Sounds like finches living under my hood

[Andrew/USPWR]

Has anybody else ever had this issue?

When the engine is cold I get this chirping sound from under the hood for about 5-10min, or until it warms up. The chirping increases and decreases with the RPM’s. Seems like it would be the power steering but, it was replaced about a year ago.

I’d like to have an idea of what it is because, by the time I get it to the dealers it will have stopped.

Thanks

 

[bluesrt]

replace the serpentine belt

 

[dave6666]

I had that too. Discovered I had the feeder a little close to the exhaust. Of course with me being Gen 2 I don't have quite the under hood layout knowledge that I do with the SRT's, but I put my feeder where the washer fluid bottle goes. They love the breeze while cruising, and no more noise from the finches! Brilliant!

 

[JonB]

replace the serpentine belt

Mileage? Lube the S belt. If it stops instantly, that is the problem. Replace it soon.

You could just 'spritz' the belt with WD-40, altho that is NOT the recommended lube. It WOULD instantly reveal the culprit, as the finches would go silent

 

[GTSnake]

I hate when the bird seeds get all over everything.

How about a scare crow logo on the air box?

Put a doghouse under the car?

 

[Martin]

Mileage? Lube the S belt. If it stops instantly, that is the problem. Replace it soon.

You could just 'spritz' the belt with WD-40, altho that is NOT the receommedned lube. It WOULD instantly reveal the culprit, as the finches would go silent

I'm not one to contradict Jon - but I probably wouldn't use WD-40 to troubleshoot this. A spray of water will work just as well (water increases the surface tension between the belt/pulleys and will stop the squeeking if it indeed is the belt). Water will evaporate - WD-40 will attract dust and grime (and possibly eat the belt).

Do you have a diagnostic stethoscope around? You should be able to narrow down on the squeek with that. Could just be things rubbing together in the engine compartment, could be as bad as a spun bearing... No way to tell without poking around.

 

[JonB]

I'm not one to contradict Jon - but I probably wouldn't use WD-40 to troubleshoot this. A spray of water will work just as well (water increases the surface tension between the belt/pulleys and will stop the squeeking if it indeed is the belt). Water will evaporate - WD-40 will attract dust and grime (and possibly eat the belt).

Do you have a diagnostic stethoscope around? You should be able to narrow down on the squeek with that. Could just be things rubbing together in the engine compartment, could be as bad as a spun bearing... No way to tell without poking around.

No Contradition. .... Its just a quick-spritz to diagnose, not lube it! You could even use a bar of soap.

 

[bluesrt]

replace the damn belt now and kill this thread!

 

[dave6666]

replace the damn belt now and kill this thread!

Calm down. They may not have a Petco where he is so the feeder bracket may be special order.

 

[eucharistos]

finches die if you put claritin in their water

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

Thanks all.

The serpentine belt make sense. It has about 14k miles on it but, I'll test test the belt and let you all know.

thanks again.

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

It's the belt.

A little splash of water and it shut right up.

Thanks again

 

[Leslie]

Calm down. They may not have a Petco where he is so the feeder bracket may be special order.

you are just toooo much

 

[Martin]

Next thing to check is your tensioner - serpentine belts generally won't start to squeek after 14K in my experience unless the tensioner is starting to go. I don't know what the torque numbers are, but you can check it with a 1/2" torque wrench: if the tensioner arm contracts before the wrench clicks, you probably have a bad one. Maybe someone on here knows what the torque number should be.

One other thing, when you are pulling the belt, don't let the tensioner just fly loose and bang up against the stop - decompress it slowly. I won't go into how I learned that one.

 

[Doug Supercharged Vipers]

It's the belt.

A little splash of water and it shut right up.

Thanks again

It may not be just the belt even though you found it to silence with the water. Although, it cant hurt to replace the belt I would suspect something else may be the culprit and it's easy to check.

When you stated that your p/s pump had been previously replaced, it is a possibility that when they replaced the p/s pulley they did not press the pulley flush with the end of the pump shaft. That will cause the belt to squeal on startup and it is more common than you may think.

We've had cars brought to us that had the same problem and it's an easy fix.

Please check and see if the pump is pressed flush on the shaft. Even a tiny amount +/- will cause the squeal!

Best of luck!
Doug

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

Next thing to check is your tensioner - serpentine belts generally won't start to squeek after 14K in my experience unless the tensioner is starting to go. I don't know what the torque numbers are, but you can check it with a 1/2" torque wrench: if the tensioner arm contracts before the wrench clicks, you probably have a bad one. Maybe someone on here knows what the torque number should be.

One other thing, when you are pulling the belt, don't let the tensioner just fly loose and bang up against the stop - decompress it slowly. I won't go into how I learned that one.

Thanks Martin, The belt look like it's in good shape, no cracks or wear marks but, it has about 2'' of (up and down) play in it. I'm not sure how much it should have.

If I jump on the gas the belt doesn't squeal more as if it's loose.

 

[dave6666]

It may not be just the belt even though you found it to silence with the water. Although, it cant hurt to replace the belt I would suspect something else may be the culprit and it's easy to check.

When you stated that your p/s pump had been previously replaced, it is a possibility that when they replaced the p/s pulley they did not press the pulley flush with the end of the pump shaft. That will cause the belt to squeal on startup and it is more common than you may think.

We've had cars brought to us that had the same problem and it's an easy fix.

Please check and see if the pump is pressed flush on the shaft. Even a tiny amount +/- will cause the squeal!

Best of luck!
Doug

We all know how much fun that is in a Gen 2 - replacing the pulley on the P/S pump - but would that be how it is done on a Gen 3 also? Remove the pulley and re-install it on the new pump?

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

It may not be just the belt even though you found it to silence with the water. Although, it cant hurt to replace the belt I would suspect something else may be the culprit and it's easy to check.

When you stated that your p/s pump had been previously replaced, it is a possibility that when they replaced the p/s pulley they did not press the pulley flush with the end of the pump shaft. That will cause the belt to squeal on startup and it is more common than you may think.

We've had cars brought to us that had the same problem and it's an easy fix.

Please check and see if the pump is pressed flush on the shaft. Even a tiny amount +/- will cause the squeal!

Best of luck!
Doug

From what I can see Doug it looks perfectly flush. Any other ways of checking this?

 

[bluesrt]

check the pattern on the pulley,u will see a wear mark,when the belt is installed,if u see a differant pattern where the belt lyes,replace the tensioner,also if the spring mount part is not straight,gap is uneven,replace it.

 

[bluesrt]

also,ur belt sqeel is from hard rubber surface from the heat of ur engine.i replace them every day from this syndrom

 

[1HOTV10]

I had a similar problem replaced the belt and the tensioner . Found out that my dampener had come loose and moved out about a 1/2" . Got it back hunkered down. Know more squeakie! This is not uncommon to happen as per D.C. Performance. WD 40 ? I don't think so.