Hi,

I know this has been talked about before, and ive tried searching on this forum about this topic but I cant put my finger on it. My car has developed for a while now a loud grumble sound from the engine area when its cold. Only when its cold. Its only when it idles too. When you rev the car a tad in Park when its cold it goes away... But when you let the car reture to idle n drive or park, the grumble comes back again. It goes away when its at operating temperature. Ive had this sound on my car for ages now but never got it checked out. Anyone with the same prob?

THanks

Have a similar noise in my car i think. Mine is at around 1200 rpm though under very light acceleration. Only at 1200rpm so you only hear it when moving slowely and not accelerating like driving up driveway or something like that. It is a very noisy groning sound and sounds like something is loose inside the motor. Engine is fine other than that so it is very strange.
Mal looked at it a while ago but couldnt put a finger on it. Really ****s me but have learnt to live with it because no doubt it will be an expensive exercise.

Use to only do it when cold but now does it all the time.

Same here... between 1200 -1400 rpm

This is the TF noisy pulley issue if I'm diagnosing right. My TF has done it since new, but a thread was on here a couple of months ago saying that the noise (groan at 1200rpm, worse when cold) was some pulley which essentially can be removed (iirc.)

I'm trying to find out more info on it, so I can fix it myself :)

Cheers,

Dave

Have a similar noise in my car i think. Mine is at around 1200 rpm though under very light acceleration. Only at 1200rpm so you only hear it when moving slowely and not accelerating like driving up driveway or something like that. It is a very noisy groning sound and sounds like something is loose inside the motor. Engine is fine other than that so it is very strange.
Mal looked at it a while ago but couldnt put a finger on it. Really ****s me but have learnt to live with it because no doubt it will be an expensive exercise.

Use to only do it when cold but now does it all the time.

I had a KH which did it for about 3 or 4 seconds at startup when cold (engine reving harder) and again at 1200rpm when cold and accelerating lightly, once just above cold or if you took the load off (took your foot of accelerator) it dissapeared completley. That vehicle had 140,000km on it and i guessed that it was just a bit of age. I have recently upgraded to a KJ II with only 14,000km on it and just after i purchased it noticed the same noise at the same rpm. At that time the vehicle had Castrol oil in it (unsure of grade, dealership did it) and i have since changed the oil and filter myself and used Penrite HPR 10, it may be coincidence but i haven't noticed the noise again since, however, in saying that i use to use Penrite HPR 20 or HPR 30 (from memory) in my KH and the noise was there. It is a bit of a puzle but i dont think its anything harmful, just annoying.

I have now tried 3 brands of oil and 3 different grades. Made no difference at all to groan noise.

I think that pulley noise is called the idler pulley and yeah it can be removed. Know absolutely nothing about it or what it does but Mitsubishi removed it from my KE when new because it gave the car a rough idle. Fixed the problem.

My KH never had that pulley in it. Think they got rid of it after the TF/KF's.

Anyone know what it did or what it was for?

I just cant pick it either. Its pissing me off. I havent brought it anywhere to look at it or leave it over night coz at the moment i dotn have time and it only does it when its cold.

this idler pulley was fitted to all te/tf magnas, i've got no idea why but it was. it can be removed with no effect at all. you need to remove the side engine cover(under wheel arch), loosen 14mm nut in centre of adjuster pulley a couple of turns and loosen the alternator/air con belt by undoing 14mm head adjuster bolt. remove belt. just to the side of that pulley is the idler pulley which is held on by a bracket with 2 13mm(i think) bolts. undo both bolts. discard pulley. refit belt making sure it is correctly seated in all three pulleys( crankshaft, air con compressor and alternator) and tighten belt, you will have to screw thread in alot further than it was before as u now have one less pulley. belt should have around 10-15mm flex when fully tightened. tighten nut in centre of adjuster pulley and noise will have gone if it is that pulley makin the noise. ohh and refit your side engine cover.

Good summarized instructions......Yeah I was suppose to remove this pulley but those damn dealers sent me to longer version of the belt so I had no choice but to put the pulley back on. No big deal though, at least I know where its coming from and that its not hurting anything. :D

Hi, so its the pulley then..... I wonder though, why would Mitsubishi put a part such as that unneeded pulley in the car if its not needed? :nuts:

My car also done made this noise before purchasing it, I had NRMA do an inspection on it, they told me it was a bearing. I took it to the local mechanic shop and asked them to have alook at it because it was driving me crazy. They to told me it was a bearing and was going to cost $150 to $250 to repair. I ended up ringing Ultra Tune in penrith and telling them over the phone about this, they told me that this was a common fault by Mitsubishi, this noise is a pulley on the alternator. Had the pulley replaced and a new belt 2 months ago, noise is gone!!!

