Horrible Noises Around The Aux Drive Belt

[BrummyGit]

I've been having problems with my 2005 Galaxy 1.9 TDi 150 for around a year now. It all seemed to start after the cam belt was swapped, but that could be coincidence. Unfortunately the cam belt was done by a Ford dealer and they didn't suggest I swap the water pump at the same time.

 

We started with rattles and metallic noises at tickover and have since had the alternator pulley replaced (the clutch had seized) and also the belt tensioner. Things improved a lot, but during the summer when the engine had got nice and hot, and especially if the weather was hot too (aircon???) we would get a rattle and whine at tickover just like the alternator pulley problem which went as revs increased. Now in the cold weather we are getting a whine/screech at ticker when starting from cold which goes after the engine warms up slightly (not even at normal operating temp).

 

On the odd (and very rare) occasion we have seen an alternator warning pop up for a brief second.

 

The car has always felt sluggish starting from cold even though the battery has been replaced for a new 100AH Silver Calcium unit - I now doubt that the old battery was as dead as I thought.

 

My car has been back to a VW specialist many times with this problem and we are getting nowhere.

 

Can anyone offer some help?

 

Thanks

Edited January 29, 2011 by BrummyGit

[BrummyGit]

I've started the car again today from cold and at idle it sounds very much like there is a piece of metal getting thrown around inside something - could it be the alternator, power steering or something else driven from the drive belt?

[chrispb123456]

I've started the car again today from cold and at idle it sounds very much like there is a piece of metal getting thrown around inside something - could it be the alternator, power steering or something else driven from the drive belt?

Have you removed the belt and run engine to confirm it's from the auxiliary drive

[BrummyGit]

It's been in at a local VW Specialist for a couple of days and hopefully it's all fixed.

 

Because it's nearly 2 years of noises I decided to get a thorough job done. I had the water pumped swapped while we were looking at that side of the engine as Ford didn't suggest it when the cam belt was changed, but I've since heard lots of horror stories. For the sake of it while it was all apart I had a new cam belt kit fitted too to avoid opening everything up again too soon.

 

It's all been re-assembled and everything checked as we suspected it could have been the aircon condenser not disengaging correctly - thankfully it is OK. The major noise problem was the alternator - the bearings were shot. That could explain the occasional "Alternator Service" warning that's flashed up in the last month or two.

 

So it's back to the garage in the morning escorted by Securicor to settle the bill and get the Galaxy back :-) Hopefully we can have piece of mind again and our trip to the South of France in the summer can be uneventful.