2000 C5 Pulley Squeal
Discussion
Has anyone got an explanatory piccy/diagram of the pulleys on the front of a C5 please?
I have an awful squeal from a pulley - looking from the front of the car, you have the bottom crankshaft pulley, then diagonally up and right, another smaller one (the cambelt passes round the top of it on its back). It's making such a racket I can even hear it over the exhausts. It's definitely the pulley and not the belt.
It started when idling, and has now developed to squeal all the time. Have done the WD40 spray thing, and the 3 in one down a straw trick to try to lube it. Lasts about 20 minutes, and then gradually creeps back again. Guess I'd better change it before it throws a belt and.... hmmm, noises of valves upon pistons and unthinkable expense....
I have an awful squeal from a pulley - looking from the front of the car, you have the bottom crankshaft pulley, then diagonally up and right, another smaller one (the cambelt passes round the top of it on its back). It's making such a racket I can even hear it over the exhausts. It's definitely the pulley and not the belt.
It started when idling, and has now developed to squeal all the time. Have done the WD40 spray thing, and the 3 in one down a straw trick to try to lube it. Lasts about 20 minutes, and then gradually creeps back again. Guess I'd better change it before it throws a belt and.... hmmm, noises of valves upon pistons and unthinkable expense....
I believe I found an answer - spent most of last night looking at various ways to get Google to deliver some precision in the milions of results it brings back.... anyway, first search after making this post, and there it is - Idler Pulley. The diagram is very wrong, but the pulley looks right, and the text makes sense.
Looks like a reasonably useful site - might be worth a look if you haven't visited already.
http://corvetteactioncenter.com/kb/question.php?qstId=258.
Guess I'd better go and order an idler pulley now. Dirty nails coming up....
Looks like a reasonably useful site - might be worth a look if you haven't visited already.
http://corvetteactioncenter.com/kb/question.php?qstId=258.
Guess I'd better go and order an idler pulley now. Dirty nails coming up....
aahhh.. that's what mine does sometimes... I thought it was a fanbelt or something but not really been able to tell exactly where the noise is coming from.
Is there really a danger of it throwing a belt and all that carnage? Or is it that not very likely?
Interested to hear how much/where from and how quick (received) you idler pulley is.. as it sounds like I might need one too :-(
Is there really a danger of it throwing a belt and all that carnage? Or is it that not very likely?
Interested to hear how much/where from and how quick (received) you idler pulley is.. as it sounds like I might need one too :-(
This is a very distinct "bearing" noise rather than a belt noise. It kicked off when the heavy salt was on the roads, and I was driving op to Derby and back quite a bit.
There's a metallic squeal - a bit like a dry clutch release bearing on an old Ford - sounds wonderful as you can probably imagine. My guess is that if it siezes a pulley it'll burn thru the belt pretty quick. Or if it throws the bearing then it would probably throw the belt too. < 100 quid preventative measure versus... ooooh just don't go there.
However.... This may be a different issue to yours as you seem to imply that your problem is intermittent. With mine, once it starts it does not go away unless I treat it with oil/WD. Also, it initially began to squeal at idle speeds and went away under load which is not IMHO typical for a correctly adjusted and clean belt.
The way I found out which pulley it was was to oil each pulley in turn (engine stopped, drizzling it down a bent coathanger or a straw to each pully centre), starting the engine after each pulley was oiled and seeing if it went away. When I got to that one, it went away. Ah hah!
While researching, I read a lot on PH and other sites about squealing cambelt noises. Many threads say that a clean of the pulleys and replacement of the belt can clear that. Personally I dunno, I've never had to try.
I have a local (Basingstoke) motor engineer who looks after my cars, and another guy's C3 Vette. I believe that previously he has got Vette parts delivered from American Autoparts somewhere near Croydon (South London/Surrey). I am just gonna order the bits thru him, and depending on "how cold it is/how lazy I feel/how skint I am", I might even get him to fit it. Also I seem to remember Corvette Kingdom were up your way but think they moved to Norfolk or there's always Bauer Millett in Manchester who are/were/are (??) official dealers. Maybe one of them could mail order stuff to you.
Hope it's quick and cheap for you. Good luck.
There's a metallic squeal - a bit like a dry clutch release bearing on an old Ford - sounds wonderful as you can probably imagine. My guess is that if it siezes a pulley it'll burn thru the belt pretty quick. Or if it throws the bearing then it would probably throw the belt too. < 100 quid preventative measure versus... ooooh just don't go there.
However.... This may be a different issue to yours as you seem to imply that your problem is intermittent. With mine, once it starts it does not go away unless I treat it with oil/WD. Also, it initially began to squeal at idle speeds and went away under load which is not IMHO typical for a correctly adjusted and clean belt.
The way I found out which pulley it was was to oil each pulley in turn (engine stopped, drizzling it down a bent coathanger or a straw to each pully centre), starting the engine after each pulley was oiled and seeing if it went away. When I got to that one, it went away. Ah hah!
While researching, I read a lot on PH and other sites about squealing cambelt noises. Many threads say that a clean of the pulleys and replacement of the belt can clear that. Personally I dunno, I've never had to try.
I have a local (Basingstoke) motor engineer who looks after my cars, and another guy's C3 Vette. I believe that previously he has got Vette parts delivered from American Autoparts somewhere near Croydon (South London/Surrey). I am just gonna order the bits thru him, and depending on "how cold it is/how lazy I feel/how skint I am", I might even get him to fit it. Also I seem to remember Corvette Kingdom were up your way but think they moved to Norfolk or there's always Bauer Millett in Manchester who are/were/are (??) official dealers. Maybe one of them could mail order stuff to you.
Hope it's quick and cheap for you. Good luck.
The idler/tensioner pulley is the one at the top on the passenger side. I would suggest that you might want to replace the pulley which includes a ball race on the shaft. I would also replace the belt at the same time.
If this doesn't fix the problem then it is likely that either the power steering pump or water pumps are causing the problem. This was a regular thing with my C4 and I had to replace the power steering pump (twice) and the water pump.
If this doesn't fix the problem then it is likely that either the power steering pump or water pumps are causing the problem. This was a regular thing with my C4 and I had to replace the power steering pump (twice) and the water pump.
hmmm.. does sound like mine is probably a belt issue rather than the pulley (it goes away when car is warmed up)..
I'll have a proper play this weekend - great idea about the bent coat hanger to apply oil! Previously i've just given the whole assembly a bit of a spray with WD40 to shut it up a bit.
I work in Manchester during the week so i can take it into BM if necessary for a new idler pulley and belt. No doubt as the weather improves and the roof comes off the need to get it sorted will increase dramatically!
Cruising around in the sun, roof off, lovely V8 rumble turning heads and....the sound of a stuck pig eminating from the bonnet...
I'll have a proper play this weekend - great idea about the bent coat hanger to apply oil! Previously i've just given the whole assembly a bit of a spray with WD40 to shut it up a bit.
I work in Manchester during the week so i can take it into BM if necessary for a new idler pulley and belt. No doubt as the weather improves and the roof comes off the need to get it sorted will increase dramatically!
Cruising around in the sun, roof off, lovely V8 rumble turning heads and....the sound of a stuck pig eminating from the bonnet...
It's dead easy to take off the idler pulley on the front passenger side. Just undo the bolt and remove the pulley by slacking off the drive belt. What I did was simply removed the shields which just sit there and I forced grease into the groove that feeds the bearing and the squeak went away.
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