I was just about to ask about this! I have red dust all over my alternator wheel. Keith from GDE even made a remark about it. I have a soft pulsing squeen from the engine bay and he said it looked like my pully was going. My belt tensioner seems tight and stiff though.

So the dust means the pully needs to be replaced? Is my alternator fine though?

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2005 Black KJ Sport CRD,
GDE Full Torque ECO TUNE, GDE Transmission ECO Tune,
Samco British Racing Green Hoses
Build Date 1/05
200k miles.
Original Owner

The dust doesn't necessarily mean that the pulley is bad, but it's a hint, along with the chirping. Is the belt tensioner bouncing like a blur? The alternator itself is probably just fine.

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05CRD: GDE Hot ECU & TCM tunes, Provent, Cat filter, Facet lift pump, TransGo kit, Florida TC, Samcos, stainless brake lines, HDS thermostat, Renegade light bar,
RL super sliders, Bilstein adjustables, Al's Gen 4.5 Arms, 235/85-16 Duratracs, DTT rear, Elocker front, EVIC+TPMS, Turbo timer, McNally pillar gauges, Weeks Stage II kit.

I looked from under the engine with the skid plates off and the engine running; I was almost convinced that the noise was form the AC clutch. In fact a neighbour came by to offer his opinion and he too thought it was the clutch. From above I could see some red dust around the AC compressor.

Then I read your post (thanks) and took the plastic cap off the Alternator pully to release a load of the dust. Pulled out the air filter box and released the belt. Holding the alternator shaft with a 10mm socket, I rotated the pully to discover that it really is rough counter clockwise. I am now convienced that this has a part to play although not so intutive based on the face the AC clutch engaging initiates the squeeling.

The part No on the pully is 53013554AE, I will order from www.moparpartsamerica.com for $52.50.

Once installed I will report back.

Maybe it's not the a/c clutch that's making noise. Maybe the belt is slipping on the a/c pulley because of the pulsations in the belt. In the test you did turning the pulley, it should be nice and smooth counterclockwise - really easy to turn relative to the alternator shaft.

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05CRD: GDE Hot ECU & TCM tunes, Provent, Cat filter, Facet lift pump, TransGo kit, Florida TC, Samcos, stainless brake lines, HDS thermostat, Renegade light bar,
RL super sliders, Bilstein adjustables, Al's Gen 4.5 Arms, 235/85-16 Duratracs, DTT rear, Elocker front, EVIC+TPMS, Turbo timer, McNally pillar gauges, Weeks Stage II kit.

Having ordered the Alternator De-Coupler Pulley six days ago from www.moparpartsamerica.com and paid $57 + 17 Fed-Ex 2 day it finally arrived!

I tried to get a 'Hex Tube' or 'Socket Tube' that would fit the 17mm recess with the intent to insert a 10mm socket down the center to hold the rotor still. This was not available with a thin enough wall so I tried to use the impact idea. This did not work for me so I removed the alternator and drilled a small indent in the face of the pulley where I used a punch and hammer to loosen (counter clock wise) the pulley while holding the shaft still with a 10 mm socket. This also did not work.

Finally, I drilled through the alloy belt pulley into the steel core and placed a nail into the hole to lock the pulley with the steel core. Then, with a pipe fitters wrench I loosened the pulley from the rotor holding the plumbers wrench on the alloy pulley while holding the rotor with the 10mm socket. This was very easy!

Installed the new pulley on the alternator and hand tightened with a 17mm allen socket. Re-installed and the problem was solved!

Thanks for all your comments and advice! I hope now I joined I can help others with my experience to date; I plan to post about the following issues I have experienced in 49k miles:

- 3 rear differential rebuilds (all under warranty but the last was with special permission from DC as it was over 36k miles)
- diesel filter / separator head leak and replacement
- passenger side engine mount failure
- Stripped Oil pan sump bolt threads (done by the dealer when they installed the original bolt without the washer)

My plan for the next Oil change is to install the Fubuto oil drain ball valve with hose nipple as I have the skid plate to protect it. I plan use blue loctite when installing it into the sump as I do not want to drill / tap a larger opening.

Sounds good, but a pic or two is worth a thousand!! ; ' )

Thanks - Mark
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2005 Liberty CRD
2004.5 Cummins 5.9L TD, F1s, NV5600 6-speed in a '93 GMC Suburban