Help with belt wheel

[Firebreak]

Greetings,

Over the last few weeks I have been trying to find the source of a rattling noise and found it last night. It's pretty loud, but only happens sometimes. There is a wheel on the belt that attaches to the water pump. The wheel itself is secure, but there is a plate on the outside of it that seems a bit loose. If I touch it when the car engine is off I can move it perhaps a milimetre. Can anyone let me know if this is something that needs to be looked at immediately or explain a bit about what the plate is for? I'm hoping it's just a loose screw or something. Money is tight right now, so I would like to put it off for a bit if it's not serious. I don't want to cause any damage though, which is why I am posting this here. Any info would be appreciated.

Fire

EDIT: Forgot to mention, 2001 GA SE1

[xeroinfinity]

You mean the plastic piece with the belt diagram?

if thats what you are refering to thiers a bolt holding it on, 8 or 10mm.

[Firebreak]

No wasn't plastic. It was a metal plate attached to a metal wheel on the serpentine belt area, attached to the water pump. The metal plate is loose sometimes causing a clanking noise as it spins.

Maybe I should take it in and have someone look at it, was hoping to get a better understanding of what I was looking at before I did. I have no idea what I'm doing under the hood, but I could take it to a friend if it might just be a loose bolt.

I have a pretty good understanding of how cars work for someone who isn't a mechanic, so usually I know at least if a problem is serious or not and roughly how much it would cost to fix. In this case though, I have no idea at all what that plate is for, or what would happen if it came off. My best guess is that there might be a clutch of some kind in the wheel that can engage/disengage the pump and this plate could be protecting it. That's really the kind of info I am looking for if anyone would be able to explain a bit.

Fire

[xeroinfinity]

this SE, is it a V6 or 4cylinder?

that helps to be specific on what it could be.

Heres two pics of a V6's belt area.





Any thing just rattling around couldnt be good

[Firebreak]

It's an SE1

You wouldn't believe how much searching I did for pictures like that last night, haha.

The wheel in question is in the top picture on the bottom right

Fire

[xeroinfinity]

the top pully on hte right is the waterpump.

Under thats the AC compressor clutch pully.

[Firebreak]

Oh I was sure that was the waterpump. The waterpump died recently and it was pointed out to me. (It was dumping coolant) I must have been looking at the wrong spot. So if that's that AC clutch pulley, then if it broke I would have no AC, right?

My AC doesn't blow cold air anyway, so I never use it. So it sounds like I'm not looking at anything too serious, I can get someone to bandaid it and be back on track.

[xeroinfinity]

I added some text diagrams on those pics for clarification.

this should help identify everthing

BTW- SE's can hav the 2.4 4cyl , or the 3.4 v6.

[Firebreak]

Thanks for the info, that helps out a lot.

Mine is the V6 engine.