AC compressor pulley and belt issues.

Sounds like someone is killing a cat under the hood of my '98 2.7 4cyl truck! AC pulley started throwing hot shards of molten runner against the wheel well, so immediate fix was to change the belt. No luck, it's still screeching and now the belt is smokin and gets ridiculously hot to the touch in a mere moment. I have adjusted the pulley and the tensioner, the belt is secure and tight. I'm at a loss. Has my AC compressor crapped out and causing the overheating and screeching?

 

Just a thought... theres a bearing that might be sized up in the ac compressor bearing. My bearing is going on my truck and it sounds like a constant whistling sound. Was it making noise before??

 

Its definitely not a whistling sound, its a screeching screaming sound

 

Never heard any noise prior to the initial screaming that I thought meant I was gonna throw a belt.

 

It's probably a bad bearing.....
I'm not familiar with the 2.7L - but you might have one pulley at the compressor and another pulley as an idler.

You need to take the belt off and spin both pulleys by hand. If they are rough to spin by hand....then, the bearings are shot.

Another possibility - is the belt is not tight enough and is slipping.

 

^^^^ X2. Remove belt and check spin by hand.

 

Spun the AC pulley by hand and seemed a little rough but after 217k miles I figured it was due. Went ahead and replaced old w new AC compressor, hooked it all back up and the bitch is still overheating and melting belts. Not sure where to go from here. Any help or suggestions?

 

Is there another pulley? (Idler pulley)
I know the 3.4L had an idler pulley that were notorious for going bad/bearings.

Is the belt tight enough?

Is it still squealing?

Have the truck running and pop your head under the hood and watch it. Is the belt flopping around? (Too loose). Is it moving at the same rate as the other belts? Is it hesitating ?

 

Do you have someone who can start the truck for you while you peek at the belt and engine pulleys? That bad of a problem should be easy to find.

 

A quick thanks to all the help, I was out of the country for a bit and didn't have a chance to fix the pulley issue that it turned out to be. It was the "lower" idler pulley that went bad and was seizing up. Thanks again for the help.