The groan noise i get round 1200-1400rpm is something internal inside the motor. Have spent ages trying to locate it and its definately inside somewhere. Have given up because no doubt it will be dear to fix.

I'm getting this groan too... much louder when it's cold, and between 1200-1400rpm. I can hear that it's coming from the left side of the engine where the belts are, so yeah it's probably the pulley you guys are talking about. Also, my idle when in gear is a bit rough, like sitting at lights in D and the car will shake a little (very little but noticeable)

Would appreciate if someone could shed a bit more light on the matter - like why did mitsu put one on in the first place? And if i take it off will it effect anything else? Cheers.

Well they realizedd they made a mistake and took it out on later models. So it won't hurt anything. You'd just need a shorter a/c belt.

you dont need a new belt. the original belt fits no worries at all.

How does the original belt fit. I always though you needed the shorter belt. Mitsubishi even got two different part numbers for the longer one and the shorter one. Am I wrong?

what is the groan noise anyway? cos my car makes this noise before 1.5k rpm, sounds like the engine isn't really engaged or stressing, u know wat i mean? then after that it is all nice and smooth, normal?

Also - because mitsu stuffed up by adding this idler pulley on TE/TF's, is it a recall? Like can u go to mitsu and get them to sort it out for nothing cause it's their fault? Or does your car need to be under warrenty to be recalled?

I don't know about all that. Next time you go to do a timing belt change u can tell em to take it out I guess. I don't know if they'll do it under warrranty becaues it'll be the same as changing the belts. U could probably do it at home. Its not too difficult is u have a little bit of experience doing it at home.

In my case its not the idler pulley thats making the groan as my car never came with one. Taking the idler pulley out can be known to smooth out the idle a little.

My new KJ AWD has that groaning noise as well and is very loud, much louder than my KH. Took it back to mitsub because its still under warranty and they have ordered a new engine pipe for it which comes next week. They think it is the exhaust that makes it. Will soon find out.

My KJ is making this noise as well (at least I think it is the same noise), and my old TJ did it as well, except that didnt start until after I had had it for a couple of weeks)

I havnt even tried to source the sound, but I was under the impression that is is more like a plastic part vibrating against metal, has anyone investigated whether there are any plastic parts that could be vibrating against metal anywhere?, the fact that it goes away as soon as the engine has warmed a little, maybe after heat expansion the "plastic" isnt as free to vibrate? - eg. battery cage, or somewhere in the air intake, air filter area, maybe even the plastic cover over the pulleys - to me it sound like the vibration is caused by "harmonic niose" that only happen under certain load and temperature conditions........I could be way off, ands I probably am........

My car ONLY does this, as far as I know, when the car is in drive, rev it in park and it doesnt happen, as far as I know!!!

Maybe im just nuts!

yup....u guessed it - you are just nuts. :D

No I think its just idler pulley which the early third gens had and than mitsubishi quit using em after they found out it made that grumbling noise at lower rpms.

I think they ALL make it. I can hear it in my TL, although not as much as other models I have driven. My TJ had it, but it was the worst in my KF verada, which possibly has the extra pully in it. My theory is that removing the pulley makes it a lot better, but doesn't entirely get rid of it. I've put it down to something which is inherrant in the design of the whole timing belt/pulley system and that you just have to live with it. And to be honest, compared to say an engine with a timing chain, this engine is so smooth that i can live with a weird noise at low revs when its cold :)

Well I guess in the US the removed it on later models. I dont know about over there.

i have that noise too,around ~1200rpm (sound bit like rattling too) a bit different to the groaning, i have a tf btw, so i think all the te/tf ppl might be talking about this noise? anyway my mechanic told me its one of these


My car also done made this noise before purchasing it, I had NRMA do an inspection on it, they told me it was a bearing. I took it to the local mechanic shop and asked them to have alook at it because it was driving me crazy. They to told me it was a bearing and was going to cost $150 to $250 to repair. I ended up ringing Ultra Tune in penrith and telling them over the phone about this, they told me that this was a common fault by Mitsubishi, this noise is a pulley on the alternator. Had the pulley replaced and a new belt 2 months ago, noise is gone!!!


