hi all i noticed my car started making a strange sound few days a go heres a link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOB-xAYAI3Q

it sounds like its coming from the alternator or near there

hard to tell from the video, how old is your oil?

2000k

it there much tension on your alternator belt?


btw love the thread title ,i was expecting something to do with asians, made me lol...

double post...

Bearing in one of the idler pulleys or the nose bearing in the alternator.
Definitely a bearing noise.
Gerry

Take the alternator belt off. If the sound goes away you know its the idler or alternator. Spin them by hand, engine off. Whichever feels rough to turn is the noisy one.

OR

Use a large screwdriver as a stethoscope with the engine running. Put the screwdriver on a non moving part, near the idler or alternator, and the other end to your ear. Careful that the screwdriver doesn't touch anything moving!

With that noise it shouldn't be hard to locate the sauce of that werd soun! lol

i was driving on a muddy road be for it happen can i get some wd40 on it to see if it helps?

im guessing that some muddy water has got in the alternator

You had better fix it then. But first work out which bit is noisy. Spraying WD 40 in the general direction will do nothing at all.

Still got the splash guards on the car? Getting a load of mud into an alternator or starter motor because the splash guards are off is not fun.

im sorry dude but you just made me spill my drink once i saw your new thread title...

yes they are, im just saying its a possibility that some got up there

im sorry dude but you just made me spill my drink once i saw your new thread title...
i didn't change it. admin did

i had the same noise.. it was my tensioner pulley busy seizing up

can u remember how much it was to replace?

the last one i bought was approx $70 from Mitsu , but was for a pajero. looks same as Magna. hopefully there are good aftermarket units available.

well using the screwdriver it sounds like its coming from the alternator. can you get just get the pulley or are they one pice ?

if its the alternator itself then you need to get an exchange unit from an auto elctrician.

the wreckers have them for $40. can you pop the pulley off? then reuse my old alternator. is there a is there a better way then removing the hole alternator ?

no , thats not the way it works. if you say that the noise is coming from your alternator , the alternator pulley itself is attached to a shaft inside the alternator that spins on bearings, which are making your noise. therefore you replace the whole alternator. the pulley itself has no moving parts , it simply transfers power from the belt to the alternator.

some other pulleys on the engine are called idler or tensioner pulleys. these exist wherever the belt changes direction. these pulleys have a bearing inside them that can go noisy. if this is your noise , then these idler pulleys can be replaced on thier own. they come with a new bearing.

how hard it it to replace the alternator ?

how hard it to swap an alternator over? how to loosen the belt

OK seems like the a/c pump (the thing in front of the oil filter) can these be replaced?

PM replied to.

Best take it to a service center if you don't know what your doing, although a relativity easy job, if you crack the wrong bolt (eg, thermostat) could cost you even more. Changing over a alternator belt wont cost very much, ~$20-30 for the belt, plus labour.

OK seems like the a/c pump (the thing in front of the oil filter) can these be replaced?
yeah but you'll need it degassed before removal, then regassed, so you may as well get a professional to do it.

I had similar noise hunted all around the engine bay, hard to find exactly where it comes from.
Finally found it was coming from the catalitic convertor, after about 3 months it stopped.
This I believe is because the guts of the convertor eventually blew out the exhaust.
But it did sound like a bearing or ratling noise up front.

I had similar noise hunted all around the engine bay, hard to find exactly where it comes from.
Finally found it was coming from the catalitic convertor, after about 3 months it stopped.
This I believe is because the guts of the convertor eventually blew out the exhaust.
But it did sound like a bearing or ratling noise up front.

its the a/c pump $250 to be fixed with re-gassing

its the a/c pump $250 to be fixed with re-gassing

maybe its because i work in the WA trade but that sounds too cheap.... perhaps they are just replacing the bearing and pretending to regas
does the noise go away when the a/c is on? if so its just a bearing... having said that if the bearing has spun then the compressor is gonna need either a new front end or a replacement both = $$$

the sound dies down but dose not go away

so it may needs a compressor repair/replace due to a chewed up front end.... before giving them the go ahead, i'd enquire about the scope of the works.... last thing you need it a bill of about $1000

2edhand ones are $50 from the wreckers am i better off telling them to get a 2ed hand one in?

if it were my car i'd go for a new one, because with 2nd hand ones you just dont know what your buying.... but first i'd find out what the job entails, maybe thats what they are planning to do... not the sort of work i like to put my name (and licence) to lol