'Grinding' Noise from motor

[alex2_s]

Hi, my Ecotec motor appears to have a grinding/grating noise most noticeable at idle... I'm not sure if it disappears with engine speed or just hard to notice. Sticking my ear in the bonnet it sounds like it's coming from the crankshaft pulley but I could be wrong... everything seems fine though performance wise.

The noise is consistent and always there. It's really not 'that' bad to be honest, alot more noticeable with the bonnet up but still noticeable sitting at lights etc from inside the car (to an extent)

Any suggestions as to possibilities of the cause, before I take it to the mechanics and they start quoting figures I'd never dream of having lol.

Thanks.

[Ozzie]

when you do an oil change check the old oil for metal shavings. quite possible if you recently had a service some crap could have fallen into the engine.
might also be a worn pulley?

[alex2_s]

thanks for the quick reply.... yes I did change the oil recently, but the noise was happening before it. It seems to have just developed over time, not after performing any work etc. I did check the old oil and it seemed fine even after running a magnet over/through it.... the pulley is probably my main suspect because as i said it seems to be coming from that direct part on inspection... how big/expensive is this job roughly if that is the culprit?

[Ozzie]

not sure how much pulleys are these days.. maybe around $30? maybe more..
If you do it yourself its quite easy and im sure if you do a search there will be a "how to" in the forum here.
If you got a mechanic to do it it would cost you roughly $180.00 in labour (mechanics like to take their time)

[vnv8driver]

take the serpentine belt off and spin each pulley, most likely the tension pulley.

[immortality]

if it's the tensioner pulley it's a left hand thread to undo (a little trap for young players)