Well they realizedd they made a mistake and took it out on later models. So it won't hurt anything. You'd just need a shorter a/c belt.

even though its a common problem among magnas i htink, a lot mechanics have no ideas aobut it

My TF also has this sound and it can get embarrasing sometimes....especially when reversing out of a sloping parking space in town.

When I had my timing belt service at 100,000k the sound almost entirely dissappeared but came back within a couple of weeks. The sound is at around 1100rpm. It is very loud when cold but if I accelerate really really slow, its still there when warm.

I dont have any mechanical skill, does anybody know an approx. labour cost for this problem?

yeah nickuss, mines exactly the same as yours, when i did my timinmg belt change it disappeeard for a week, then back on, i heard quite a few te/tf doing that, also low sppeeds around ~1100-1200, its bad when its cold, coz it rev slighly higher than in normal temp at 1100 rpm i think

Hey all, Both my engines old and brand new have done it. Its got nothing to do with the engine or any of its belts. There is a mistubishi service bulletin out on this and it is actually the air temperature difference from the air outside entering the cold tubing in your induction system. It only happens when you first start your car cold and the plastic tubing is cold. There is no fix for this and it is no harm to your car what so ever. Hope this helps you out!

I think if that was the case than everbody would know where its coming from. There is a service bulletin out for the pulley too.

u must be thinking of the wrong noise then coz the noise on cold start under light throttle or at high idle is intake noise. I am lucky enough not to have had pulley problems

Is the air intake sound supposed to be coming from down near the timing belt....or way over the other side of the engine where the intake is. The noise is coming from the belt area...down low.

you must be hearing some other noise nickuss that I would be getting checked out. But without hearing what the other guys are complaining of I know what I hear in the mornings is my intake noise. If you suspect you have a belt or pully noise get a long screw driver and very carefully place the tip next to or on the housing of your pulley while the engine is running and put your ear on the other end. This should give you a clear indication from exactly where your noise is coming from

Curious, is the noise really that obvious? I heard nothing maybe temps here in WA is ok. Play your music dudes, it will cover it up as you drive, and thus warm up the engine. rather than picking it up deliberately. Maybe we are being over sensitive lol. But as far as mine goes, I heard nothing, pretty norm form me.

Mine went quiet after timing belt too, came back though.

Stiil sounds like its plastic against metal to me, has anyone tried just loosening the nuts on the plastic cover on the belt side of the engine, and doing them up again and see if it goes away for a week or so?, its just my old TJ didnt do it for the first couple of weeks that I had it, but it hadnt had a belt change or anything, jst wondering if they may have done that to mine so I would hear it on test drive?

What it sounds like to me is that metal and plastic would of course expand differently under high temps, i'm wondering if after a number of hot, cold cyles if something is coming even a fraction loose, when the engine is cold.

I realy dont think its anything to be concerned about, but I agree it is bloody annoying, and if someone does come up with a fix, it'll make ALOT of people happy!

Mine sounds like a bearing type grumble from somewhere internal in the motor on the drivers side. All my Verada's do it other than the KE believe it or not. The worst to do it is my KJ2 AWD. As others have mentioned, it only does it LOUD when cold round 1200rpm under slight acceleration and does it quietly when warm also under slight acceleration. As i mentioned before, it is still under warranty, Mitsub have looked at it and recognised it and they have on order a whole new engine exhaust manifold for the car. They seem to think its the exhaust.
Thats a big job if they are wrong so i dont think they would do it if they didnt think that was it.

Will let you guys know how it goes when i get it fitted.

Finally have had that grumble/groaning noise fixed!!!

Took the car to Knox Mitsubishi and spoke to Anthony the workshop manager (thanks chel'sTJ) and he knew straight away what it was. I have had engine pipes replaced to try and get rid of the noise by other dealers with no sucess. Turns out believe it or not that it was the belts. Anthony changed both belts and the noise has 100% gone and the car is dead quiet. Dont ask me how or why but all i know is that it is finally gone. Cant believe it.

I'm happy as larry, car is finally quiet when i thought i would have to live with it.

Thanks again Anthony.

so what did they change excatly..i have this noise and it is ****ing annoying!!
been to like 3 places and they cant fix it!

