Hey guys,

About a week and a half ago i had a general service done on the magna. seals and gaskets were replaced, and the drive and aircon belts.

What ive noticed since then is a noise from when i first start up the car, almost like an old steam train chugging along. It appears to be coming from below the block, to the left hand side, where i can see the belts, but im having trouble pin pointing it.

Is this a common problem on the magna's? is this something that will wear away, or is something wrong? Could it be something other then the belts? Coincidence maybe?

The noise seems to go away after the engine has been running for a while.

You can hear it when the car starts in park, but it gets a tad louder the instant you put it into reverse or drive

cheers for any insight.

Regards

Tom

I would check:

Belt alignment. Are the belts located on the pulleys correctly? Nicely centred?

Belt condition. Check that they are in fact new belts, no cracks on the ribs, the ribs are dull in colour (go shiny with age) and the belts are tensioned correctly.

Check power steering fluid. The pump can get noisy if the fluid level drops too low.

If its not any of these, try:-

Remove one belt, start the engine. If the noise is gone turn the idler pulley by hand. If it feels rough and has play replace it.

Repeat for second belt and idler pulley.

If you have had the timing belt replaced, check the install of the covers. Can be noisy if rubbing on the belt, on the second gen V6 anyway.

Good luck tracking it down, don't just ignore it.

PS if you have had the plugs done, could be a spark plug not installed correctly. Just a thought.

If what you hear is what I think you are hearing, is a tension issue, your belts are not tight enough and are groaning.

If the belts are old belts, replace them, if not get them tightened properly