We have a '92 Caprice v8 with several problems, but right now the two most pressing are:
1. Ticking noise coming from exhaust manifold. Garage has tightened it down, but it keeps coming loose (and will not pass inspection because of this). Any thoughts on how to fix?
2. Serpentine belt broke the other day. We replaced it last night, but when we turned the car on, it made a high pitched squeal after a few seconds. Looking at it, seems maybe a bearing in the AC motor (? or pump?) must have frozen and that part wont turn which must have caused the last belt to snap. We were told we would either have to replace the motor (very $$) or try and bypass it with a shorter belt. I can't seem to find prices on either the part or the shorter belt....does anyone know if bypassing is even an option in this vehichle?

Appreciate any advise I can get on either issue

When you say the AC motor, are you refering to the AC compressor which is run off the serpentine belt system?

You can purchase mandifold gaskets at qutozone, made by felpro to solve the exhaust leak issue.

Yes, I did mean compressor. There is a clutch type thing that the belt rides on. Can that be removed without discharging the AC?

Yes it can be removed and replaced. The clutch that is .

You can safely bypass the air conditioning compressor without affecting the rest of the engine besides a very slight increase in power and fuel economy, however, you will no longer be able to use your air conditioning if you do bypass it. On my car the compressor began to sieze up, and it let all of the freon out, so I just completely removed it from my engine.

are you sure its the compressor, have you tried some belt dressing, new belts tend to make the squeiling sound especially when not tightend enough.

Thank you all!

How do I bypass the compressor? The only way we could come up with is to get a belt for a model without AC, but apparently no models were made without AC. Someone did say I could try and find another vehicle (such as a truck) belt and see if it would work.....

Yes, we are pretty sure it is the compressor - it was not turning the belt at all and besides the squealing it was smoking and very hot to the touch after