Whining Grating Sound

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 9:00 am

When starting my car in the morning, there is a deep whining sound from the engine. This gets louder when first starting off, however goes away over 1350rpm, and after about 1/2 miles driving it goes away completely. It isn't really bothering me, It would just be nice to know more about what it could be. Has anyone else had this?

Ben Harris · Post by **Ben Harris** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 9:08 am

When it's cold and damp, I get a whining sound from the front right of the engine on one of my 480's, which dissapears above 2000RPM, and also goes away after about 1/2 a mile. In my case, I suspect it's one of the belts slipping slightly, but haven't got round to tightening/replacing (as required) it yet. It's either that, or the alternator/water pump.

Ben.

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 9:22 am

My belts sometimes slip too, but only when damp (heard Talcum powder is a good tip to stop them slipping). But I don't think this noise is the belt. Alternator is a possiblity as it looks recently replaced and has (for some reason) been covered in oil.

pol · Post by **pol** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 11:10 am

Probably your next door neighbours cat.

pol

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 12:00 pm

pol wrote:Probably your next door neighbours cat.

I wish!

volvofox · Post by **volvofox** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 12:15 am

maybe it is getting old and has problems awakening in the morning

----------------------

check both the ditributer belt and the alternator belt.

I had a noisy alternator since i forgooton to replace the oil filler cap and the engine started to preserve its selves.

C6REW · Post by **C6REW** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 5:34 pm

Hi MatBat,

Just a thought, why is there oil on the Alternator? On reading this I immediately felt that your noise and this oil where linked. Is the oil anywhere else?

Regards

Chris

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 5:45 pm

Yes there is oil all over the soundproofing on the bonnet where it has been thrown around!

No there is none on the engine though, The alternator looks quite new.

chris1roll · Post by **chris1roll** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 5:55 pm

Is it really oil, or Power steering fluid, which seems to get everywhere on all our cars.

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 6:57 pm

I am pretty sure it's oil, I'll go and lick some to see

It surrounds the A/C compressor and alternator so I'd imagine its oil were someone has prbablt ried to quieten it before. Which make me think,
The bracket that the alternator is attached to has been extended by about 2.5cm, probably to tension the belt. It's also at it's maximum adjustment, yet the belt doesn't seem too tight.

C6REW · Post by **C6REW** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 11:38 pm

Hi MatBat,

You can almost smell the oil on the belts. Surely the problem is caused by oil having made the belt shiny which in turn is likely to make a horrid sound when damp and cold? Once the belt has warmed up it is not likely to slip so much, hence it goes after 1/2Mile.

Regards

Chris

volvofox · Post by **volvofox** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 12:39 am

I had forgotten the refiller cap as I had to throw away the empty oil bottle last summer in the heat of badmoods during my divorce. Had to clean a lot of driveways.

there was indeed a whining sound of the alternator. and it was covered in oil droplets, like the rest of the engine bay

purely instinctive i gabbed this bottle of graphite powder and dusted it over the alternator. Maybe it was bad, but it helped. Thought some how the brushes were made of graphite too. Maybe it can be dangerous,and i was lucky, because graphite conducts electricity. (do it with no runnig engine)

have had no whinings since.

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 8:46 am

Thanks Volvofox

I'll look into using some grafite, I think that it could also be the bearings in the idler/tensioner. I need to replace the belt anyway, so I'll look at these things then.

Does anyone have any advice on changing the belt?

Regards

Mat

Ben Harris · Post by **Ben Harris** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 9:00 am

MatBat wrote:Does anyone have any advice on changing the belt?

I had a look to see what would be involved in replacing the alternator belt on my 2-litre yesterday. I remembered that it looked quite accessible on my 1.7. I took one look under the bonet of the 2-litre, and instantly came to the conclusion that it wasn't going to be anywhere near as easy. The main problem looking like (what I assumed to be) the air conditioning compressor getting in the way. Hopefully it'll be easier on your 1.7, but I seem to remember you've got air-con too so you might find that this a problem on yours. Martin said something about replacing his alternator being a nightmare because of the air-con, so I'm not too hopeful, and might end up paying a garage to do mine. Any one got an idea how many hours it's expected to take a garage?

- Oh, and does the alternator belt drive anyything else at the same time (waterpump possibly)? I'm not too worried about the alternator slipping slightly because it seems to grip again pretty soon, and the worse case scenario would be a flat battery, but if the water pump is also connected, I don't want to risk cooking my engine!

Ben.

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 9:57 am

In this picture you can see where the alternator bracket has been lengthened and that the adjustment is at its maximum, the belt still isn't too tight!

P.s the car was like this when I bought it.

Ben Harris · Post by **Ben Harris** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 10:03 am

Yours looks far more get-at-able than mine does. You can actually see the belt!

I know lots of cars can have different sized belts for the same engine. There were three to choose from when I replaced the belt on my mini, and there was no way of knowing which one you needed. It was a case of having to take off the old one and compare it to one of the three alternative new ones. It could be that that's what's happened in the past with your 480, and someone bought the wrong one and decided to make do.

Ben.

martinholmesuk · Post by **martinholmesuk** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 10:49 am

Martin said something about replacing his alternator being a nightmare because of the air-con

OMG My dad gave up trying on mine! I have the Air-Con

and there is no space to work in.

chris1roll · Post by **chris1roll** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 7:07 pm

The belt DOES drive the water pump.
MAT, that doesn't look like a professional adjustment on the belt! you must need a smaller one!