VETSTYL

Diagnosed by the local dealer that I need two near belts and two tensioners as well. Made contact with Summitt and the prices are exponentially lower than the dealer prices for parts.

While I am having tensioners and belts replaced, would you recommend anything else of a preventive maintenance perspective be done as well.

Had the dreaded squeeky belts

baxsom

belts and tensioners can be purchased at autozone or any other parts house. cheap, good quality, and easy to install yourself.

Evil-Twin

What does exponentially lower mean in this context??? we are only talking dealer and after market.. ?? exponentially means a snow balling increase or decrease over many set points. 2, 4, 8, 16 32, 64, 128 etc.
Why are you changing tensioners??? are they bad??? why aren't you changing the idlers.. if a tensioner is bad 99% of the time its just the pulley on the tensioner.. the difference is 70 dollars for the whole tensioner as oppose to just the pulley which is 16 dollars. if a tensioner pulley is bad, the idler pulley for that belt system is also close to failure. You have two tensioners and two idlers , One set for the drive belt system, and one set for the ac belt system. if one of these components is bad within a belt system you should change both components. original OEM bearing seal design has been found to be less than desirable, so when one fails the other is not far behind.
Hope this info helps
Bill aka ET

VETSTYL

Ouch

Evil-Twin

????????? Ouch !
I just took the time to explain your pulley issues and some proper input, and for this I get an Ouch??? TYVM.
If you are referring to the exponential explanation.. that's just what it was. A question and an explanation of what the word means.. obviously not something to be used in your question.. maybe you thought it meant something else. That's why I asked what exponentially means to you? IN any event, I hope I was able to explain the tensioner and pulley relationship of the two belt systems found on your car.

74-Roadster

Helps me! Since something is failing in my pulley system . . .

Thanks Bill.

If I just change the pulleys, will the autozone variety work or do I need to go with GM?

Evil-Twin

search for my procedure on isolating belt system noise... you should not replace good parts in the hope that one of them will cure your problem... first thing you should do it find out which system is causing the noise.. the drive belt system or the ac belt system.. since the drive belt system is the out board belt.. when you are experiencing this noise, remove the drive belt ( outer belt ), restart the car and see if the noise goes away. if its still there then is a problem in the AC belt system. Both pulleys of the AC belt system are the same both are a smooth pulley you need not change the tensioner part of the tensioner pulley.. people make the mistake of replacing the whole tensioner 70 dollar item, when only the pulley part is bad. ( 16 dollars. On the drive belt, you have a smooth pulley Idler and a ripped tensioner pulley. Once you identify which belt system is causing the noise, you can use a piece of rubber tubing long enough to reach all of the components. use the tubing ( rubber or plastic ) like a stethoscope to locate the exact part. remember that in the belt system you can have a failure at the water pump, power steering pump, alternator/gen,or the harmonic balancer causing misalignment of the belt. in most cases,
once the belt system is identified, its usually the idler or the tensioner.. its a good idea to replace both components since both components use the same bearings, same seals, same grease.
Good luch
Bill aka ET

Oh 2 Fun

While I was reading through this, I thought about exactly what you ended up saying.....the old hose trick. A long time ago, an "old school" mechanic I worked with taught me the usefullness of the short piece of garden hose to isolate noises and help troubleshoot problems.

Very cool that you went there!

Thanks for the rest of the great info on this. I'm at 92K and expecting to deal with this issue relatively soon.

Oh...and I'm part way through "All Corvettes are Red".....where did you fit in during this process? What team were you part of?

I could probably search for past posts but thought I'd just ask here.

Greg a.k.a. Oh 2 Fun

cedrop

Oh 2 Fun your post could have been written by me.
My 03 is at 80k, have the same issue, learned the same hose tip as a kid in the gas station I worked, and I'm halfway thru "All Corvettes are Red"
Interesting

Camjamsdad

What I thought was a belt/pulley squeak was really the front alternator bearing. The old $2. Harbor Freight stethoscope pinpointed it.

BIGG DOGG

Can I really buy an automotive stethoscope at Harbor Freight for only $2?

SG Lou

Yes........
But it will cost you $4.....Inflation I guess

http://www.harborfreight.com/mechani...ope-41966.html

Vetteman Jack

I think I paid a bit more than $2 for mine, but the Harbor Freight stethoscope is a very handy thing to have in the tool box.

SFL_driver

mights as well replace the idler pulleys also