It is a serpentine belt, and what ever you do, do not use "belt dressing". Belt dressing was made for older cars with v belts, when you sprayed it on the pulley the excess and all the dirt would fly out because of the V shape of the pulley. With serpentine belts they are flat and thin, if you spray belt dressing, all it will do is attracted dirt and make it squeak even more. What you will want to use is either bar soap or chalk(blackboard/sidewalk) either put it on the underside(ribbed) of the belt, or on the grooves on the pulley. And with the tensioner because it is a serpentine belt, it will be an automatic spring loaded one, and being only a 2-3 year old car even with 46K miles on it, i have 110K KM on my 02 civic and i haven't had to replace the belts yet, there should be no way that the belt has stretched that much the tensioner is bottomed out already, but you never know. If you are saying it is going away when you give it a little gas, it sounds like there is a little moister/contaminates on the pulley. The chalk/soap trick usually does the trick if it isn't squeaky all the time.
Project UAV - Ultimate Activities Vehicle I'm building a go anywhere, anytime, carry all the crap vehicle that doesn't need to be used as a work vehicle or anything else. Put it away dirty and hose it out when the smell gets too bad. Something me, a couple friends, the pooch and gear can all fit in during any season and head out. 1. SUV 2. Older/classic styling 3. Preference on retaining original drivetrain 4. Would like to keep the cost to around $20k including vehicle purchase and modifications. Interior will be torn out, bed line the entire cab, add drain holes, reupholster with waterproof fabric, add an industrial strength roof rack, upgrade suspension, etc. Can't be a complete off road beast because it'll be used on 4-5hr highway trips as well. I'm keeping an eye out for South Western vehicles because they'll be rust free and I'll be out there in a few weeks and can drive it back. Professional installation labor for the project will cost me $0. My starter vehicle selection so far is, in no particular order... Jeep Cherokee Ford Bronco Toyota Land Cruiser GMC Yukon/Yukon GT Land Rover Discovery Pros? Cons? Experiences with a particular make? Another vehicle I should consider for the list? Must have mods for any of these vehicles?
In my experience, you just can't beat the reliability and performance of the drivetrain in the Cherokee. If it were me, I'd start there.
My experience is with the Discovery and it is identical to the one in the picture. It's never failed us and will do everything your asking for in your post and then some. Although to be honest my friend does not have the interior waterproofed and such but man is that thing a workhorse.
I'm partial to them but they're the smallest interior wise of any of the vehicles. For parts availability and ease of repair they're at the top of the list though. Plus comparatively inexpensive. A very nice 80k mile Cherokee can be found for around $8,500. I love the way they look but I know part prices are probably the highest of the vehicles listed. Plus I've never tinkered on one so I'm a little wary. But they're priced right around the Jeep Cherokee level and have lower miles.
I'd cross any full size truck off the list. GM ifs suspension is pretty weak and Fords TTB system from the same time period as that bronco wasn't much better. Plus, being fullsize means not fitting in some areas and if you get stuck it's an even bigger problem. The only advantage you get with the fullsize trucks are a real frame vs. a unibody. I'd go with a cherokee[XJ] or grand cherokee[ZJ]. A lot of times you can get a better deal on a ZJ than an XJ. The 4.0 6cyl motors you can get in them are bulletproof. The toyotas and landrovers are nice but are more expensive and aftermarket parts are more expensive. Jeep parts from the 90s into early 00s are super interchangeable and very cheap. Do you plan on things like a suspension lift and bigger tires?
Car: 2001 Pontiac Grand Am GT Backstory: Got my catalytic converter replaced last June because the inside of it fell apart. I had this done at a local garage, and instead of replacing the entire assembly, they just cut the old one out and then welded it back to the flex pipe that connects to the manifold. The factory or even aftermarket replacement part for this has the flex pipe as a direct attachment to the cat. Over this past weekend, my car started making an awful noise, so I figured that it was one of the welds for the replacement cat. I brought it back to the garage where it was originally repaired, and they told me the flex pipe was a dealer only replacement part. As it turns out, the only reason I now know that the flex pipe is part of the entire cat assembly is because I brought it to the dealer last night and they just called me. So, my question is two fold. 1) Any mechanics on the board who know if their standard operating procedure would be to just cut the cat out and weld in a new one, or if replacing the entire assembly is the normal thing to do? 2) Do I have any legal recourse against the original garage since it got fucked up and they have to replace the perfectly fine catalytic converter?
