squeak from engine at startup?

dac69er

Super Moderator
Its not very loud and I get about a squeak a second on idle. Bringing up the revs doesn't seems to speed up the squeak as much as you would think.
I have tried altering the electrical load as well as power steering and that makes no difference.
It only happens on start up from cold(but not every time) and it only lasts for about 20 seconds max then it's silent.

Belts are fairly new and tensioned correctly. Engine was rebuilt a couple of yours ago and I have no oil or water leaks.

Any ideas? My only idea is the water pump bearing on the way out, but it's only a couple of years old and doesn't leak.
 

Jay

Admin
Usually the water pump would stay noisy although that doesn't really mean it's not your issue, I had a idler pulley and a power steering pump that both randomly squeaked intermittently (two different cars). You could remove the belt and that would eliminate the pump and the alternator from investigation I guess?
 

Rev

Member +
I know you said you have checked Electrical load but Cold start injector and fuel pump electrical load plus friction on a cold engine can effect things over a short time. Also the single wire o2 heats up effects fueling up to 3 secs and can go rich also effecting loads at this time. After 20 secs my revs have dropped about 200-300 rpm so fueling is coming down.
Assuming the Alternator is still in play my suggestions are check oil level, check o2 heater is working check earth effecting alternator performance is ok.
I must say it sounds like your car is well looked after sqeaks are on my long list to fix.
 
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dac69er

Super Moderator
the O2 sensor doesnt have a heater, it is 1 wire.

i havnt checked electrical load, but there is no issue with that anyway.
i have started the car and then turned everything on to increase the load to see if that effected the squeak, which it didnt.
i tried the same thing with the power steering by turning the steering on the spot to alter the pump load, made no difference either.

oil level is spot on, never uses any.

my next plan is to whip the belts off and see if it makes any difference, but as it is intermittent i will have to do this a few times before i know! this morning it made 2 squeaks and that was it, then silence!


just wondered if anyone had any ideas i could have overlooked?
 

Rev

Member +
Short duration Dynamics may be in play here. The usual pattern is the battery gives too much at startup and forces the alternator to strongly give back charge to the battery. This means the Alternator has to work hard but only for a few seconds before everything returns to normal.
 

Paul_JJ

Member +
Can't say what is causing this problem, but I had the same issue for over a year and then it disappeared on it's own. It seemed to happen only during the wet weather... (Or lets say if it way raining over night that sound would come up in the morning...)
 

dac69er

Super Moderator
Can't say what is causing this problem, but I had the same issue for over a year and then it disappeared on it's own. It seemed to happen only during the wet weather... (Or lets say if it way raining over night that sound would come up in the morning...)

It's completely random. Sometimes does it when dry but also does it sometimes when wet. Never seems to be any rhyme or reason for it!
 
i'd check the tension on the alternator and powersteering/ac belts...any water on those usually causes a squeak---more so when you get a service or drive through a big puddle of standing water.....i hear your guys always say you get a lot of rain in the UK, i'm not sure if heavy overnight condensation from the continuous wet weather could cause it?!?!?
failing that, check the idle tensioner and idler inside the timing cover, power steering pulley/bearing, ac pully/bearing, alternator bearing

also check to see if any part(s) of the timing belt set up is rubbing against the timing cover---you would see a scratch or indentation of sorts
 

dac69er

Super Moderator
Nipped up the belt tension on both belts, no difference.

Turned everything by hand and no obvious signs of any rubbing or squeaking. No leaks from water pump.

Any other ideas?
 

dac69er

Super Moderator
i rebuilt the engine about 3 years ago, so its not that.

all the mounts are cock on and its not that as it wouldnt just squeak for a few seconds on start up from cold.

it must be something relating to the engine turning, but its so intermittent and for such a short amount of time, its hard to pinpoint :(
 

dac69er

Super Moderator
hasnt squeaked much for a while, but when leaving work today it lasted a bit longer than normal so had a bit of time to investigate.

its coming from the rear of the engine cambelt side. its either the waterpump or the alternator. my money is on the alternator bearings being a bit dry.

will fix the fiat and get it off and rebuilt while i am at it. its never been done as far as i am aware so its done well!
 

dac69er

Super Moderator
i believe so, however i havnt got round to it as the car is off the road at the moment.

once the temperature dropped and there was more moisture about the issue stopped, so it does sound like a dry bearing.

when i finally get a chance to look at it i will report back.
 
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