timmaaah 0 Posted January 9, 2013 My VR has started making the most strange noise - it sounds like a load of mice being tortured! It seem s to be coming from the left hand side of the engine as you look at it (air filter side). It doesn't seem to change in pitch with engine revs, which seems a bit odd. Any idea on what it could be? There's a bit of video footage of the noise at the bottom of this link. Is seems most localised on the small metal box I'm aiming the camera at (I think :/) Video Here Any help/pointers gratefully received!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fla 9 Posted January 9, 2013 could be the tensioner belt or bearing. Take the belt off, spin the wheel on the tensioner and see if its noisy. You could also try spraying some belt revive on the belt itself to see if the sound goes away. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VW_OwneR_85 2 Posted January 9, 2013 could be aux belt tensioner pulley bearing, one way to know for sure is to remove the belt and run it for a few seconds, {dont run it for long as it will over heat as the water pump wont be working, also spin the tensioner pulley, it should feel dry and rough if this is the case, also you checked your oil level? edit. lol fla didnt see your post. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted January 9, 2013 could be aux belt tensioner pulley bearing, one way to know for sure is to remove the belt and run it for a few seconds, {dont run it for long as it will over heat as the water pump wont be working, also spin the tensioner pulley, it should feel dry and rough if this is the case, also you checked your oil level? edit. lol fla didnt see your post. I'd take the belt off and check all the pulleys - could be the water pump is about to explode. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
timmaaah 0 Posted January 9, 2013 ok - thanks guys. How easy is it to remove the belt? Is there an idiots guide anywhere? I thought it was belt/pulley related too, but it is the non-change in pitch with different engine speeds that strikes me as odd! Many thanks once again. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 2 Posted January 9, 2013 Are you in the Corrado Club of GB? I did an idiots guide to removing the aux belt in the club magazine that a couple of years ago :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Portent 0 Posted January 9, 2013 A good way to check if its the aux belt is to run the engine and give a short spray of wd40 onto the belt itself. If it quietens down for a few minutes then its the belt. Otherwise it could be the tensioner bearing or waterpump. The belt is dead easy to do. I'm not mechanically minded and I managed it using Jims CCGB instructions :salute: The waterpump looks more effort but the tensioner looks easy. If you were closer then I'd be happy to show you how to do the belt. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted January 9, 2013 Removing the belt is simples - use an M8x80 Bolt in the free hole in the tensioner to de-tension. If you need to remove the tensioner itself then it's just 3 bolts holding it to the side of the engine. Mechano! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stonejag 10 Posted January 9, 2013 You can get a really weird screech from not having the tensioner bolts done up tight enough - happened to me when I loosened one to fit my CDA bracket on it. Didn't seem to vary with engine speed at all. Also check your crack pipe, if they go at the water pump end then it can leak coolant onto the belt and make it squeaky. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
timmaaah 0 Posted January 10, 2013 Just a quick update - de-tensioned and removed the belt - the water pump, power steering and alt pulleys are smooth - the tensioner one wasn't! I striped it down and found the grease in the race had long since hardened and evaporated. I repacked it with grease - reassembled and hey presto - no more tortured mice!! Thanks for all the guidance/help :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roger Blassberg 0 Posted January 11, 2013 I don't know that the bearing will last very long now that it has been run dry. Be prepared for the screeching to return. The bearing is easy enough to replace and can be had for less than £10 from a stockist. Buy a reputable make (eg SKF), there's lots of chinese rubbish about. Just for information, the pully retainer is left-hand threaded (i.e. turn clockwise to undo) Best wishes RB Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
p0l1wrath 10 Posted January 14, 2013 I don't know that the bearing will last very long now that it has been run dry. Be prepared for the screeching to return. The bearing is easy enough to replace and can be had for less than £10 from a stockist. Buy a reputable make (eg SKF), there's lots of chinese rubbish about. Just for information, the pully retainer is left-hand threaded (i.e. turn clockwise to undo) RB Would really advise changing, nice easy job i took the bearing to a bearing shop and got a new one for under a tenner, mine seized when i was away from home and had to get the rac to bring me home, well worth doing! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 2 Posted January 14, 2013 Yep - fairly easy job to do. There have been threads about this subject on here before (including the exact type of bearing you need to get) and the actual job is easy enough if you have a vice to use as a bearing press. I swapped out the bearing on my tensioner thinking it was to blame for horrible noises but turned out to be an utterly shagged PAS pump... but from start to finish only took me 1-2 hours or so, and I'm crap with the spanners. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
