I was just driving my car at normal speed and then put my foot right down to activate the kickstart.


The car well took off but then I could hear screeching noise from the engine when accelerating.


I have now discovered that when I turn the engine off you hear everything switching off and powering down. You also then here this annoying engine screeching or grinding. It's as though something in the engine is worn and making a noise whilst powering down.


I have just had my air con compressor diagnosed as being worn out because the pulley on it is causing a leak so the noise could be from that but does sound a lot more serious.


Any ideas will be gratefully appreciated,




Regards


Adrian

 

Turn off your ac and try again. After that, remove the serpentine belt and briefly run. Start isolating the fault.

 

+1

Screeching could be a worn/dry bearing: also possibly one of the fan motors?

 

Many thanks. As it happens, this morning I started to drive the car and the noise was that bad I turned around and started to drive back.Then I switched the air con heater completely off and the noise stopped. I carried on driving and all was ok so it must be the air con compressor. I still hope.

The replacement I've ordered is a secondhand one, I hope it will be ok.

Menu thanks
Adrian

 

How is your aircon? Is it cold?

I was told by my mobile aircon guy that not only does the gas make the car cold it also carries a lubricant around with it so if your gas is low then parts do not get lubricated. Unlubricated parts can make a noisy system.

 

I had an aircon compressor seize on a car while driving. Makes a hell of a noise. If you already have a compressor problem, I'd certainly be looking there first.

 

I wouldn't discount that you are just hearing a slipping belt. I'd suggest replacing the serpentine belt first to see if the squeal goes away.

 

Many thanks for your replies. I know it's the air con compressor because there was no cold air and I had it re-gassed and that's when they told me it was faulty, the pulley and clutch.

It was the next day I started to get the screeching noise and had no idea it was anything to do with the compressor. I only discovered this when I switched the air off and the noise stopped immediately.

Many thanks frankc for mentioning the lubricant as that is very important and I've been told most of the problems occur because of contamination and lack of lubricant. My previous owner apparently had a new compressor fitted a few years ago and I bet it's gone because of this.

So now I have to try and find someone who do a proper job on this.

 

You might want to take an actual look at the parts in motion. The bearing inner race sits with the body of the compressor, and the outer race rotates with the pulley, as driven by the belt. If you take the belt off, you can check if the pulley rotates smoothly.

Now the clutch disk is solid with the compressor shaft. When off, that clutch disk just sits there, it does not rotate with the pulley.

When you engage the AC, a magnet behind the pulley brings the clutch disk in contact with the face of the pulley, and "forces" the compressor shaft to rotate. You might want to visually check what is happening with the car on ramps. Maybe you can get lucky and dislodge a stone or some contamination in the clutch surface.

Also, you can look into replacing the clutch disk. It is typically an inexpensive part, is relatively easy to get off and on as it does not require to deal with the refrigerant at all. If you have a screeching noise, then I assume your magnet still works, so the belt and pulley do not have to be removed. The "hard part" will be to figure out exactly what compressor your cars has, and find a clutch disk for it. More than likely, there is a plate on the compressor with the brand and model number.

In other words, don't necessarily get talked into a new compressor, and a full service before you conclude that a cheap new clutch is not going to do it.

Best of luck, keep us posted.