Pulley chirping?

[RCAXJ]

Just replaced both idler pulleys (but not the bushings/inserts) to do some elimination...
The grooved pulley has some strange "spoked" plastic insert that appears to be permanently attached to the bolt. Tried spraying the insert/bushing on both pulleys with graphite lube, chirping's still there. :bang:
The strange thing is, the chirping sounds like it's coming from around the distributor! It's very hard for me to track it down for some reason.
Both pulleys didn't come with bushings, should I go to a stealership and get these inserts?
Would a crank pulley chirp? My XJ only has (supposedly) ~65K on it...
I put on a new belt a few months back, it seems the correct tightness.

[RCAXJ]

Just compared with a coworker's XJ - my brand new grooved pulley is wobbling
Now off to contact a stealership for that "special" bolt

[Mudderoy]

Just compared with a coworker's XJ - my brand new grooved pulley is wobbling
Now off to contact a stealership for that "special" bolt

:wow: this is news to me. Maybe some pictures, I'd like to understand this better before it bites me on the :ass:

[jccatt]

I have the same problem. Keep us posted.

[702XJCruiser]

There are numerous causes of chirps. Mine happened to be the harmonic balancer. If you look at at it closely the rubber material sandwiched between the two parts of the balancer dries out, cracks, and protrudes causing a slight rubbing of the rubber on the metal timing chain cover causing a chirp.

Also it is possible for the distributor bushing to dry out and cause a chirp.

Also from what I've gathered not all belts are created equal. Goodyear Gatorbacks and Gates belts from Oreilly are the best.

When my idler pulley fell off it chopped up my belt in the fan. Put on an elcheapo Vatozone belt and it wasn't so great. Put on a Gates and she runs quiet.

[RCAXJ]

I'll have to take it all off again for pics, and borrow a camera...

I see that teamcherokee.com sells the crank balancer/pulley and they do note that the rubber does wear out. Good prices on that site btw.

Distributor bushing... wow. I'm finding this to be like a thorn in the side.
Is this the distributor part (About 1/3 way down)?
http://www.teamcherokee.com/Engine/index.html
I'm thinking of going for the distributor first, since the sound is coming from that area.

Mine is an AZ belt but I'll replace that last if need be

[RCAXJ]

702,
If it is in the distributor, is that bushing servicable or would I have to get a new
assembly?

[702XJCruiser]

As far as I know the whole distributor needs to be replaced. I'd hope it's not that. The link you put up is just a seal. Not the bushing.

Start with the simple/cheap stuff 1st.

#1 Make sure that belt is good and tight. When I thought mine was tight it chirped a bit till the motor warmed up. Then I tightened it some more and more till eventually it stopped. After you buy it and put a few miles on it you might have to tighten it up a bit once again.

#2 If you think it's the distributor use a stethoscope or make one with a piece of hose. Listen to it. You can also try taking off the cap and shooting some wd-40 down the shaft.

#3 Visually inspect the harmonic balancer. Get the flashlight, get down have a good look.

#4 Loosten up the belt, move it out of the way. Start spinning pulleys by hand.

When I replaced my idler pulley it came with a sealed bearing. Did yours not come come with new bearings?

Do you have any additional description of your problem?

Some of the troubleshooting you've done so far?

[RCAXJ]

OK since I would *never* use WD40 (It's not a lube but that's another topic) per se for much of anything, I sprayed a bit of graphited "Lock Ease" spray lube into the distributor shaft and after a few days it seems to have stopped. Who woulda thought a distributor could do this. A mechanic friend of mine says Hondas were notorious for this but ok great.
:beertime

[RCAXJ]

Replaced lower half of distributor assembly yesterday. No more chirping.

[Mudderoy]

Replaced lower half of distributor assembly yesterday. No more chirping.

Change the oil? Check for metal? Of course I guess it depends oh how that bottom 1/2 looked when you took it out.

[jccatt]

I was lucky. Got ac regased and they said the belt was on crooked, plus old as. So replaced the snake and all is well.

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