triplecore

Why now when I start my 98 Es300 with 82000 miles the engine sometimes make this squealing chirping bird like noise if you rev it a few times it stops and I noticed it occurs only sometimes after you park the car say while you are at work. Does anyone have any ideas? Oil change was done at a certified lexus dealer only 500 miles ago.

It happens in park, drive, reverse. I I floor the accelerator a few times or press it hard in D it seems to go away, It also seems to go away on its after about 30 seconds or less.

Any ideas? It seems to do it when the engine is cold and just started after it has been at rest for a while.

TheRupp

Could be the one of the belts making that noise in the cold... once the engine compartment warms up it'll stop happening. Just a guess though.

triplecore

Do you know how to stop this from happening as it is somewhat embarrassing? Also should I put anything on it?

Also checking back 5000 miles ago and on 6/23/06 I had accoridng to my lexus dealer recipt "Replaced All Drive Belts" abd Belt, Vane Pump as wellas Belt, v Alternator this was all don at 77647 miles. The car now has 82500.

Is it time to get the belts replaced again?

cino135

belt dressing may work, also heard (not sure if id do this) that applying a drop or two of dawn dish detergent to the belts as they rotate may ease the noise a bit. as far as belt dressing, any auto parts store should have it, relatively cheap too! good luck

khhoang

Lexus warranty their service for 1 year. Call them and tell them what's happening.

amf1932

Check the belt tension, and DON'T use any type of belt dressing!!

You definitely don't need to replace the belts, especially after such a short time.

triplecore

Does anyone know how to check the belt tension and where and what are the belts in the engine?

I know what they are so I am not completely clueless they recharge the battery and power the accessory kinda like a generator.

RobF350

you cannot adjust the tension, its self adjusting.

it sounds like the tensioner itself or one of the pulleys might be bad.
Poke your head in there and see if you can figure out which one is making noise.
It could also be the tensioner for the timing belt- have you done the timing belt yet?

also check the pullies themselves for old belt deposits, sometimes the old belt can leave small amounts of caked on rubber on the pullies causing grief later on.

animefreak

It might also be the bearing going out on your alternator or some other belt driven device.

amf1932

I'm curious. Since when can't you adjust the tension of the belts that drive the alternator or power steering or air conditioner? The only belt that uses a self adjusting tensioner is the timing belt!!

lexusk8

When I had my '01 ES, the drive belt was replaced when I saw that the old belt was squeaking at start-up, and upon further inspection there were little cracks close to each other along the belt. A FEW cracks are OK for the belt, but when there are many of them packed together, that's an indication that the belt should be replaced. I think I had the belt replaced on my car at around 125,000 miles, and that's the original belt from the factory (never been replaced).

Alan is right. The tension on the drive belt for the ES300 is not self-adjusting. You have to loosen the pivot bolt, adjusting lock bolt and adjusting bolt (all of them located around the alternator) in order to remove the old belt, and then you have to tighten the 3 bolts back in until you get the right amount of tension on the new drive belt. It's not too difficult to do yourself, and should take only 15-30 min.

amf1932

On second thought I think that RobF350 could be thinking that the ES's use a Serpentine belt, which it doesn't. This type of belt uses auto tension adjusters.

RobF350

I could have sworn my old es had self adjusting belts, I never adjusted anything on it.

and a loose belt would squeek all the time, not just when its cold.
a pulley or tensioner sounds more like the culprit

MangoMan

I have the same problem with mine. After a few minutes it goes away. Until the next day. Once it sits cold for a while it comes back. I think its a pully or tensioner. Wonder how much that'll cost.

LXMN

Me too. Mine just started about a month ago. Only squeaks when the engine is cold and the idle is high. After the car is warmed up and the rpms go down, the noise goes away.