High Pitched Engine Noise On Starlet Sportif

[tinners2000]

Found this great forum during a google for my Starlet problems!

Anyway I became the happy owner of a mint condition Race Green 1997 Starlet Sportif a few weeks ago. On the clock it has done 44 thousand and I have just had the cam belt changed to be on the safe side.

Yesterday I notice a very high pitched whining noise coming from the engine (I think) that increases when the accelerator is pressed. I am completed stumped by what it is and since it is bank holiday I dare to risk ringing up a garage. My mate seams to think that it is the cam belt adjusting pulley which is to tight? Any ideas? I think I will keep the car parked for the time being!

Also, I am trying to source exterior kits for my car but have been unsuccessful,. Can anyone point me in the right way?

Thanks in advance!

:D :D

[Captain Starlet]

at a guess mate,its the drive belt slipping,if its like a really nasty screaming noise.

The belt that runs the aux pulleys such as pas etc,undo your alternator again an push back as hard as you can before tightening. This will make sure the belts nice an tight.

if it aint that im sure sum1 else will help,but id asume it is since youve just had it off to change your cambelt. (an i had the exact same lol)

[tinners2000]

Thanks Captain,

Here are some images and a sound clip of the problem:

sound clip here

http://www.danlandmedia.com/starlet

Sorry about the 2mb file size

[dac69er]

my mates mr2 had a high pitched squeeling type noise. next thing he knew his alternator packed up.

[Mick24]

Just listened to your sound clip - sound like the Cam Belt has been over tensioned.

To distinguish between drive belt and cam belt noise,remove the PAS belt and run it for a couple of min.to see if the noise is still there and then remove the alternator drive belt and run it again.This will narrow it down a bit.

The Cam Belt tension should be set up with the engine COLD. If the noise is coming from the Cam Belt then i suggest you take it back to who ever did the work and get them to reset the tension before it knocks out the Tensioner and Camshaft bearings.

[Hardcore-starlet]

That is most definatly yuour alternator. mine did the same so did my bros. Its a common problem, usualy to do with the brushes in the alternator.

[starlet626]

you say your after a exterior kit do you mean body kit if so try upauto.co.uk look under ms design

[nrgizerbunny]

it looks to me like your auxillary pulleys are both done in. they last for 5 years or 60k. your drive belts are almost certainly the goodyear originals so i would get them replaced. sounds like you have some cracks in them which is causing them to stretch and giving you the whiny noise.

i'd be very suprised if it was the alternator as that just sounds like a clicking noise? but i could be wrong. I would deffo agree with captain starlet.

[Hardcore-starlet]

Nope its definately the alternator, even my dads 21 years in engineering agrees. belts dont stretch they breake. and somtimes slip and screech when thers some moisture on them.

[nrgizerbunny]

with all due respect to yourself and your dad, belts/chains anything under tension stretch PERIOD. it even says in the toyota haynes manual to check the cambelt tension every 30k!

here are a few examples:

1. push bike chain, stretches and the gear change becomes crappy.

2. belt round your waist, stretches but not that much.

3. motorbike drive belts

4. washing machine drive belts.

and here's why:

belts subject to tension result in a stress on the belt. this is proportional to the elongation of the belt divided by its original length (often called strain). by having the belt under tension it will stretch proportional to its elastic modulus (often called youngs modulus).

you can find the proof in the following well regarded books:

1. Mechanics of materials by hearn

2. mechanics of materials by timoshenko and gere.

have a nice day

Nrgizerbunny MEng PhD

[riko666]

lol, i love that lil' 2 MEng PhD, cheeky smart bloke :P

[nrgizerbunny]

hehe, i aim to please :D

useless rubbish irritates me because it educates people with inaccurate information. leads to more planks in society

[riko666]

agreed mate

[tinners2000]

It was the alternator and after a £175 a brand new one was installed in my good mate’s garage. First I thought it was a bit too expensive but it is a very good QX one. It sure is larger than the original. So no more noise now!

[Hardcore-starlet]

Well im glad that cleared that one up.

oh and Nrgizerbunny thanks for the info on belts, i knew chains stretched though (used to have a mk1 fiesta). Anywho

MEng PhD 0 - AS physics 1

[riko666]

hahaha, cheeky one :P

[nrgizerbunny]

i never said it was not the alternator read my post, although from the sound clip i thought it was the drive belt - so in that respect your dad is correct.

however i disagree with your dad who says belts don't stretch, i think he may have had brandy on his cornflakes :D

anyway good luck with your physics.

[riko666]

i agree about the stretching, i did material physics and its a fact that everything stretches to a degree....

[Hardcore-starlet]

im not very good at all that youngs modulus stuff and ive got the exam on friday, better keep revising.

[riko666]

hehe, good luck mate, ive got the units 1 & 2 retakes on friday, then the synoptic on the 27th....when you do a2 you'll know what an extreme !Removed! itll be....a 2 hour paper comprising of EVERYTHING you did in the last 2 years, plus the first half is a comprehension from a passage about something you've never done in physics...

oh and, back to the topic, good thing its fixed now

[nrgizerbunny]

the youngs modulus is almost the same as hooke's law

force = constant x extension

this compares with

stress = youngs moduluss x strain

basically if you divide the whole of the hooke's law equation by metres^2 you get the youngs mod equation. Good luck everyone hope it goes well for you!

are you guys doing the cambridge one?

[riko666]

lol, cheers. meh, ive done the modulus stuff already. and what you mean cambridge one?

[nrgizerbunny]

exam board

[riko666]

if edexcel is cambridge, then yeah :P