I have had this squeaking that has been happening on cold startups (car has been sitting there a few hours). It used to happen only on cold days (maybe temps <60 or so), but now even in hot (80+) ambient temps on a cold start I get the noise.

It sounds like it's coming from the driver side front somewhere.

Where do I begin to try to fix the problem? Is removing the drivebelt that difficult? After doing that, how do I isolate the problem? Isn't 60k miles a little young for the drivebelt to start having issues on a modern car?

It's pretty frustrating, but I have very little time to pay attention to the car right now. We just bought our first house and getting the house ready for move-in is consuming all of my time (and money!!) right now! Heck, I haven't even started it for 2 weeks...

 

Alan:

I found this on a TSB Alert:

This looks like it may be your problem

Hope this helps........

 

Thanks, Rich! It looks like the causal part can either be the supercharger belt or the FEAD belt. How do I determine which one is causing the issue? Can the engine be started with the supercharger belt removed?

 

i had that noise on my previous 04 xkr, jag mecanic said it was belt tensioner, squeek when first starting, stoped after a few minutes. He said it was ok and if i wasn't bothered about it as it never happenes after first starting why spend money, had this for 5 years. Changed now to 07 and same thing with it, only on first start but not all the time,used to it now

 

Well, if it's a belt tensioner, shouldn't there be an adjustment to take the slack out of the belt? It should be a rather simple and quick repair.

 

mechanic said pulley tensioners that belts run on have to be change too, it's all about ths ca-thing $£$£$£$£$£$£ if you know what i mean icon_greedy:

 

That's exactly the sound I used to have. The simplest method that worked for me was Armor All tire gel. I spray it onto the belt in april, when the engine is running, inner and outer surface, and then the squeaks disappear till the end of fall. You have to take of the engine cover first in order to expose the belt.

 

Thanks for the tip. I would be hesitant to do this for fear of degrading the rubber on the belt. I know some chemicals can be harsh on rubber!

 

If the tire gel doesn't harm high velocity tires, like on my XKR, why should it harm the belt I thought. I only have to use it once a year. I drive my XKR between march and the end of october. My XKR is out of use during the Winter because of extensive salt on the roads.

 

An old school trick is while the engine is idling, BE CAREFUL, touch the edge of the belt, ever so slightly, with a bar of hand soap. It acts as a form of lubricant, is readily available(?). Although, many of us are using the bottled stuff.
Happy Trails.....

 

This was my fix! Thanks for the find!

 

I had this noise on a recently purchased 2003 XJ8. The mechanic said it might be the tensioner. Anyway I drove it home and read through the forum.

I put some WD40 on the drive belt and it stopped instantly. I saw a video on Youtube by a mechanic who showed what could potentially be happening with various pulleys. The belt squealed like a banshee for the first 2 miles when I drove it - suggest water rather than WD40


I first checked the belt wear indicator and saw that belt wear indicator was not at the 'replace' mark.

Given that I am an ex-auto engineer I figured that a vehicle with 70K miles should not really have a pulley/bearing issue. I suspected the belt.

Bought a new belt at Autozone. Borrowed the belt replacement tool. Took the old belt off and checked all the pulleys by turning them - crankshaft pulley will not turn. All pulleys seemed okay.

I put the new belt on - viola! noise has been gone.

Lesson learned - quite a few mechanics are trained to replace parts. The wiser ones know where to look. I follow the first rule of medicine for my cars.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

'Do no harm'

 

Assuming its not an alternator or tensioner bearing and is the belt.. I have bought v-belt dressing in the past for noisy belts as it won't harm the belts and it provides a bit of tack to stop the slipping which is usually the noise producer. It has worked well here on ranch equipment and cars and lasts a long time between applications.. Hope this helps.
Lawrence

 

I was given a quote of $1400 for the TSB procedure. Does that sound right to you guys?

According to the TSB it's a 1.4 hour job and I can't believe it would cost $1000 in parts for something so simple.

 

Also, they told me that based on my VIN, that TSB does not apply. So it seems that I already have the grooved pulleys. Maybe the pulleys are not the problem?

I am wanting to get this problem solved but I am not as willing to throw thousands of dollars down the drain just to have the same issues.

At this point I think I will just have them give me a diagnosis for a couple hundred bucks and make a decision from there...

 

Just an FYI here but they do make a product called "belt dressing" which is the correct product to use. It is meant to be a short term solution to a slipping belt but you need to fix the problem. I would replace the belt 1st and while there check the tensioner pulley to make sure that it spins freely. Also rotate the alternator , water pump , AC compressor and the SC pulley to make sure there is not a problem in any one. Usually the tensioner pulley is the first to go.

 

Thanks, I tried the belt dressing and it didn't make a difference. I am starting to wonder if it's just a pulley bearing. Either way I'm going to wait for the dealer diagnose!

 

The squeak is from belt slip. There is nothing wrong with your pulleys/bearings or tensioner or belt. The TSB also upgrades the SC belt from only a single sided ribbed belt to a double sided ribbed belt. Again to increase the torque capacity of the belt drive system for the SC.

You will also get the smooth idler pulley changed to one with ribs.

I was lucky and the dealer did this on my 2005 STR under warranty. The noise won't hurt anything as nothing is really wrong.

Does not seem to be enough belt slip to hurt power and normally the noise goes away with a little bit of running after the belt gets heated up some.

Many cars outside the VIN range listed have this issue.
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The odd thing is the noise seems to start sometimes within 30 seconds of startup--not necessary right at startup. And I do have to wonder if the belt is slipping on the supercharger, because if I get on the gas pedal at lower mid-range RPMs (2-3k) with a heavy foot, I hear some rattling that sounds like knocking to me--which could make sense if the belt is slipping enough to cause the amount of boost to fall out of spec with what the computer is expecting, right?

I added up all the parts in the TSB (retail price) and it came out to like $300. Is there really $1100 worth of labor involved here? Or should I just take it to an indie mechanic?

 

BTW this is exactly what the other "whirring" noise sounds like, except on an F150.


I wonder what that sound was.