Replaced Serp Belt on 06, now getting a chattering noise

[rickself3]

My daughter just purchased an 06 Aveo LS Automatic with 108,000 miles. The other night when she got home, the serpentine belt was dragging under the car. I was able to find a great youtube video and had the belt replaced in short time. Now there is a chatter coming from that area of the engine. Thinking it may be scraps from the old belt stuck in the pulleys, I removed some of what I could find. Replaced the belt and the noise is still there. THe drive belt was recently checked and must have been replaced before she bought the car. As a realistic person, I look for the cause - what caused the belt to break in the first place. Maybe something seized up? Would there be damage to the crankshaft area? Water pump? Any direction of help on this elusive car would help immensely. Thanks in advance.

[avguy]

First take off the belt (you get better at this as time goes on), start it up for a few seconds and confirm that the sound is gone. If it's not gone, then you're in a whole different ($$$) problem area. Assuming the noise is gone, check each pulley for play (wobble), cracks, and noise, spinning the ones that can spin. If all of this doesn't isolate the problem, I've seen posts by others who put white marks on the belt, in order to get some additional visual help. Haven't had to do that myself, but this apparently did work to find the problem for some folks. And finally, you could of course try another make belt, to see if perhaps something is wrong with the one you have now.

[rickself3]

Thanks, avguy. Those are all good tips for future reference and diy. We located the problem: the AC clutch plate. With the AC off, the noise stopped, when the AC was engaged, the clutch plate chattered away. Considering that most AC compressors will take, in general, 10hp to run when engaged, it would be pretty easy to take a belt that may have never been changed and rip it apart. I think I want to invest in a new idler pulley also. Why do they make these things out of plastic anyways?! Job security or just plain cheap!?
Thanks, again.

[Thymeclock]

Thanks, avguy. Those are all good tips for future reference and diy. We located the problem: the AC clutch plate. With the AC off, the noise stopped, when the AC was engaged, the clutch plate chattered away. Considering that most AC compressors will take, in general, 10hp to run when engaged, it would be pretty easy to take a belt that may have never been changed and rip it apart. I think I want to invest in a new idler pulley also. Why do they make these things out of plastic anyways?! Job security or just plain cheap!?
Thanks, again.

"Just plain cheap". Also 'planned obsolescence'. They'd make the entire car out of plastic if they could.