I was just sitting at a Mc Donald's drive thru and heard a wistling/grinding noise comming from the engine conpartment. When I got back to work, I popped the hood and the sound is comming from the belt/pulley area.

Has anyone experienced this ? What exactly could it be and how do I go about taking care of it ?

 

pretty common actually,

You can go two routes.

Replace the serpentine belt, more permanent solution
Belt dressing, cover up the noise for a few days/weeks

 

i doubt grinding noise is from belts,,,,,,,,,my guess would be pulleys or bearings

 

Thanks for the replys. I agree, the grinding noise sounds like its comming from the pulley's and not the belt itself.

Either way, I'm having my mechanic whom only works on Lexus vehicles check it out for me first thing in the morning. Don't want what I think will be something minor escalating in to a bigger issue. Will have the belt replaced anyway if this is or is not the problem.

 

Had the same exact problem...sound

98.00 pulley and 34.00 belt. Changed it in 25 minutes.

There was a DIY write up on CL somewhere..that I used.

BTY...I used the 3.99 can of belt dressing for about 2 months before... applied it every 3 days...till I was sick of the cheapo fix.

 

grinding sounds like a bearing or something. how many miles?

 

110,000

 

Your car was telling you to get the hell out of McDonald's drive thru and head to the nearest Subway for something a little healthier....

 

maybe a waterpump or alternator bearing?

let us know what your mechanic says.

 

So I had the car checked out early this morning by my mechanic. He pressed down on one of the bolts for the pulley with a long flat head screw driver while the engine was running and sure enoughf it was the bearings on the pulley. You could hear the noise go away as he would apply tention with the screw driver and then come back as he released it.

He tried to get a new pulley from his supplier, but they did not have it in stock. Have to drop off the car Monday morning and then pick it up later in the afternoon. My mechanic says it will not be a problem running it this way through the weekend.

Will run me about $80.00 for the part and installation. Will also have a minor service done since the car will be there from early morning to mid afternoon.

Oh well, guess I gotta wait.

 

cool-glad you found your problem. so it was the bearing on the tensioner pulley, right?

 

Yes, it was.