Strange noise once car is warm, only on Idle

[Posty07]

Hi all,

I've seen a single thread from 2016 about this but it wasn't conclusive and after taking the car to a few garages (or 2 a few times) I'm no closer to actually sorting this noise!

It's a weird sort of chirping noise which which appeared after the timing belt was changed, they did water pump, tensioner and aux belt too.

I went to a local Renault specialist for them to try and diagnose and they said belt is too tight, so I took it back to the garage who changed the belts for them to loosen it. Unfortunately the noise is still just as bad!



Any ideas guys?
Oh yeah it's a 1.2TCE without Aircon

 

[Mavez]

What timing belt kit did they use?

 

[Posty07]

What timing belt kit did they use?

I'm not sure but I can ask! Could that make a difference?

 

[Mavez]

When I did my cambelt years ago I had near on the same kind of noise maybe not as high pitched as yours but similar.


When I did mine I used a Gates timing belt kit and it drove me mad. A week ago I changed it again but this time I used a genuine Renault kit with an INA tensioner, and the noise disappeared. I'm 100% sure it was the tensioner that was causing the problem.

When you get to about 3k rpm and beyond does it sound really whiny like it's an over tensioned belt?

It might be something to think about. A few others have solved the issue with a genuine kit change.

 

[Posty07]

That is almost exactly the sound!
Are the genuine kits much more expensive? Might buy a tensioner and ask them to fit it..

 

[Mavez]

Can't remember how much mine was I bought it like 3-4 months ago and was too lazy to fit it until this week lol. I think it's about £70 for the tensioner and the belt.

I'd ask them what kit they fitted though to be sure.

 

[Mavez]

If you can turn a spanner take off the centre timing belt cover and have a look with a small mirror. The gates tensioner I got had like a metal roller casing and had gates stamped on it. The genuine Renault one has INA stamped on it and has a plastic roller casing.

Hopefully solve your issue, as it drove me mad for 4 years, always thought it was perhaps the tensioner but never tried installed the genuine kit till recently.

 

[Posty07]

Can't remember how much mine was I bought it like 3-4 months ago and was too lazy to fit it until this week lol. I think it's about £70 for the tensioner and the belt.

I'd ask them what kit they fitted though to be sure.

Not too bad, especially as I shouldn't need the belt again. It's been in today and they have said it's a faulty water pump, which should be covered under warranty.. did you change your water pump at the same time?

 

[Mavez]

Cool, Yes I changed the Belt, tensioner and water pump at the same time. As your noise is a little more high pitched than mine, the guys there could probably get a scope on and listen to where the noise is coming from, the water pump definitely could be the cause.

Keep us posted

 

[Posty07]

So... the water pump took ages to arrive (assuming because it was a warranty replacement) but it didn't fix the noise. They told me it had, but they were running the blowers on full, meaning the engine wasn't quite idling!

I've asked them to try an INA tensioner if they don't mind, but not sure if they will. I'll update again soon!

 

[Mavez]

So... the water pump took ages to arrive (assuming because it was a warranty replacement) but it didn't fix the noise. They told me it had, but they were running the blowers on full, meaning the engine wasn't quite idling!

I've asked them to try an INA tensioner if they don't mind, but not sure if they will. I'll update again soon!

Cool, i'm sure the genuine Renault tensioner will fix it for you. Should only take an hour or so to fit...

 

[Posty07]

Thanks Mavez,
Sadly they've just told me that the second time it went in, they had replaced the tensioner (for the second time) to no effect. They're adamant that the belt isn't too tight and that all the timing is setup correctly!

So they turned to the auxillary items, replacing both the alternator and idler pulley. Again to no effect, but because they assured me 100% that's what would be causing the noise (they say it disappears with the belt off), I may not be out of pocket for these..

I'm at a loss, they seem to be too.. but they did also mention that the pulley was INA so it probably isn't that.

There is no squeal over 3000 so I don't think the belt is too tight, any other suggestions/ideas?

 

[Mavez]

Very strange! It sounds so similar to how mine sounded, the rhythm of the noise.

I mean if they have replaced everything tensioners, waterpump belts etc for a second time it's hard to tell what it could be. I was going to suggest the aux tensioner but if they have done that also...

The D4F engine is very difficult to mess up timing wise (remove tensioner, remove belt, put tensioner on, put belt on, remove tensioner locking pin, turn tensioner anti-clockwise till marker at start of timing window. tighten, turn engine 6 times, loosen and adjust tensioner to the middle of the timing window, tighten and that's about it tbh, assuming engine is at tdc and cam pulley marker is aligned at the top)...

Difficult to tell without actually seeing the engine.