Cambelt Noise?

[martin82]

Got an oil leak in my timing end so the garage doing the work said they should replace the cam belt incase it was soiled with oil (not the full kit just the belt), the oil leaks now gone but the new cam belt seems a lot noisier than it used to be.

The previous cam belt wasn't changed that long ago (about a year ago if memory serves) but the noise its making now is kind of wirrrrring noise, it does it at idle and does it when i rev it (not so much noise when driving at you would expect).

Should i be worried or will it bed itself in?

 

[dark_knight]

how much oil?

how much oil are we talking about here..? how much got on the belt..?

 

[martin82]

how much oil are we talking about here..? how much got on the belt..?

Sorry i wasnt clear there, the garage have changed the seal & changed the cambelt (just belt) and now its making the wirrrrring noise.

 

[dac69er]

i have done 4 starlet cambelts and they have all made a noise to some degree. they do 'bed in' but this is usually quite quickly.

i have noticed different brands whiir more than others. if it is as bad as you are saying it might be the belt is too tight or it is rubbing on something slightly!?!?

 

[martin82]

i have done 4 starlet cambelts and they have all made a noise to some degree. they do 'bed in' but this is usually quite quickly.

i have noticed different brands whiir more than others. if it is as bad as you are saying it might be the belt is too tight or it is rubbing on something slightly!?!?

Ive done about 20 miles so far, best way i can describe it is if youve heard a newer mini cooper s (supercharged one) whine its kinda like that, ive had a look and it doesnt look like its catching on anything so far as i can tell.

On a sightly different note the car seems a bit down on power since as well.

 

[dark_knight]

belt

ok, so you are running on a new belt..? did they tension it properly..? whirring would be caused by a slack/over-tightened belt. also, not that it would matter much but is it the same brand of belt..? some are noisier than others..

 

[martin82]

ok, so you are running on a new belt..? did they tension it properly..? whirring would be caused by a slack/over-tightened belt. also, not that it would matter much but is it the same brand of belt..? some are noisier than others..

Yes new belt.........im hoping they tensioned it correctly, they did the full cambelt kit change last year.

The brand of belt this time around was a blueprint one from EK's & the previous one (apparently oil soaked one) was a different brand (came from TM Developments, red & blue packet but the name escapes me)

 

[dark_knight]

i'd check on its tension before starting to worry (about other things).. like dac69er said, new belts will moan a little when freshly installed but they should settle in quickly enough to not have to worry about..

 

[martin82]

Thanks to the both of you for advice.

I'll go food shopping tonite & hopefully the noise will die down a bit, if it doesnt i'll take it back & let them look at it.

 

[dark_knight]

no worries

no problem martin82 -- always glad to be of assistance.. you could always spread some repp love too

something else that just came to mind is that, if the belt tension is ok, then proli one of the cam belt covers is rubbing/grazing the belt..? could be the top or bottom one. just some food for thought.. have them check this too..

 

[martin82]

no problem martin82 -- always glad to be of assistance.. you could always spread some repp love too

something else that just came to mind is that, if the belt tension is ok, then proli one of the cam belt covers is rubbing/grazing the belt..? could be the top or bottom one. just some food for thought.. have them check this too..

Thanks i'll suggest this as well.

Just been changing browser to rep (Although i couldnt rep dac69er for some odd reason).

 

[dark_knight]

cheers!

cheers mate. report back on how it goes once you have it checked..

 

[martin82]

cheers mate. report back on how it goes once you have it checked..

Well i fetched it back to the garage that changed the belt, they've said its fine & can't be overtightened as its self adjusting (is this right), I've listened to the noise & it seems to increase/change voice when I'm reving the engine, or turn on lights, rear heated window etc so I'm not starting to wonder if its the alternator belt/bearings.

 

[dac69er]

could well be. maybe they have overtightened the auxiliary drive belts??? the cambelt does self tension, but it is easy to put extra tension on it. if you are skillful you can remove a little cover on the cambelt cover, loosen the nut on the tensioner and then do it back up again. this would prove whether it is the cambelt making the noise or not

 

[dark_knight]

problem elimination

you can try what dac69er said to try and eliminate (all) other possibilities so that we stop chasing ghosts. plus, your garage doesn't sound very helpful if they still let you drive out of there with your problem unresolved.. :/

 

[dac69er]

you can try what dac69er said to try and eliminate (all) other possibilities so that we stop chasing ghosts. plus, your garage doesn't sound very helpful if they still let you drive out of there with your problem unresolved.. :/

that is the uk for you mate

 

[dark_knight]

buggers!
more reason why i am 107% d.i.y.. :/