'03; Galant, a/c pulley not aligned..squealing

[grcore]

A friend of mine was having problems with belt squeal on her '03 Galant. I took a look at it for her, and noticed that the pulley on the a/c compressor is out of line with the other pulleys (the belt runs at an angle from the compressor to the idler/tension pulley). The belt runs the power steering pump and the a/c compressor.

I see no way of adjusting the compressor. The a/c clutch works fine. The power steering pump lines up fine with the balancer and idler. But the belt leaves the idler at an angle on its way to the compressor.

I imagine this is causing the squealing. If you loosen the tension on the belt then the squeal dissipates, but that allows the power steering pulley to slip on the belt. If you tighten the tension, it starts to squeal and crackle as the belt slips laterally on the idler. The belts were recently changed at the dealer (dec '06) when the problem arose.

The only thing I could think is that the pully was put on backwards on the a/c unit, but I dont think that is even possible.

Next time I get a look at the car, I will snap a photo. The belt is clearly out of line.

thanks

g