We bought a 1999 ford ranger w/110,000 miles. It was 1 can short of coolant. When this was added it took care of the cooling problem. It has a high pitched squeal under the hood. We had the idler pulley replaced and it stopped for a day. The squeal is back. It’s worse when accelerating. My son reports the air conditioning works well then seems to not be as cold and then repeats that cycle. What may we try next?
How old is the belt, is it tensioned correctly? Open hood, rev engine, see if you can figure out where it’s coming from.
Is the squeal related to the AC or are they 2 completely separate issues? Do you get the squeal if the AC is turned off?
Most likely you have a defective water pump. Look to see if fluid is dripping from the underside of the pump. If you do decide to replace the pump, replace the timing belt at the same time. You will most likely want to have this done for you by a mechanic.
The timing belt is overdue to be replaced anyway, unless you had it done at the recommended 90,000 or so miles service.
If he has a V6, then the engine has a timing chain, not a belt.
I assume that you meant to say that you added one can of refrigerant to the AC system, not one can of coolant to the engine cooling system. Would that assumption be correct?
You may have overcharged the AC system and that might be the cause of both issues.
Yes we added 1 can of refrigerant to the AC.