tylerclaird

just brouggt a 96 sport about 2 months ago. its has 120k on it atm. when i brought it the radiator leaked, i replace it and everything was fine. about a month after that the gen light came on. i lookd into it but never got around to testin it or fixing it so it ened up breaking down on me on my way home from school. radio, rpm, speedo, wipers, everything went out and it died at a stop liggt. jumpd in and drove it on a tailer. toke alternator off and had it tested at autozoe and o'reilys. passd at auto faild at o'reilys. i just decided to buy one and toke it home and put it all back together. also put a new belt on. everything was fine for about a day till the belt startd squealing at start up and when the ac or heat were turned on. now just today the gen turned back on and belt will squeal at random times while driving. could new alternator be bad or maybe fine from beginning?? any ideas would be helpful im completely stuck rite now. thank you!

tylerclaird

its also been raining for the last week too if that would cause problems

Radi

Your belt is probably too loose and the moisture isn't helping.

anothadayridin

Non understand

RTorrez1

X2
The belt on our Jeeps need to be real tight. And a loose belt will cause both of you problems, belt squeal and not charging properly. The reason it does it more when you turn the ac on is there is more drag on the belt and causes it to slip more. What ever you do DO NOT put any belt dressing on the belt. That stuff is not made for serpentine belt. It was made for the V-belts. Putting it on the serp belt will cause it to fail early. Keep us updated on the results.
BTW, Welcome to the forum.

tylerclaird

lol of course. i already have put some dressing on there because my dad said that would help. should i buy a new belt? and i have the tensioner bolt tightend all the way? is that a incorrect way of tighting, is there some kind of trick to it? and thank you! its nice to be a part of a place like this

tylerclaird

lol of course. i already have put some dressing on there because my dad said that would help. should i buy a new belt? and i have the tensioner bolt tightend all the way? is that a incorrect way of tighting, is there some kind of trick to it? and thank you! its nice to be a part of a place like this

Pelican

Is the tensioner bolt on the '96 part of the power steering bracket? If so, are you sure you had all the bracket bolts, front and back, loose when tightening the tensioner bolt? I assume so since you got the new belt on but thought I would ask.

I put some dressing on a serp belt many years ago and I seem to remember that it dispersed fairly quickly but I may be wrong about that.

In any event you should be able to adequately tighten the belt with the tensioner bolt assuming you have the correct belt.

The last time I had a squeal with fluctuating voltage, the alternator bearings had seized. I loosened the belt to confirm by trying to turn the alt by hand. Pulled the alt and took it to a local electrical shop for new bearings and brushes, ~$40. Highly doubtful this is your problem with a new alt installed.

Finally, have you carefully inspected the harmonic balancer for possible deterioration.

Radi

On a '96 you loosen the center bolt on the idler pulley, then turn the adjuster screw up above to move the pulley up or down. Then re-tighten the idler bolt.
If yours is out of adjustment something isn't right. Mine (also 96) sits about halfway.

tylerclaird

thank you. i lookd it up on youtube and figured it out yesterday afternoon and the belt doesnt squeal anymore. does anybody know the symptoms of a thottle position sensor goong out?

RTorrez1

Good that you got the squeal out did you change or at least wash off the crud you put on the belt. If you put a new belt you may have to readjust it in a few day once the belt sets in. Sorry I'm not to sure about the TPS. I have never had one go bad on me.

Radi

Anything from bad idle, dead spots when accelerating, slow return to idle to a transmission that doesn't shift right. What's your's doing?

tylerclaird

its only done it twice, but it just wouldnt accelerate. the first time i pulld over and i let it sit a little and it was fine and drove.
the second time. i pulled over and drove aroud a parking lot a little and it died. then startd rite up and drove fine. both happened bout a month apart