Tau

I am having some trouble with my FD3S...

Purchased 12/2000
After a while I noticed a black powder on surfaces below the P/S pump.

Much later (years)
I began to hear an occasional squeal from the P/S area.

6/2007
I attempted to change the P/S pump but stopped short when the sound went away after I started loosening the pulley. (My brother-in-law said I should "start it up, just to see", after he saw the work ahead of me.)

11/2008
Smog/Safety inspection recommends replacing belts and pulley. The plastic part of the pulley is beginning to separate from the metal hub.
The mechanic replaces the belts during the inspection.
The P/S pump area squeals loudly when I start the car just after getting it back from the inspection.

12/2008
I replaced the pulley with an all aluminum one (a good quality, same diameter, one from a respected club sponsor).
I replaced the pump thinking that the bearing finally went - perhaps due to over tight belts.
Neither the tone nor the volume of the squeal changed!
I put the old belt on and there was no squeal at all. However the belt began to straddle the forward flange of the aluminum pulley.
I put the new belt on and the squeal returned but the belt stayed put.

I reason :
1) The old belt has notched ribs - less contact area (no squeal) and more flexible (jumps over grooves).
2) The new belt has whole ribs - better contact(?) and less tendency to jump over the grooves since it is new.
3) The aluminum pulley has a shorter flange than the stock one - easier to straddle.
4) The P/S pulley may be set farther aft and is not on the plane with the AC, Idler and Main pulley.
5) So even before changing to an aluminum pulley a misalignment like this could have chafed the belt - black powder.
7) A misalignment could be the source of the squeal with the new belt - it is resisting (poorly) the same force that pushed the old belt forward.
8) A misalignment could have stressed the plastic pulley so that it would separate (after years) from the hub.
(This is sketchy since I may have damaged the pulley when I tried to loosen it last year.)

So is it reasonable for pulley to be so far off plane?

I think that finding a new belt with notched ribs might solve the problem. My old notched belt was new when I got the car and it took years for me to notice a squeal.
If this doesn't work I will try belt dressing.

Does anyone have another suggestion?

bajaman

It IS possible for something to not be quite right, there is usually enough 'tolerance' to allow for a bit of misalignment, one reason drive belts are used in the first place.
Typically if one or more pulleys are not aligned you will see the belt sort of 'hunting' around as it rotates, in sort of a back-and-forth movement.

Try a Goodyear GATORBACK belt...those things are fantastic and can help out in these situations. I don't know of a good test to check alignment, I suppose one could take a laser-pointer and make some sort of guide unit that attached to the main pulley and use it to check where the running points of the pulleys match up...or not.

Tau

I looked into the GatorBack belts. They look like the type that was originally on the car. It's strange that I can't find anyone who has them in stock in the NYC area. I ordered from Summit.

I think that I can get a laser to fool around with - maybe if I get frustrated I'll try it. I really think that my accessories must be at the far end of the tolerance for alignment - or even over it.

Thanks for your help.