They just replaced both the belts under the hood being the power steering belt and the a/c / alternator belt. Cost round $150

it is the actual pulleys under the belts...
2 of them...
so when they replace the pulley they also do the belts!@

ok so what do i tell my mechanic?
replace the pullys under the power steering belt and the a/c / alternator belts?

get them to confirm it is coming from them....
mine stuck a screw driver down and did something to the pulley bearing and it made the noise quieter then when removed it came back..

dont know what he did.,.. but could hear the difference!

Anyone have a part number for these pulleys!

As far as i know they just replaced the belts and not the pulleys. Have a chat to Anthony (chel'sTJ) and he will give you a good idea. He fixed mine.

Got the drive belts replaced yesterday... and thank F'en goodness the groan is gone! i cant beloeve it took this long to do it.... Its such a relief.... I love my car again.. its funny how such little things can turn u off

Great to hear that it also fixed your car.

It worked on my KJ AWD which was so loud its not funny and i still have to do my KH.

I was also so happy that it fixed the groaning as i would have sold the car if it didnt it was that bad and no one else had an idea where it was comming from.

I couldnt get over the fact that it was the belts making the noise. It seriously sounded like some bearing noise inside the motor.

FamilyWagon says it cost around 150. Is that around what it cost you other guys who had the noise fixed?

That was through a dealer. Could most likely get it done cheaper somewhere else.

i got a similar rattle....yet to get it checked out...but yeah...it bugs the hell outta me, i gotta drive with music in the car...but mine starts at around 1500rpm to just above 2000rpm...and i can heard it when the engine is hot...

I paid 100bucks to do it... and u know what.. the groaning ghas comeback... ever so lightly... Its not as bad as before but on light throttle i can hear a groann... i hope it dont come back ill kill someone

Hey there FiveFourV8. At that price did they replace both belts? If it still has a slight noise then take it back and get them to retension the belts which also helps. They might have just bedded in a bit and need tensioning.

I have the same rumble....

@ ica - your PMs are FULL!!

Chan

Yeh he showed me and gave me both the belts too.. A smaller and a bigger one. Both were replaced. I trust my mechanic done excellent work for me in the past. The grumble is noway near as loud as before. just on light throttle u can hear it. Its just a **** noise thats all! i will bring it back and see what he says. familywagon is ur grumble gone forever?

I had my AWD done about a month ago and it is still dead quiet. Still have to do the KH which has had the grumble for years. The mechanic said that a quick tension could help so maybe get your guy to have a look and see if it needs doing with the new belts.

Just had both my belts changed in my KH that as i have mentioned has always had the grumble.
The groaning/grumble noise has totally gone just like it did in my AWD. I'm wrapped because now the car has gone back to dead silent instead of a loud groaning at low rpm.

Big thanks to Anthony from Knox Mitsub (chel'sTJ) for changing the belts and finding the problem to start with.

Had our 98 TF since ...well 98, and I don't recall ANY noise like this, theres certainly no noise that i can detect now that i drive it every day.

sent my car to knox mitsubishi and they found that my rattle came from a loose plate in the "engine pipe" also described as the "Y-Joint" anyway it just bad a terrible sound when the engine is fired up, had it replaced, all up it was $612.80 which included,

the check for noise
replace part $88.00
gasket-exhaust pipe (2) $20.00
gasket-exhaust (1) $12.00
pipe assy-exh frt (1) $377.10
T/mitter-keyless entry (1) $60.00
+10% GST
Total $612.80
PROBLEM FIXED!

Just had both my belts changed in my KH that as i have mentioned has always had the grumble.
The groaning/grumble noise has totally gone just like it did in my AWD. I'm wrapped because now the car has gone back to dead silent instead of a loud groaning at low rpm.

Big thanks to Anthony from Knox Mitsub (chel'sTJ) for changing the belts and finding the problem to start with.
YEAP BIG THANKS TO HIM TOO!!! fixed the issue...but a light pocket after that....

sent my car to knox mitsubishi and they found that my rattle came from a loose plate in the "engine pipe" also described as the "Y-Joint" anyway it just bad a terrible sound when the engine is fired up, had it replaced, all up it was $612.80 which included,

the check for noise
replace part $88.00
gasket-exhaust pipe (2) $20.00
gasket-exhaust (1) $12.00
pipe assy-exh frt (1) $377.10
T/mitter-keyless entry (1) $60.00
+10% GST
Total $612.80
PROBLEM FIXED!


:shock:

you could have gotten extractors fitted for that price, which would have fixed the problem too!!

true..but i wanted to keep my car "stock" and with original parts, if it happens again, i'll just go the extractors