There has been a whine noise coming from my engine since I bought the car a couple of weeks ago, I think it is coming from the alternator pulley as it is loudest in that area. I've uploaded a video to see what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLWns_N67os

Question I had, (probably a stupid one) can the pulley on the alternator be replaced or is it fixed to the shaft and needs a whole new alternator? Whats a ballpark figure for parts + labor I would be looking at for either
A) New pulley
B) New alternator if pulley isn't replaceable

Cheers.

Sounds like either an idler pulley bearing to me, the alternator front bearing, the power steering pump or the aircon. But I'd go for the first one which is the cheapest to fix. To locate the noise exactly, you will need to jack up and remove the drivers side front wheel, remove the plastic engine cover and then loosen off and remove the 2 belts that drive the alt/PSD/AIRCON/IDLER..... once the belts are off you can spin each pulley/idler by hand and check for roughness which will indicate shot bearings.
Good Luck.

ps...alt front bearing is replaceable as are all others.

Sounds like either an idler pulley bearing to me, the alternator front bearing, the power steering pump or the aircon. But I'd go for the first one which is the cheapest to fix. To locate the noise exactly, you will need to jack up and remove the drivers side front wheel, remove the plastic engine cover and then loosen off and remove the 2 belts that drive the alt/PSD/AIRCON/IDLER..... once the belts are off you can spin each pulley/idler by hand and check for roughness which will indicate shot bearings.
Good Luck.

ps...alt front bearing is replaceable as are all others.


Agreed, but also you could do this too just in case it's timing belt related.

if you are handy and have the right tools,

1.remove both external belts, start car and see if noise is gone, if noisy then timing belt area.

2. re-installpower steer belt , start car , noisy = power steer issue

this would then leave the A/c or Alternator which hopefully you can pick up spinning the pulleys.

Remember that if you spin the A/c pulley this is = to the same as when the A/C is off and the clutch is disengaged allowing the pulley to free spin. If it was these bearings then the noise would go when the A/c is on and the clutch engaged. It could still be internal of the compressor though.

Is there a differnce in noise or does it go if you cycle the A/C on or off?

P.S. was this a private purchase or do you have statuatory warranty from a Dealer?

if you are handy and have the right tools,
1.remove both external belts, start car and see if noise is gone, if noisy then timing belt area.

Any specialty tools needed? Or is it just a case of loosening a fixing nut on the tension pulley? (sorry I'm pretty new to Magna's :P)


P.S. was this a private purchase or do you have statuatory warranty from a Dealer?

Private purchase, the noise was there when I bought it but I figured it would be cheap enough to fix considering how little I paid for the car which is in otherwise excellent condition.

No special tools required.
Best thing is to download the free workshop manual at http://www.lisho.net/?page_id=3
Once you have this on your computer it will save a lot of time.
Good Luck.

Private purchase, the noise was there when I bought it but I figured it would be cheap enough to fix considering how little I paid for the car which is in otherwise excellent condition.

Ahh, the good ol' "it'll be cheap enough to fix" during the car purchase. :ninja:
Let's hope it's not the aircon bearing, then. :)

You could try plugging one ear with toilet paper and getting about a meter of pipe or garden hose and hold it to the other ear. Then you can carefully point (about 5 or 10cm away) the other end to all the suspected noise sources.

There are lots of bearings spinning in that area when the engine is running, just guessing which one os noisy doesn't work. As suggested above, remove the belts and start it up to eliminate cam belt noise, then replace one belt at a time until the noise comes back. With the belts off and the engine off spin each component by hand and check for roughness. If you tell us how many km on the engine most of us would be able to guess which one is noisy. lol

Check the power steering fluid level, the pump gets noisy if air gets in the system.

If you tell us how many km on the engine most of us would be able to guess which one is noisy. lol

169k as you would see in the vid :P



Check the power steering fluid level, the pump gets noisy if air gets in the system

Yeah I've replaced the fluid as I thought it might be that initially.


Cheers for the suggestions guys I'm going to pull off the belts tonight and see if i can locate it.

Well... I snapped the head off my socket set trying to undo the fixing nut, seems this is a lesson to not buy cheap tools....
So I'll pop into Bunnings tomorrow and buy a decent set and hopefully source the noise then :P

Well... I snapped the head off my socket set trying to undo the fixing nut, seems this is a lesson to not buy cheap tools....
So I'll pop into Bunnings tomorrow and buy a decent set and hopefully source the noise then :P

You're kidding, must have been a really cheap set. They are'nt normally too tight but you never know a gorilla might have worked on the car.

