weird pulley noise coming from front of engine

[muney]

hey guys,

i gotta VT V6 and when the engine is running i get a weird whining noise (like a supercharger noise) coming from either the middle pulley or the one above it on the LHS..ive tried spraying WD 40 on it but no go..went a bit quieter but is still there..anyone have any idea on what it is..and does anyone have a schematic drawing of all the pulleys on the front of the engine and what pulleys are what??
that would help me track the problem down somewhat

 

[hsvpgts]

you could pull belt off and spin pulleys by hand and listen for noisy pulley or use a long screwdriver whilst car runing as a stethescope to listen (be careful if doing it this way).

 

[Wrayza]

I have a similiar noise and I'm told its the alternator, field coils or something.

 

[Jamsta]

Mate had same problem in his VS... was one of the wheels the Belt uses. The bearings had screwed up so he got a new wheel and its all good now. Dont think it cost him much at all to fix.

 

[andyman]

be belt tensioner, replaced one when i was at work experience

 

[ciaranvt]

haha i was about to post about the same thing...

i'm about to get it serviced, so if they mysteriously try to force a new water pump on me i'll suggest the belt tensioner.

although having had a good listen to the engine it does sound like its coming from the alternator, like the shaft or the bearings or something.

 

[andyman]

haha i was about to post about the same thing...

i'm about to get it serviced, so if they mysteriously try to force a new water pump on me i'll suggest the belt tensioner.

although having had a good listen to the engine it does sound like its coming from the alternator, like the shaft or the bearings or something.

when i was at work experience on the same day the had two vs wagons there one having a tensioner and the other having a pump....

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

It's probably the tensioner, because its so close to the alternator it may sound like its coming from there. Try wiggling the tensioner pulley with the engine off to see if there is more than about 5mm of movement.

 

[muney]

can someone give me an idea on how to change the tensioner idler??i know how to take it off by taking the belt off..is it simply just a matter of screwing out the old and in with the new??

 

[accentstencil]

can someone give me an idea on how to change the tensioner idler??i know how to take it off by taking the belt off..is it simply just a matter of screwing out the old and in with the new??

Yes, except the centre bolt is left hand thread.
About $30 - $40 from most places, perhaps a little more from Holden.