AJT

Over past couple of weeks my MY00 Classic Turbo has developed an annoying whining noise from what seems to be the air con motor (right hand side of the alternator ?) It's like a faint version of a slipping fan belt - whine speeds up with the car speed. Doesn't sound too bad outside the car (exhaust note drowns it) but boy does it annoy the hell out of me inside the cabin !

Before I try the 'we'll-charge-you-labour-costs-even-if-we-don't-find-anything' type of establishment, has anyone 'heard' of this before?

Thanks as always for any advice from the SN pool of expertise!

Alex

Katana

You shure it ain't your power steering fluid being low? It makes a very LOUD whining sound. It may look like its full, but try to top it up. You'll be surprised of how much it would take in.

AJT

...I'll take a look. Cheers Katana.

JamesS

00MY Wagon...yup AC belt moaning....try a belt lube solution or new belts......Drove me batty!

Maybe related to not using the AC......

AJT

...power steering fluid OK. Must be the belt symptoms you mention James. What's this belt lube stuff - where do you get it and what do you do with it ? I must admit I was tempted to spray some WD40 to see what happens but fear of seeing the belts 'slip' (what damage can I do etc) stopped me.

Alex

JamesS

Any garage, but maybe an AC ge-gas type place would have the lube. Re-oils the belt sort-of! Not sure about WD40! Its caused by the belts drying out .....

Does the noise vary when AC is engauged / engine cold Vs hot?

[Edited by JamesS - 12/15/2002 8:39:17 PM]

AJT

James - seems to get worse when it's warmed up. AC on/off, doesn't seem to make a diff. I'll have a chat with the garage and see what they recommend. Need to get it fixed - it's driving me mad!

Thanks for the advice.

Alex

bb

I'd be very interested to know what the problem is cause my Legacy Twin Turbo is doing this since about two months ago. I checked the p/s fluid and it was low, put the noise is still there even after filling it up.

The garage has said that cars getting old will do that, must be something with the pulleys etc. He sayswhen its due for a new cambelt, everyhting will be sorted. I think thats a load of crap, may car is a MY98 with 60000km on the clock which i would not yet classify as 'old' and it would be a while till its due for the cambelt change!! It drives perfectly normal and I agree, it sounds really lound inside the cabin but you wouldn't notice it oustide without opening the bonnet. Tried the belt spray and didn't help either.

PLEASE HELP!!

JamesS

Both AC and Alternator belts can whine......

AJT

Just spoke to Cheam Motors Service Dept. After I explained the symptoms/noise etc, the chap I spoke to said it was probably the pulley or the belt (yeah, thanks m8 - I guessed that). He suggested I bring it in for a closer look by one of their technicians. I hate all this "bring it in and we'll look at it" rubbish. I appreciate they can't diagnose everything over the phone but it's not as if we have Scooby garages on every street corner.

I'll ring a couple more and see if I get any further advice.

Triple X

iTrader: (1)

My car suffers from whine also, but only when ive give it a bit and the car is hot. It seems to be power steering related as the whine alters pitch when im manouvering slowly.

Barnesy

I had the same problem, something to do with the compressor for the air con. Subaru replaced all the air con unit under warranty.

AlanG

AJT

Give the bottom pulley a quick spray of WD 40 on to it.
This'll confirm it's the belts or not as it's instant.

Don't go bananas with spraying it, just a quick shot on to the crank pulley to confirm. The belts won't slip

Alan

AJT

OK tried the WD40. The whine has got worse - higher pitch now :-(

Can hear it outside more as well - people starting to look round at traffic lights :-(

Much as I hate to admit defeat - i'm off to the garage in the New Year me thinks.

RA Jaay

Mine whined, just like any Fjord Transit on a cold morning. As I had the Cam belt to do I thought it a good idea to do the Power Steering and A/c belts too.
Only because I got the A/c and P/s belts for £13(Both) as apposed to £48 from Subaru and the Cambelt from Midland for £45 rather than £105, I will take this into account and maybe change the belt 5k-10K earlier than a Standard one just to be safe. The P/s and A/c were gates belts which are the best.
Similar to the Cam belt ALL belts had never been renewed and theres 63K on the clock. All belts look fantastic until you get them off and have a good eyeball, lots of nasty small cracks. I refitted all belts, I used Castrol Belt Lubricant(£2 Topps) from my local 'Autosave' on the P/s and A/c belts. Ran the car for the day and then tightened the two tensioners a little more now that the belts had settled.
Piece of **** and working on your own car makes you feel you deserve that boost each time you spank your car.
Thinking of doing the clutch next, gonna ask for assistance though. Although this isnt specific to the topic if anyone has any good tips for this job please enlighten.

AJT

Just in case anyone's interested.....

I got hold of some 'high performance' spray lubricant as opposed to the 'water dispersant' WD40. Quick squirt on the pulleys and the noise immediately went - chuffed to bits! :-)

Thanks to all for the various advice.

Alex

AlanG

Since the note changed immediately you had sprayed the WD, it indicated the problem lay with the belts.

Glad you got it sorted, maybe a quick check on the tension of the belts? since it's bound to come back?

Alan