You're kidding, must have been a really cheap set. They are'nt normally too tight but you never know a gorilla might have worked on the car.

Was pretty cheap but still I had to put a hell of allot of force before it did snap... feels like someone did the nut up with a air wrench :P

Was pretty cheap but still I had to put a hell of allot of force before it did snap... feels like someone did the nut up with a air wrench :P

Attack of the gorillas then. I hate that, had a few recent battles with over torqued bolts.

Ahh, the good ol' "it'll be cheap enough to fix" during the car purchase. :ninja:
Let's hope it's not the aircon bearing, then. :)

I finally got the belt off today (rain stopped :P) and you were right, it was the aircon bearing. >_<

How much does a replacement bearing go for? surely it cant be too expensive?

Cheers.

I finally got the belt off today (rain stopped :P) and you were right, it was the aircon bearing. >_<

How much does a replacement bearing go for? surely it cant be too expensive?

Cheers.

The idler pulley that tensions the belt is cheap, but the bearing in the front of the aircon compressor is expensive to get fixed. Which one is it?

That depends on the type of compressor fitted and whether there is enough room to remove the pulley from the front of the compressor. If it's a Sanden comp, they were about $85 a few years ago and on Commodores it was possible to remove it with the comp in place. That is the only experience I've had with this bearing apart from one on a Jag which was a Delco comp. The Magna may require removal of the comp which means a shop job to reclaim the gas and then regas etc....some places will try to fit a new comp rather than replace the bearing as the comps sometimes go for under $500 new on Ebay depending on what type.
So unfortunately you may be up for a few dollars - you could always leave the belt off and drive with no A/C. Good Luck.

It looks like I can get the clutch assembly off without removing the compressor so I guess if I can find a bearing I'd be able to replace it myself.

The belt also runs the alternator, so leaving it off is not a good idea.

The belt also runs the alternator, so leaving it off is not a good idea.

Yeah I've ruled that out as a quick fix because I know how fun a flat battery is :kb:

Use a piece of string to measure the distance without going around the air conditioner compressor, and try to get a belt that length, maybe? Temp fix though.

I've seen whole compressors advertised for $85 delivered but then you have the costs of getting a pro to do the remove/install

Its only the bearing that is the problem though so I'll try to source one tomorrow. It should only be $20-40 for a replacement bearing.

Here is PDF file on servicing Sanden compressors - I'm not sure that I would attempt this on a Magna due to the location, plus I'm getting conservative in my old age.
http://www.sanden.com/images/SD_Service_Guide_Rev.2.pdf

ps....the noise does disappear when the A/C is switched on?...if not then it is not the front clutch bearing making the noise.

Here is PDF file on servicing Sanden compressors - I'm not sure that I would attempt this on a Magna due to the location, plus I'm getting conservative in my old age.
http://www.sanden.com/images/SD_Service_Guide_Rev.2.pdf

ps....the noise does disappear when the A/C is switched on?...if not then it is not the front clutch bearing making the noise.

Cheers for the manual, and yes its noisy all the time so I'd only need to remove the clutch assembly to get to the front bearing.

Read hako's last post again, SubZ3r0. When the aircon is ON, the bearing IS NOT turning, so if it is still noisy it is NOT the bearing.

The tensioner pulley is $60 second hand or $95 brand new plus postage

There is an issue with these cars, if the belt is not tight enought, while it will not slip, will cause a lot of groan and noise

Read hako's last post again, SubZ3r0. When the aircon is ON, the bearing IS NOT turning, so if it is still noisy it is NOT the bearing.

I would of thought the clutch bearing was turning all the time when ac is on or off?

Don't believe us then. lol

The bearing only turns when the pulley on the compressor is freewheeling, ie the air is off. When you turn it on, the clutch locks up, the bearing stops spinning and the internal parts start to turn, running on internal bearings. As soon as you have a solid connection from the pulley to the internals, the bearing in the pulley is stationary relative to everything else.

Its only the bearing that is the problem though so I'll try to source one tomorrow. It should only be $20-40 for a replacement bearing.

Good, then you can show me how it's done then. Take some pics I'm interested because I have another mitsubishi with a rumbly bearing but not as loud as yours though. Never touched an A/C compressor before.

Read hako's last post again, SubZ3r0. When the aircon is ON, the bearing IS NOT turning, so if it is still noisy it is NOT the bearing.

I mentioned this too in my first reply as a point to note when doing your checks.

