I changed my waterpump/belts the other day, now my car makes a grinding sound. Anyone have any idea why it's making funny noises? Seems to come from the water pump pulley. Changed with factory parts, and I've adjusted the belts many times. Noise is very slight at idle, and gets worse when the reving the motor. Anyone have any idea what this noise is? I'm pretty sure it's just a simple adjustment that I'm doing wrong, but I really don't want to tow it to the shop for something stupid.

thanks,
eric

 

I had the problem then i just made the belts very tight, if the have a gauge use the manual numbers to get it right or what i did was just make them tight enough that the longest part or can be push 1/4 of an inch in either direction but no more.

~Luke

 

Luke, I don't have a belt tensioner gauge, maybe I can rent one from an auto parts place. So do you think my belts are too loose? or too tight?

thanks,
eric

 

mine made one hell of a grinding noise when they were just a little lose. But like i said just take a ruler put it up to the longest part of the belt and if you can push it more then 1/4 of an inch tighten it up, mine isn't even that tight and it works fine. But the only thing you change in the system is the belt or just the adjustment screw?

 

I changed the waterpump, and added new belts, so everything came out. When I reinstalled everything, I tightened all the belts with the adjusting screws on the airpump, and alternator. The alternator/airpump belt is within your 1/4" spec, the power steering might be a little too tight, but I can't seem to figure it out, I've tightened and loosened the belt, but it doesn't seem to get any worse or any better. I guess I should try the power steering pump next. Just another thought, with a brand new belt the tension should be tighter correct?

eric

 

well the way i look at it a old belt would stretch more so it would need to be pulled more in order for it to be tight. but a few more questions:

∙New or Used Water Pump?
∙Do you know for sure which thing is cause the noise?
∙Do you have the belt path correct?
∙By a visual inspection is the adjustment on the air pump around 1-1.5 inchs from the left and how much more adjusting cn you make on your alternator?
∙If you let the car idle and go look at the belts, do any of the belts stop spinning when you hear the grind/squeek?

 

if you hear a grinding, not a squealing, you probably have the pulleys adjusted too tight and are squeezing the bearings. loosen them up and they should be okay, unless you burned them up.

 

The waterpump and belts are brand new, and the paths are correct and on the "correct tract". I have more room for adjustment on both the alternator and the airpump, but I'm worried that they are overtightened to begin with. I can't locate the exact source of the noise. The noise was louder when I first started adjusting the belts, and I've only been running for about 3-4 minutes total. I don't think I could have froze the bearings. I thought it sounded like a grinding noise, but 2 friends both disagree and think it is a squeel. Thanks alot for the help guys, any other thoughts?

eric

 

And another thought the noise isn't really noticeable at idle, very quiet, but when you rev the motor, it becomes extremely apparent. The noise almost seems like a small metal clicking/clanking noise, more than a squeal or grind. I'm totally perplexed at this point. I tightened the belts and loosened them and the noise neither got louder, nor quieter.

 

do you hear the noise when you take the belts off and turn the pulleys by hand?

 

Nope, I took off both belts and checked, no noise. I then put just the alternator/a/c belt back (left the powersteering off) and it still makes the noise. The airpump makes a slight noise when turned (sounds just like a bearing being turned freely) and so does the alternator. It's a brand new water pump, so I think either my air pump is on it's way out or something. Any ideas?

thanks for the help,
eric