Hey everyone,

Looking for some ideas to track down and resolve a squeak that’s been showing up on cold starts. It gets noticeably better—or disappears completely—once the car warms up.

Car is a 2001 Jaguar XKR (US spec). I’m thinking the culprit might be the belt or one of the accessory/supercharger pulleys. Has anyone had this issue and found a specific pulley or tensioner to blame?

A few questions:

• Any tips for diagnosing which pulley it might be without just replacing everything?
  
• Does Jaguar or an aftermarket supplier sell a kit to replace the belt and all associated pulleys/tensioners at once?
  
• Would you recommend OEM parts or are there reliable aftermarket options?
  

Appreciate any input or experiences you've had.

Thanks!

 

My 2002 XKR had a wicked cold start screeching noise from under the hood when the previous owner was taking me for a test drive.

he was alarmed, thinking the sale was going to be called off. I told him mot to worry, I wasn’t scared off yet.

I had him turn the engine off then on again. The screech was gone. I was pretty sure I knew what it was and went ahead with the purchase.

once I got the car home (400 miles later) I verify the noise was just the CPU fan bearing going out .

leas than $100 later I had a new Jaguar CPU fan and all was good.


So don’t think it has to be a belt noise. The CPU fans do go out also, and make a serious racket when doing so.

Z

 

The first thing to do is check the wear indicators on the tensioner pulleys for both the supercharger and serpentine belts. If the belts are due to be changed, then that is the likely cause of your squeak. While the belts are off you can then check if any of the pulleys are squeaking, but first check the wear indicators.

 

Thanks for the responses! If I had to guess, it’s coming from the belt. Should I change both the drive belt and supercharger belt at the same time? I believe both are original (I’m the second owner since 2013).

Is there a list of all the pulleys with bearings? Are some more prone to failure that I might just bite the bullet and swap out? My mechanic was telling me some manufacturers sell a kit with all the pulleys and belts to refresh everything while were in there.

Thanks!

 

Well unless someone in the past has changed only one of the belts, they will both probably need to be changed at the same time - but check the wear indicators first.

YouTube has some decent videos on this.

 

If keeping the old belts be sure to check them throughly for cracks and missing ridges.

Z

 

Both belts.

 

Could be belts, or you're water pump is leaking onto the belts or pulley which causes a squeal on startup.

 

Squeak in my case was caused by supercharger case needle bearings. Audible when idling and stethoscope confirmed exact squeak source.

 

If those belts are originals, then by all means change them because of age if nothing else. .02, TM

 

I’m planning to refresh the belts, pulleys, and tensioners on my XKR. I read that there are now metal pulley options available to replace the original plastic ones. Is this upgrade worth it, and which components are now offered in metal?

I also came across a note that you can’t mix and match plastic and metal pulleys. Can anyone confirm this? And does anyone know if there’s a complete kit available with the upgraded parts?

Thanks!

 

The plastic tensioners are a well known fault. If not changed, sooner or later you WILL have engine failure.. if you don’t know if they have been changed it’s unwise to drive the car . Period.


Z

 

Sticky

XK8/XKR - Non-OEM interchangable Parts Thread

I think the part numbers are listed here for the metal tensioner pulleys. I had to use a thin shim behind one of them to keep it from rubbing.

 

Thanks for the responses, but I’m referring to the external engine pulleys, belts, and tensioners — not the secondary internal components.

 

So are we.