McTreacle Posted October 11, 2010 Report Share Posted October 11, 2010 Morning everyone, On start up my car has a screech,high pitched whine untill it gets warm. its coming from the front of the engine around the belts and sounds like the same noise as an old fan belt screech on an old car. I'm getting the water pump changed today and was hoping to change the screeching part but i'm not sure what it is. is it one of the pulleys or tentioners? many thanks andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mit Posted October 11, 2010 Report Share Posted October 11, 2010 Might just be a worn alternator or power steering drive belt... or water pump. Worn power steering pump would have different symptoms though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Syxx Posted October 11, 2010 Report Share Posted October 11, 2010 could be the belts or the pulley, don't think it would be the alternator as you would have a continuous whining noise. Be hard to diagnose without having a video clip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonlpearce Posted October 11, 2010 Report Share Posted October 11, 2010 As above im putting my money ono one of the ancillary drive belts, they are about a 10 min job to change even if you dont know what your doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mit Posted October 11, 2010 Report Share Posted October 11, 2010 could be the belts or the pulley, don't think it would be the alternator as you would have a continuous whining noise. Be hard to diagnose without having a video clip. I meant (alternator or power steering) belts. Not (alternator) or (power steering belt). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McTreacle Posted October 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2010 cheers fellas, i'll give it a bash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Syxx Posted October 11, 2010 Report Share Posted October 11, 2010 I meant (alternator or power steering) belts. Not (alternator) or (power steering belt). whoops! tired mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McTreacle Posted October 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2010 Just a quick update. Managed to fit the new water pump today. The reason why i'm changing it is because i was getting a weird grinding sound in the week (not related to my sqeeky belts) and was told by a friend that it was the water pump. Upon removing the old one i found a chunk missing from the old impeller . ! I've poked about inside the water pump housing but i can find it. The broken bit is a triangle shape about 10mm x 5mm ish. What do i do? I've blown down the expansion tank to see if it will fly out of the water pump housing but nothing come out. Is it ok in there? cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McTreacle Posted October 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2010 Been looking into the broken impeller problem and found this on fanatics http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.ph...broken+impeller I think i'll start tommorrow with having a mooch where the thermostat and housing is and possibly flush some water around to see if it washes anything up. fingers crossed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duracell Bunny Posted October 12, 2010 Report Share Posted October 12, 2010 Is the water pump easy to change? And how much is the unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McTreacle Posted October 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2010 Is the water pump easy to change? And how much is the unit? I used a combo of these 'how to's'. Some explanations and pictures are better than others but put them all together and it worked for me (fingers croseed/ touch wood). http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.ph...ight=water+pump http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.ph...ight=water+pump http://www.bmw330ci.net/maintenance/completecoolant.php I got the part from GSF for around £40 and fitting it was ok. The removal and reinstallation of the water pump is a bit of a ball ache but be patient with it. It sits really tight into the engine block so trying to get it out and back in is quite hard. I also fitted the two new belts and they are easy to do. You may as well change them whilst your down there and they dont cost loads. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuriko Posted October 14, 2010 Report Share Posted October 14, 2010 could be the belts or the pulley, don't think it would be the alternator as you would have a continuous whining noise. Be hard to diagnose without having a video clip. yeah. think can't be the alternator thing is the problem. there might be something else. can you upload a video? if it is possible. many thanks! cheers. nuriko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikoto Posted October 14, 2010 Report Share Posted October 14, 2010 that's right. to make it easily to check the problem we there should be a video. an actual event. _________________ mikoto drive safely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McTreacle Posted October 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2010 yeah. think can't be the alternator thing is the problem. there might be something else. can you upload a video? if it is possible. many thanks! cheers. nuriko I changed both of the belts whilst changing the water pump and it has cured my screech and sqeels. A pretty cheap fix and makes the car less embarrassing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
