Belt/bearing noise?

Hello Prime,

I've attached a video with an odd noise that periodically occurs during idle. Note that this noise only occurs at idle. Also the timing belt and water pump were recently replaced in-case that helps to narrow down possible culprits. The PO mentioned that the noise only began occurring during colder weather and that he thinks it may just be a $6 pulley bearing that is worn.

The noise occurs from 0:00 - 0:08.
[video=vimeo;78688365]http://vimeo.com/78688365[/video]

Any help regarding what this noise may be and how it could be fixed is greatly appreciated!

Lucas

P.S. The car is currently in storage, so I can't do any sort of troubleshooting until the spring.

Try turning the A/C on and off when the engine is running to see if the sound changes.
If it does change it might be the A/C compressor.

I would pull the ac belt and check the tensioner.

Briank said:

I would pull the ac belt and check the tensioner.

Click to expand...

Brian, I think you are going to be correct. I found this video of a similar sounding noise on a Legend. The culprit was the idler pulley/tensioner.

Use a piece of water hose to get in there to listen. It will clearly heard. OR just replace the idler-bearing as part of the TB/WP maintenance procedure and drive a zillion more miles without worry about that part failing

Kitaka said:

Use a piece of water hose to get in there to listen. It will clearly heard. OR just replace the idler-bearing as part of the TB/WP maintenance procedure and drive a zillion more miles without worry about that part failing

Click to expand...

The water hose sounds like a decent idea. I would, however, the TB/WP maintenance was performed this summer prior to the noise :| occuring. Thanks for the tip.

I still can't confirm that it is the idler pulley, but it sounds like a likely culprit.

Has anyone replaced just the bearings on one of these as opposed to replacing the pulley entirely? From some quick google searches, it doesn't seem like rocket science. It will also depend on the condition of the pulley itself.

The first thing to look at is if the pulley was reassembled correctly. I have seen this a few times, where the bearing/washer/spacer are not assembled properly after a service. If you look up a parts pic, you can see the sequence of parts installation on the locking bolt. It is not obvious all the time that the washer goes BEHIND the small cover disk.

HTH,
LarryB

Replacement cost for the bearing is approx $8 via internet (i.e VBX bearings). Its fairly easy to do if you have a bench vise and a socket about the size of the outer dimension of the bearing