I am new to this forum, so I hope not to offend anyone if I mess up here. I have a 2001 Mercury Sable, and it is squealing like crazy when there is a lot of moisturte in the atmosphere. I raised the hood and discovered that it is the tensioner that is making the noise, and the belt is turning brown for some reason. I was wondering if anyone knows if the tensioner has a bearing assembly in it, or if there is a spray that would quiet this down until weather permits changing the tensioner and belt? Any help would be appreciated!

 

The bearing isfixed into the pulley-wheel of the tensioner.
The pulley-wheel itself ( not the whole tensioner unit)can/must be replaced if the bearing has problems. After removing the belt, remove the bolt in the center of the tensioner pully-wheel and it will easily come off. You will also need to replace the belt with a new one.
You should also have a Belt-Idler: its pulley looks much like that of the Tensioner.......you may want to make sure which of the two is causing your problem. If its determind that your problem is the Idler and not the Tensioner......the pulley-wheel on the Idler is serviced just like the one on the Tensioner.

 

The bearing can sometimes be settled down with some spray grease if it's running dry - replace as soon as possible. Also - sounds like your belt's burning. replace with a good quality belt when you get your new pulley.

 

Also,,

If this is a 3.0 2V,,, make sure its not the cam synchronizer.. Very common for them the squeal/chirp'loudly' on a cold engine, sometimes heated as well.. Certainly could be an idler/tensioner, but many 'good' belts/tensioners ect. have been replaced because of a bad syncronizer.. Start the engine with the belt removed, if symtoms persist, verify syncronizer.. The syncronizer is up front on the block, and will resonate sound that seems to be coming from the belt area at times.. Being the belt needs to be removed 'prior' to replacement, or during a tensioner/pulley repair, it's a good practice to check for any noise from the syncronizer..

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That still leaves why the belt is getting discolored. Could the heat from a synchro. with a problem burn the belt? And if it's screaming will spray grease help?

 

Hello,
I replaced the idler cause it was not the tensioner as I originally assumed. I also replaced the belt. The spray did not work, so I just changed all. It was $40.00. Thank you all for your replies.