Gurgling sound

[turbovair]

Hi everyone,
Within the last week my 96 has developed a gurgling, light knocking sound coming from the belt driven accessories.I am fairly sure its one of the accessories as I took the belt off and the noise stopped.That basically rules out the harmonic balancer and the engine. The noise seems to become worse when the A/C is engaged. However, the noise doesn't seem to be coming from the compressor. I've tried listening to the components with a screwdriver and none seem to stand out. I'm thinking its probably the vacuum pump or the wastegate. When you rev the engine slightly the noise seems to disappear. Anyone have an opinion/experience on this? Any would be appreciated.

[pannhead]

try looking at the crank-pulley (attached to harmonic balancer),its rubber filled inside,if the rubber starts to go there will be noise...if you let it go to long your crank can get angry and grenade your engine....good luck

[GaryC]

I had a problem very similar and it turned out to be the belt tensioner.

[ucdavis]

Belt tensioner has an indicator on it to show if it is in operating range. Check on the casting and study it for a second to see if it is still pulling like it should, then listen there. Tensioner is easy to change w/a long handled 1/2" drive breaker bar or ratchet.
If not there, get real intimate w/ the harmonic pulley setup. Running w/a bad one is bad juju. Uncomfortable but easy to inspect. A few of wife's best rags might be helpful.