Weird noise coming from front of engine, Video included. Please help...

[VjamesY]

Hey guys, just looking for some quick assistance from the more mechanically minded here on jc.

I was driving home today from the Blue Mountain in my vy (around 50 min drive) when half way home idling at the lights, I noticed this screeching sound coming from the front of my car.

Its definitely coming from the front of the engine, something to do with the belts I'm figuring. Maybe a seized ball bearing or something?

Really not sure, thats why I'm asking If anyone had the slightest clue just before I hand her over to my mechanic In the next couple of days.

YouTube - Weird noise - ecotec vy

Cheers James

[acarmody]

Could be a screwed pulley. A very easy check is to take the belt of for a minute. Wait till the morning or sometime when the engine is absolutely cold, that is very important, take belt off (but draw diagram first so you know how to put it back), then run car for no more than about 30 seconds. If sound is gone then spin each pulley by hand and identify the culprit. Don't run engine for too long without belt as there is no coolant flowing.

[VjamesY]

ok cheers mate, Ill try and get my dad to do exactly that as he has more idea then me. Also would replacing a pulley be an expensive job?

[acarmody]

Idler pulleys are about ~$20 and are held on by one bolt, 5 minute job. Obviously a new water pump, alternator, or air-con compressor would be a bigger job.

[Kingston_99]

sounds like a flogged out bearing in one of the pulleys. if not a bearing in water pump, aircon, alternator.

pretty easy job to replace a pulley. just take belt off and take pulley off. put new one on and put belt back on. go and spin/shake each pulley and see which one has movement and noise and bingo.

[chargedvx6]

Sounds like water pump, alternator or air con

[one_and_only2004]

Does it disappear when you're accelerating?

[whitey66]

Put your ear to the handle of a long screwdriver and place the tip on the pulley bolts with the engine running (BE CAREFUL).The screwdriver will act as a stethoscope and will amplify the noise and make it easier to identify where it's coming from.If it's not one of the pulleys,do the same on the body of the AC compressor,the alternator and the water pump.It sounds like it's well and truly rooted so spinning the pulleys by hand with the belt removed should find it.
By using the screwdriver trick you don't have to remove anything though,and you'll know when you find it,it will near deafen you if it's as bad as it sounds on the video.

[Calaber]

It sounds like the idler pulley to me. That is the easiest one to replace and probably the cheapest. It's also the one most likely to clap out first.

Different bearings make different sounds, depending on the type of load they operate under.

Does the noise change if you turn the air con on and off? If so, that would tend to indicate that the compressor pulley is at fault, but the noise doesn't sound right for that particularl pulley - they tend to screech when stuffed because of the pressure in the system. Water pump would not sound like that either - the noise appears to be coming from an external bearing, not internal like the water pump.

The only other "external" bearings are in the alternator. To determine if that one is at fault, the screwdriver stethoscope is a good suggestion, but as stated, extreme caution is required. Testing the alternator is easy - you can put the screwdriver against the casing of the alternator and the noise will transmit from the bearing if it's the one that's stuffed. Just keep the tip of the 'driver away from any spinning components.

[Sean880]

Put your ear to the handle of a long screwdriver and place the tip on the pulley bolts with the engine running (BE CAREFUL).The screwdriver will act as a stethoscope and will amplify the noise and make it easier to identify where it's coming from.If it's not one of the pulleys,do the same on the body of the AC compressor,the alternator and the water pump.It sounds like it's well and truly rooted so spinning the pulleys by hand with the belt removed should find it.
By using the screwdriver trick you don't have to remove anything though,and you'll know when you find it,it will near deafen you if it's as bad as it sounds on the video.

Yes this is a very good idea. I have done this myself to indicate that the culprit is most likely the serpentine belt rather than one of the pulleys.

Do this test.

However, before you go spending a whole lot of money changing pulleys, change the serpentine belts.

Noisy serpentine belts on the VYs make so much noise you would swear on a stack of bibles that a bearing has shot itself when it has not. Unfortunately when the belts get a bit of wear they begin to squeal and can make all kinds of strange noises. This is a common issue with VY 6 engines.

The belts are cheap and easy to change so do that first and re-check for noise. When the belts are off, spin the moveable pulleys to see if you can replicate any noise.

If you are doing the belt change yourself draw a belt routing diagram before removing the belts.

Finally, your post indicated that you only noticed the noise on idle. This is because noisy belts typically reduce in noise at higher engine speeds and are very very noisy at low RPM - especially in cold damp weather. If the noise tends to reduce at higher RPM the more likely culprit is simply a serpentine belt.

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[VjamesY]

one_and_only2004: The noise is present at idle but becomes louder with acceleration.

I took the vy to my mechanic and he knew exactly what pulley it was, he said $50 which seems reasonable. He even used the stethoscope method you guys have recommended to show me which one.

Thanks for the help guys, seems like problem solved, I get the car back tomorrow. I'm just happy it wasn't something more serious/expensive...

And also Sean880 would it be worth changing that belt over anyways?

[Kingston_99]

LOL you could of saved yourself $25 bucks and changed it yourself at home...

[one_and_only2004]

An idler pulley from Repco is $35, so he didn't waste that much. Besides he could have been like me and replaced the idler pulley when in fact it was the water pump squealing.

[Calaber]

VJamesY

I assume it was the idler pulley then?

[Kingston_99]

only one way to learn cars, its work on them yourself. gess we are all different. good he got it sorted but.

[Gen 3]

Hey everyone!

I am having the same problem with noisy pulleys. The idler and tension pulleys the A/C belt to be exact. I have taken Kingston_99's advice and hacked into the job but as the bearing were running hot for a few months the bolts seem to be seized. Does anyone know if the bolts are a normal thread? (Anti-clockwise to undo). And has anyone got any ideas on how to remove the Torx 50 bolt holding on the bottom/idler pulley after the ridiculous Torx pattern has been damaged?

[Antsmash]

LOL you could of saved yourself $25 bucks and changed it yourself at home...

I would choose a professionals opinion / grantee, over trying to do it myself any day, especially involving this sort of thing, and $25 extra