulling out of the driveway and there'* a spot on the drive. Whoa, Honey! Sure as git, fluid lining under the water pump.

Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. :P

Well, I do this stuff because I like to learn things I haven't done before . Once again I have fished my wish.