Yupp, I believe its the tensioner. I asked about it a while back, same thing with mine.

 

Just read your thread. What came of it? Was it the tensioner? Did you replace it? What did it cost? I hope it helped your steering issues.

Thanks again

 

Sounds a lot like the A/C compressor clutch to me. Get it checked out. If it goes while you are driving you'll be dead in the water.

 

I really appreciate everyone's help. I guess I'll drive the Buick til I get the Caddy to the shop this week. Question - If it's the AC compressor clutch, why would I be dead in the water? Would it literally come apart, leaving the belt off?

Thanks again

 

Yup, if the bearing goes and falls apart, the whole clutch will fall off and you'll have no serpentine belt, thus no P/S or alternator. You would be able to muscle the steering and drive off battery power until it gets drained.

 

Sorry - 1 more as I get into this today.

If this is indeed my AC clutch compressor - what replacement part(s) am I looking at?

Thanks

 

You're looking for a "Cadillac Seville, 2000, A/C compressor clutch and pulley assembly".

NAPA. RockAuto. Best bet is Chris in Parts at Rippy Cadillac, over there >>>>>>>>

It can be changed, but it's no fun working down in there. Lower air deflector off, wheel off, fender liner out, start moving parts out of the way. Book labor is 2.7 hours and that does not include refrigerant recovery and charging.

 

Does it sound like this?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyxCQLi8h1M

 

What a great idea. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oipTQUfyYx4

 

I believe mine is the idler pulley but it would only make the noise randomly so I never got it fixed. I don't know if the noise is even still there, I haven't heard it in a while.

 

If you even THINK an idler or tensioner pulley is noisy, change it yesterday. Absolutely guaranteed that it will freeze up at the most inopportune moment, leaving you stranded with a huge repair bill to fix the collateral damage.

 

Hi.

It does sound like the belt tensioner. Sometimes a a few drops of oil (not too much) and working it a bit solves the problem.


M...

 

Oil is, at best, a temporary BandAid.

Good ol' wheel bearing grease can be used to repack a good bearing, but by the time you begin to hear a ball or roller bearing rattle, it's done for.

This water pump drive belt tensioner pulley started clicking at 56,000 miles - after cleaning it out with gasoline it rattled like dry peas in a tin can.

 

I remember when I had my '96 Aurora I had a sound like that.. Turned out the water pump tensioner went out, however the bearing didn't really seize. I got lucky, when I finally got around to looking at it the turning of the tensioner pulley actually ground out the bearing, ate through the pully and less than 1/2" of pulley left.. just a ring spinning around the bolt. To this day I have no idea how it happened like this and wish I would have took a picture. Another couple miles I would have been miles away from the garage and S.O.L if the water pump stopped. If its either the water pump or serpentine change it now.