my vr6 makes a squeaking noise!

[pringles 0]

it sounds like a squeaky fan belt but im not sure this can be the case.

 

it seemed to stop when the engine had been worked hard and got a bit hot.

 

Any suggestions lads and ladies?

 

:?: :?

 

its a vr6 btw

[Kevin Bacon 5]

If it's a squeak and not a screech, might be your belt tensioner pulley or water pump. Try spraying some silicon (not WD40) maintanence spray on the belt before trying the below.

 

Looking at the airbox side of the engine, there is a large alloy lump at the top of the engine. In this lump is a screw hole (adjacent to injector no 1). Get a long 8mm bolt (13mm head) from B&Q and wind it into the hole. This releases the belt tension. Keep winding it in until the belt is slack and then lift the belt off the plastic pulley at the top. Now spin the pulley by hand and check for stiffness and coarseness or any strange noises. Do the same on the water pump pulley.

 

The plastic pulley should spin freely and silently.

 

The water pump pulley should have a small amount of resistance but not be coarse or squeaky.

 

My water pump was squeaky last week and sure enough, there was a puddle of water on the floor in the morning.

 

If the tensioner pulley is shot - £100+VAT from VW but you can try repacking the bearing with high temp grease.

If the water pump is noisy - £25 from G&SF.

 

Both are DIY jobs but the water pump is a lot more involved, requiring jacking up of the engine.

 

Anyway, hopefully they are the worst case scenarios but I would urge you to lift the bonnet next time it does it and try and isolate which end of the engine the noise is coming from before fearing the worst.

 

Kev

[jims corrado 0]

Mouse?

[Beetlebug_2001 0]

I noticed a squeey noise on my 1.8 16v, could be like a screech though, think it was the power steering belt cos when ive checked it the rubber that runs along the inside (rubber teeth things on the belt) they where cracked in places, and jumped in the car one day when it was wet and the steering didnt work until i revved it and that fixed it, must get it changed soon, didnt realise tensioners where so expensive is it that much for the 1.8 16v and how often should they be replaced? what kinda price am i looking at for a full set of new belts as well?