new to the forum, looking for help

Hey! I'm new to the forum world... I have a 2000 Grand Am SE. I got this car new from the dealer in 2000 and have overall been impressed with the quality and low maintenance needed from the car. However, last July I hit about 63,000 miles and my serpantine belt began to squeak. So I had it replaced. The chirping continued for about a month after and then disappeared. About a week ago it began again and I only have about 7,000 miles on it. If anyone can give me a more specific idea of what it might be I would appreciate giving me a place to start looking. $90 for a diagnostic fee is insane to me.

My other question is about exhausts. I am running completely stock exhaust right now, but I would like to make it a little beefier. I realize its a V6 and not a real 'muscle car', but I love it, and think a deeper sound would be good. Has anyone done anything simple and does it sound respectable? I really dont like the "can" sound of L4's, so if its ricey, Im not interested. Has anyone dumped the exhaust? Any direction would be appreciated.

so far looking at the forum, everyone seems to be very knowledgeable of these cars and Im looking forward to any and all help you can provide for me. I am a girl, but I have lived my life around vehicles and am very comfortable around them. Thanks all!!

If its turely the belt squeaking then i'd try a goodyear gatorback belt, but the other squeaks it could be would be, 1. idler pulley, 2. alternator, 3. air conditioning clutch. The a/c clutch will be more of grinding, the alternator will sound like a squeek (high pitch), and the idler pulley will sound about the same as the alternator.

If its a belt most likely it will do it on startup and when you mash the gas, but go away once everything gets up to speed.

If your comfortable with pulling of the alternator (or have someone that will help do it) you can take it to any parts store and have them bench test it for free, but usually when an alternator is making a noise its going bad, when its running what is your volt gauge showing? it should be about 14 volts. You can also test this with a voltmeter betweent he batter post while running, If you have good voltage most likely its not your alternator.

Seems as though i've heard alot of talk on here about idler pulleys squeaking, maybe someone with a v6 can chime in and give there experience here.

good luck & remember to post what the fix was to help others with simular problems.

On the exhaust, how much would you be willing to spend? They can get pretty pricey...

I have been told to check the idler pulley.. I think I will start there.

As far as the exhaust, I first wanted to see about unbolting one of the mufflers... Price wise, Im familiar with the range of systems and would be willing to spend $400 or so if it truly would sound good. But of course I just was more interested in taking off some of the restriction that comes on there originally. Is that hopeless?

Doube check the belt to make sure it is on the right ribs and not off one. I know it sounds like something minor...but it can happen to anyone.

exhaust is costly, but then again not really, I'll explain.
The SE muffler is like 180$, the GT dual muflr is around340$! thats dealer price, less shipping if nessesary.

The Borla is reall nice if you hav around $650-700 to spend.

The SLP is around $450, from the CAT back w/ dual mufflr.

I just helped a buddy install an SLP kit, and it was easy on a lift. The old exhaust will hav to be cut to remove it if you dont hav a way to get the car up in the air.

I hav a custom exhaust and it sounds great, but the SLP is much lowr tone and sounds meatyr than mine. If I had to do it again, I'd go with the SLP or the Borla. Neither was available for my 99 way back when I fab'd mine up.

Good Luck and Welcome to AF!

Exhaust gets really expensive, especially if your looking at a beefy sound. It's very hard to get a nice sound from the 3400 (this is opinion only).

I've probably gone way more extreme than you are willing, but the basic idea would follow. To get the beefier sound you would basically need to open up as much flow through the exhaust as possible. The problem is, too much flow kinda does the opposite (as in my case; mine turned sort of raspy). Cheapest route, would be to pick up a muffler, hf resonator and hf cat. Parts alone would cost you around 400. Then you'll need someone to install it.

I have a video clip of my magnaflow setup. The difference here, is I have a set of headers and upgraded the piping from 2.25" to 2.5" exhaust (plus the shift is at around 7000rpm). Sorry, I don't have a video without the extra 'stuff'. Try searching on the net. I think I found some sound clips on other forums, prior to purchasing magnaflow.

http://www.grandsontario.com/albums/albun10/aby.wmv

A few pics are here:
http://www.grandsontario.com/gallery/albun10

And here:
http://ca.geocities.com/xonelith

Look for some clubs in your area (believe it or not, there are quite a few). Go to some meets and hear them for yourself.

Good Luck!

alright.. so after a lot of poking around, i found that my power steering pump (which was replaced last july) was wobbling. I found it was bent AND had a chip on the lip. So I am going to get a new one, on the dealership's dime, and I hope that will get rid of the awful noise...