Squeak from pulley

There has recently been a rattle under the hood of my 94 t-bird. I looked and it seems to be coming from the pulley right above the tensioner and to the left of the alternator. It sounds like metal scraping as it turns. What is the name of this pulley and what could be the reason for the sound? I tried tightening the pulley and it was tightened all the way. On the inside of the pulley I could see little balls around the nut which only had 8 balls or about 2/3 full, is it supposed to be full of little balls in there?

Yes you arent even suppose to be able to see the little balls. That is the bearing falling apart. I believe the pulley you are refering to is the idler pulley. Its not attached to anything and doesnt move except spin. I just replaced mine and it only cost me $15 and about 10 mins to do the job. VERY easy. If you could post a picture of the pulley I could tell you for sure.

By the way i forgot to ask the all important question...... is it a 4.6L or 3.8L? I was refering to the 4.6L situation. If its a 3.8L Im not too sure which pulley you are talking about and that situation I described may not apply.