That's how exhaust gets replaced. If a catalytic converter goes bad you replace just that, they can either be welded in place or with exhaust clamps. The flex pipe is separate from the converter though they might be really close together in the exhaust system. Flex pipe is cheap stuff but it's needed so the motor can torque without bending the rest of the pipe. Generally the stuff just rusts out over time and I see you're from NY so between being 10 years old and road salt that's probably what happened. If the welds actually broke the exhaust shop could fix them, but if the flex pipe just rusted/wore out then it wouldn't be their problem. EDIT: They probably tried to save you some money by attaching it to the flex pipe instead of buying the whole setup. Didn't realize it was 1 whole assembly at first.
Believe me, I understand that, but in the Pontiac it's all one piece. The entire assembly is flex pipe and catalytic converter. From what the dealership told me, the cat doesn't bolt to the flex pipe, but is actually part of the pipe. So, instead of having just the cat replaced for $400 initially, I now have to replace a fully functioning cat with the proper assembly for an additional chunk of change. I think I am going to go back to the garage that did the initial work and see if they want to pay for the difference in the cost of service.
Yeah I see what you're saying now. Went and found a picture. They should have replaced the whole assembly. Unless it's some special type of flex pipe that could probably just be replaced by itself also. They probably didn't know it was all one piece.
The Bronco and Yukon platforms are short enough that they're not too bad for squeezing through tight spaces. Plus they can tow a bit more than the Jeep which might come in handy. For whatever reason I hate the styling of 2000ish era Grand Cherokees. Ugly as sin. I'm going to join a few forums for the Land Rover, Cruiser, and Cherokee as I know the Broncos and Yukons well enough. The Land Rover is starting to grow on me though. Especially when I can nab a 2003 Discovery HSE for between $8-9k with low miles. As for a lift + tires. Yes & yes. Probably a standard 3-4" lift and tires to fill the gap. Not looking to go too extreme since this thing will do highway duty for 4+hour trips too. I've ridden in a legit monster truck on the highway and it was awful. Swayed more than a fucking sailboat.
It's not uncommon to cut out the old cat and replace only that. A universal weld-in cat is a lot cheaper (~$200) than the flex pipe and cat assembly (~$500). Unless you specifically agreed that the entire assembly would be replaced, you're probably sol.
The thing is though now unless he can find just the piece of flexpipe[and I really don't think it would be hard to find one to work] the cat he already had put in would be wasted money if he's gotta replace the whole assembly including a new cat again just for the new flex pipe. I would say there isn't much that can be done as far as getting any money back from the first job though.
I've never seen anyone sell just the flex pipe section; it usually has a specific flange and length so I don't know there are universal fit flex pipes. Your best bet is probably a junkyard. If you make nice with the junkyard guys you can probably get one cheap because they usually sell the cats for scrap so they might be willing to cut off the flex pipe for you.
That is what your exhaust for your grand am should look like. That cat is part number 54629, and there is no flex pipe in that peice. Part number 57003 is after the cat and before the muffler, but the bulge right at the beginning more looks like a resonator then a flex pipe. Which is weird cause normally the flex peice is after the exhaust manifold before the cat. So to answer you question it would be standard to just replace part number 54629. edit: And yea, you can buy universal flex peice in most part stores. Or they can atleast get them, i know personally, i stock a 2" for automotive, and 3/4/5" for marine applications.
Well, thanks for the suggestions, but I still haven't figured it out. It is definitely not the bearings, they are fine. The CV boots are still in tact, no rips, tears, drips or leaks that I could see. I grabbed the half shafts, and tried wiggling them but did not notice any unusual movement/slop/etc. The only thing I can report is that the shop cross threaded one of my lug nuts, and I snapped the stud removing the one wheel. How bad is it to drive on 3 lugs? I'm outta town right now, and not sure just how/where I can get this taken care of. Also any other suggestions for the whirring sound or heat issues?
Personally, I'd not drive on 3 lug nuts. Take it to any tire shop and they'll be able to fix it for you.