I put a new battery in my 1993 Ford Ranger Friday, started it up, heard a real bad squealing noise. Smoke was coming out of the engine. Turned off the truck and looked, the serpentine belt broke. The smoke was the belt. I put on a new belt today, stared up the truck and the same squealing sound. It's real loud and not right. What could it be?
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It sounds as if one of the devices driven by the belt is frozen. Loosen the belt and check the alternator, power steering pump, idler pulley, a/c compressor and anything else that the belt drives and see that they all move freely. If they do, put the belt back and have someone else start the engine while you visually check to see that all devices are turning. If they are and it still squeals, I will have to ponder some more.
Took the belt off and found that the alternator is frozen. How easy/hard is it to change out? Where can I find a rebuilt alternator?
I have changed the alternator on my '08 Ranger twice and it wasn't very hard. I don't know what a '93 looks like under the hood, however, and my experience may not transfer. I have a 2.3L 4 cylinder with a stick shift and to get to my alternator I had to go thru the right wheel well. DISCONNECT THE BATTERY BEFORE YOU START. If yours is similar to mine jack up the right front wheel and remove it. Remove the splash guard which is buttoned to the wheel well and you will be staring at the alternator. Loosen the serpentine belt (from above) and then you can easily remove the red wire on the back of the alternator provided you have DISCONNECTED THE BATTERY. It is not hard to get to the bolts (2 I think) and pull the alternator out the side of the wheel well. I bought a Napa New alternator the first time I changed it and that was fortunate because it made the 2nd Napa alternator free. So far, so good. Put the new one in where the old one was, reinstall the serpentine belt making sure all the grooves are within the bounds of the pulley, resnap the splash guard, put the wheel on, let the car down, connect the battery and fire it up and watch it charge without squealing. As I said, this worked on my '08 and I don''t know what a '93 looks like but it can't be too hard. Napa sells rebuilt alternators too, as do all the major parts joints but the warranty isn't as good.
