Chrysler Repair: 2000 Chrysler Sebring JXI Serpentine belt chirping, chrysler sebring jxi, serpentine belt

Question
Roland, My sister-in-law's Sebring has a problem in the Serpentine drive belt area.  It made a fairly quite "chirp" during idle at around 55K miles.  It got louder and around 55K miles I had the local shop look into the problem.  They replaced the idler and the serpentine belt.  Within a month the "chirp" was back and the shop replaced the idler once again.  The car now has around 65K miles and the "chirp" deteriorated to the constant squeal of a bearing going bad.  I replaced the idler today which returned the car to it's standard quite "chirp" that silences with acceleration and at higher engine speeds.  The idler I replaced was definitely going bad so that was part of the problem.  The question is how do I fix this "chirp"?  The AC compressor spins smooth and freely.  The alternator essentially the same.  I would prefer not to use the hit or miss repair method.  Any ideas beyond going to the dealership? How do you replace the Alternator on this engine?

Answer
Hi Winford,
I would suggest that you try to localize which pulley is the source of the quiet chirp by using a rubber hose as an "ear trumpet" to focus your hearing on each pulley. If you are successful than check the device to see if the belt is chirping or the device itself. If you can't localize the device or even if you do, you would possibly be able to notice whether the pulley involved is out of the plane of the other pulleys driven by the belt. Use a straight edge placed between pulleys to try to eye one pulley that is not in the same plane as the rest. Then reposition that device so that it is in the same plane. If the pulley is out of the plane or the pulley itself is not parallel to the plane though its midline is in the plane then that pulley is the likely source of the chirp. So a combination of auditory search and visual alignment search is the best way to localize and fix this.
The steps for replacing the alternator (on the 2.5L V-6 engine which I assume that it is) are as follows:
Disconnect battery cable from the shock tower near by
Unplug field circuit from alternator
Remove B+ terminal nut and wire
Lossen top mounting ear bolt
Lossen pivot bolt but do no remove. Be careful not to lose nut
Loosen adjusting bolt on idler to allow removal of the drive belt
Remove pivot bolt, do not drop spacer
Remove top mounting ear bolt
Remove alternator
When installing tighten the pivot and mounting bolts to 40 foot-pounds torque.
Let me know how things work out, please.
Roland