# Pulley Noise?



## EuroStyle (Jun 24, 2000)

So for once I didn't' do my own repair, had a good friend who's an Audi tech do the timing belt/waterpump/etc on the car about a month ago. Used the Ultimate kit from ECS. The car has been running great, just passed the 80k mark...


This morning I start it up to warm so the Mrs. can go to work and I hear this noise....it's a high pitched sounds and changes with throttle. I took the covers off and it's definitely not the SAI pump and is from the pulley area.

Here's a video...anyone recognize it? There are some videos on YouTube of different TT pulley noises but none like this....



Sean


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## ECS Tuning - Audi (Oct 12, 2009)

It's hard to say for sure what exactly it is but since our pulley is Aluminum it could be that it's squealing just a bit because of the cold weather. Although to me it sounds more like an ac belt tensioner. 

My B5 A4 1.8T made a very similar noise, more of a high pitch hum and ended up being the AC belt tensioner. 

Jason


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## lite1979 (Sep 9, 2005)

Definitely sounds like something on the accessory belt talking there. I'd remove the charge pipe on that side (or prop it up out of the way) and use a magnet and a flashlight to inspect your moving parts. If you have an aftermarket alternator with a one-year warranty from one of the national chains, I've had the bearings go bad once, and metal shavings near the alternator pulley indicated this. The accessory belt tensioners with the plastic wheels have never failed for me, but I have a spare one because I bought it when I started hearing the alternator on its way out. Put the HVAC on "ECON" as well to eliminate the possibility of it being your A/C pulley.


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## deepblueT (Jan 26, 2008)

i second the alt. bearings. mine went like a week after i had the timing belt done...freaked me out that i had a shotty t-belt job...put stethoscope on the alt, and if it is the bearings it will blow your eardrums...hint...the alt can be changed with the ac and intake manny on the car....st turn until it fits....


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## EuroStyle (Jun 24, 2000)

Well, I did the "put a large screwdriver against it, and your ear against the handle" trick. The alternator is dead quiet. When I do the same against the tensioner assembly, it sounds like tumbling rocks. I assume this is a bad bearing. There are a ton of aftermarket ones, and the Audi one can be had for about $80 from an online Audi dealer, so I am going to cross my fingers and replace it. I'll let you know what happens...



Sean


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## lite1979 (Sep 9, 2005)

Still cheaper than an alternator! I hope this fixes it as well.


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## racin2redline (Sep 25, 2008)

I would check the serpentine belt tensioner. The bearing wears out and makes all types of noise . Especially if someone cleaned it with brake cleaner or something.
I've brought mine back to life a few times just by repacking the bearing lol. (Ghetto) time for a new one


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## EuroStyle (Jun 24, 2000)

OK, things have bee crazy here......but finally got a new serpentine belt tensioner and swapped it in. It did not cure the noise. I'm still glad I did it because the screwdriver test made the bearings in it sound like tumbled rocks, and now it is nice and quiet. Guess it was better to do it now then in a few months when winter is here. Got one for $65 and took about an hour since it was so tight in there. 

The alternator sounds quiet to me with the screwdriver.....and running the A/C on and off doesn't change it. Also, moving the steering wheel doesn't change it either so I am guessing it's not the power steering pump.


The odd part is that on a cold start, the noise takes about a minute to begin and then never goes away. 

I am stumped. Could the crank pulley bolts be unevenly tight? I am going to try and meet up with the guy who did the T belt and water pump for me and see what he thinks...


Sean


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## lite1979 (Sep 9, 2005)

Check the idler pulley on the T-Belt tensioner.


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## EuroStyle (Jun 24, 2000)

We're going to look further on Thursday...I have a feeling its inside the T belt cover....


Sean


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## FatAce (Jan 30, 2012)

EuroStyle said:


> I have a feeling its inside the T belt cover....


Hopefully for your sake it's not. I'm in the same boat but I'm almost positive I have diagnosed the issue. I had a coolant leak which dripped on the accessory belt tensioner. Being as it only happened for no more then 10 miles I am disappointed with the quality of parts in the ECS timing belt kit as mine only had 8-9k on it when it happened. 

My suggestion to you is to make sure you don't have a leak of some sort before you go digging too deep. A contamination of fluids on pulleys and tensioners can be very detrimental even early in the parts life.


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## EuroStyle (Jun 24, 2000)

So it gets weirder by the minute....

Took the serp belt off and ran the car...noise is still there. Next, took the timing belt cover off and it doesn't seem to be coming from there either. I have heard a water pump as it's failing before and this doesn't seem like that noise. As I poked around, it seems that now at idle there is no noise, off idle there is a constant noise and as it drops to idle the noise slowly dies away, which almost sounds like a vacuum related noise. At one point, the car was quiet at idle and I touched the DV and there was a quick squeal of the noise but I couldn't make it happen again. When the car is cold tomorrow, I am going to take off the intake tube and go over all those hoses for cracks etc, and then check the compressor side of the turbo for excess play....hope its not that!


Sean


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## EuroStyle (Jun 24, 2000)

UPDATE FOR FUTURE SEARCHERS.....


So in the end, we took the timing belt back apart. Had to pay a second time for ECS to send new parts, and in the process I sourced my own OEM timing belt and paid them more for an OEM tensioner. It seems the Continental belt they sent was just a little smaller then the OEM, and the overly tight fit caused the bearings to go in the tensioner pulley. We replaced everything, and the noise is gone. It took a lot of calls, but ECS did refund me when I sent the parts back but I was still out for the upgrade to the OEM tensioner and out of pocket for the OEM belt. I am kinda pissed that they supply parts that are "near" OEM specs for such a large labor job, but in the end what choice did I have.

It's been 2,000 miles and everything is nice and quiet....


Sean


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## lite1979 (Sep 9, 2005)

Glad to hear you got it figured out! This will definitely help anyone who encounters the same problem.


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