Ethre

Done with one problem, on to another . . .

I just completed a Delco conversion on my 82. After everything went back together, she started up and charged beautifully (13.5v on my gauge, which has historically read ~.5v low). Everything ran very smoothly.
After a last visual and aural inspection, I closed the hood and started to go for an easy drive to fully charge my battery. Just outside of the parking lot though, I heard a high-pitched squeal from the engine bay. It was brief, and came directly after I tapped on the brakes. I pulled into the next parking lot, with the squeal consistently coming after braking. After killing the engine, I poked around in the engine bay for a while, but only found that I had slightly over-tensioned the fan v-belt. After loosening that slightly, I started up and, instead of having a squeal, heard a harsh clicking/hammering.

I reckon that the original squeal was likely just sticky brakes.

With regards to the click/hammer:
- no visible obstructions to any of the aux. belts
- no visible flapping of belts.
-I tried adjusting the fan-belt tension to see if it remedied the problem, but that seemed ot do little.
-I removed the fan-belt to check and see if the smog-pump had frozen up or killed a bearing, but that turned well (not easily, but relatively smoothly)

I don't know what else this could be, except potentially the water pump bearing failing?
Thank you for any suggestions.

Mrmerlin

well if the noise was not there before you worked on it then it has to be something you touched.
Could one of the fan blades of the alt fan be bent??
is one belt too long and letting the alt go past where it normally would have , did you forget to put all the bolts back in??

The squeal could be the blue one way valve at the booster ,
remove it and see if its working you might try spraying some silicone into the valve to soften the rubber seal or replace it

WallyP

The engine will run for a short time with no problems if you remove the accessory belts. That would immediately define whether the noise is from a belt-drive item. Put the belts back on one at a time, and see when the noise reappears.

If you can turn the alternator by trying hard to turn the alternator fan by hand, the belt is too loose.

Ethre

That was what I thought Merlin - but it seemed odd to me that it would only appear after I loosened the belt tension. It was also noticeably associated with the passenger side of the engine.

In the morning light (far superior to even the best flashlight) though, I think I may have found my problem - the pulley that runs the AC compressor spins easily. Its got a little bit of a wobble, but mostly just spins. The other 3 pulleys feel very secure.
I personally have never taken the crank bolt off. Since my AC was working fine, I assume that the pulley must have been secure previously (I also don't remember it being loose). So, that would indicate that the washer's should have been installed correctly? Can these simply work loose?

I'll put the other belts back on (minus AC belt) and see if the noise is affected. If it doesn't, you're suggestion sounds like a good idea Wally.
Now its off to class.

Ethre

I dropped the AC belt, and started her up (With the other belts on). I got some sporadic clicks, but nothing like it was. It seems that my loose pulley is indeed the problem. Its also interesting that, in addition to spinning, it seems to have some lateral play. Its almost as if the pulley is too big for the shaft. Odd.