Sorry to hijack this thread, however I have a similar noise which I have isolated to the aircon pulley wheel. It rattles when A/C is on but stops when off. Is it easy enough to change that pulley off the A/C compressor?

Sounds more like a compressor internal problem. There is a link a few posts back to a .pdf - doesn't look easy at all. needs special tools.

The tensioner pulley is $60 second hand or $95 brand new plus postage

There is an issue with these cars, if the belt is not tight enought, while it will not slip, will cause a lot of groan and noise

Without a doubt this is an important fact. It took me quick a bit of time and effort to convince a Mitsubishi service department to increase the tension on this belt to resolve what sounded like a loose exhaust/ resonance. They ended up replacing the Y pipe but this did not resolve it.

Ended up taking it to a different dealer who was more knowledgeable and tensioned it correctly- noise gone.

I better tighten mine then. Sure sounds like my car has an exhaust resonance. lol I better start my car with the belt off and see if it cures the "exhaust resonance" to be sure. How tight are the two belts meant to be anyway? It only started since I did the cam belt, so its most likely to be a loose alt/comp belt.

I better tighten mine then. Sure sounds like my car has an exhaust resonance. lol I better start my car with the belt off and see if it cures the "exhaust resonance" to be sure. How tight are the two belts meant to be anyway? It only started since I did the cam belt, so its most likely to be a loose alt/comp belt.

I've got the same type of noise so I'm in the same boat. MadMax - didn't you say if you can turn the belt 90deg the tension was correct?

I've got the same type of noise so I'm in the same boat. MadMax - didn't you say if you can turn the belt 90deg the tension was correct?

Nope, don't blame me for that. lol
The manual uses a gauge to adjust the tension, but I'm doing mine by trial and error as I don't have the gauge. I have new belts to go on anyway. I usually set belts up so that they are tight enough not to slip or squeal, to minimise stress on the bearings, but obviously in this case that doesn't work too well.

OK, I found this thread because I had the same god-awful noisecoming from the front of the belt drive train.
After pulling both accesspry belt idler pulleys (yes, there is a fixed ideler pulley on the TF between the alternator and airc compressor), I found their bearings to be OK. Spinning the aircon pulley by hand, I had immediately isolated the noise. Bugger.
That made loittle sense, sice the noise changed with aircon on - not stopped as expected. Pulling the pulley off (6 M6 bolts around the periphery), then the clutch (single nut in the centre) - then prise off it's splined shaft end. Then remove large circlip in front of bearing. Remove spinning pressure plate with 2-arm bearing puller - I couldn't get a three arm one in because of the compressor mounting subframe.
THe very large bearing is staked on the back. I ground much of the stakes off with a Dremel tool and then pressed the bearing out.
It's a 40BGS39DL (40mm x 66mm x 24mm) and cost around $21.00 --- oops! $37.50 retail !!!!
Press it back in with a little Locktite and restake it in 4 or 6 spots (in between the original stakes).
Reverse dissassembly procedure.
All done! Noise gone.
This bearing runs all the time - aircon on or off! Mine lasted 250,000km....
Now we start the next 25,0000 :)
Joe

OK, I found this thread because I had the same god-awful noisecoming from the front of the belt drive train.
After pulling both accesspry belt idler pulleys (yes, there is a fixed ideler pulley on the TF between the alternator and airc compressor), I found their bearings to be OK. Spinning the aircon pulley by hand, I had immediately isolated the noise. Bugger.
That made loittle sense, sice the noise changed with aircon on - not stopped as expected. Pulling the pulley off (6 M6 bolts around the periphery), then the clutch (single nut in the centre) - then prise off it's splined shaft end. Then remove large circlip in front of bearing. Remove spinning pressure plate with 2-arm bearing puller - I couldn't get a three arm one in because of the compressor mounting subframe.
THe very large bearing is staked on the back. I ground much of the stakes off with a Dremel tool and then pressed the bearing out.
It's a 40BGS39DL (40mm x 66mm x 24mm) and cost around $21.00
Press it back in with a little Locktite and restake it in 4 or 6 spots (in between the original stakes).
Reverse dissassembly procedure.
All done!
This bearing runs all the time - aircon on or off! Mine lasted 250,000km....
Joe

That is very valuable information and I will file it in my CarFix folder...hopefully I will never need to use it. Nice to see that someone has actually done this job. Thanks and good luck.

Madmagna, been trying to find the idler pulley online but cannot find one, do i have to go genuine, cheers