Hi,
About 3 months ago I noticed a clattering noise that could occasionally be heard while my car was idling. It only happened intermittently, and disappeared under acceleration, so was very difficult to tie down to anything in particular, however it seemed to be coming from somewhere around the auxiliary belt.
The missus took it to my local garage but naturally when she got it there it stubbornly decided not to make the noise!
Anyway, over the last few months the noise got steadily worse and worse, to the point when the car made the noise consistently every time it was either in neutral, or the clutch was pushed in. It was fine while driving.
I took it to the garage again, and they had it to pieces. They checked the timing (fine), changed the auxiliary belt tensioner, freed up the aircon pulley and changed the auxiliary belt. I picked the car up and drove it away, only to discover to my horror that there was now an even louder noise coming from the engine-side of the car!
Taking it back , I was told a very thin sliver of a keyway on the 'something' cog (cant remember which) had sheared off, and must have fallen out when they turned the timing belt back to check everything lined up on the engine side. I was assured that this wasnt something they would have broken as they literally just turned the belt back. They suggested it must have broken in the past somehow and the fact the cog was turning in the same direction all the time it would have held the piece in place...until they turned it back.
No way for me to prove it either way and the story certainly sounded plausible - although I'd be keen to know if this sounds right?
Anyway, another couple of hundred quid down the line and I picked the car up again, only to find that the original noise was still there!!! Argh!
The garage admitted the auxiliary belt tensioner still sounded a bit noisy, but when you pushed on it with a screwdriver the noise abated, so they replaced it again. Both were pattern parts.
The noise is still there though, and the only suggestion they could make was that I could try a genuine renault tensioner, at another £116.
So, here's the thing. I'm not mechanic, but I am concerned that in pushing on the tensioner with a screwdriver, they are tightening the belt a fraction, which may be masking another problem.
The continuing noise surely cant be harmless can it?
Are pattern tensioners notoriously bad on meganes?
I've read on another forum with similar symptoms that it might be the alternator pulley, which has a ratchet system on it. Might this be it?
This is driving me mad now and I cant afford to take it to another garage as I'll have to pay to start the diagnostics again.
Any help/advice would be VERY much apprecaited!
Cheers,
Chris
About 3 months ago I noticed a clattering noise that could occasionally be heard while my car was idling. It only happened intermittently, and disappeared under acceleration, so was very difficult to tie down to anything in particular, however it seemed to be coming from somewhere around the auxiliary belt.
The missus took it to my local garage but naturally when she got it there it stubbornly decided not to make the noise!
Anyway, over the last few months the noise got steadily worse and worse, to the point when the car made the noise consistently every time it was either in neutral, or the clutch was pushed in. It was fine while driving.
I took it to the garage again, and they had it to pieces. They checked the timing (fine), changed the auxiliary belt tensioner, freed up the aircon pulley and changed the auxiliary belt. I picked the car up and drove it away, only to discover to my horror that there was now an even louder noise coming from the engine-side of the car!
Taking it back , I was told a very thin sliver of a keyway on the 'something' cog (cant remember which) had sheared off, and must have fallen out when they turned the timing belt back to check everything lined up on the engine side. I was assured that this wasnt something they would have broken as they literally just turned the belt back. They suggested it must have broken in the past somehow and the fact the cog was turning in the same direction all the time it would have held the piece in place...until they turned it back.
No way for me to prove it either way and the story certainly sounded plausible - although I'd be keen to know if this sounds right?
Anyway, another couple of hundred quid down the line and I picked the car up again, only to find that the original noise was still there!!! Argh!
The garage admitted the auxiliary belt tensioner still sounded a bit noisy, but when you pushed on it with a screwdriver the noise abated, so they replaced it again. Both were pattern parts.
The noise is still there though, and the only suggestion they could make was that I could try a genuine renault tensioner, at another £116.
So, here's the thing. I'm not mechanic, but I am concerned that in pushing on the tensioner with a screwdriver, they are tightening the belt a fraction, which may be masking another problem.
The continuing noise surely cant be harmless can it?
Are pattern tensioners notoriously bad on meganes?
I've read on another forum with similar symptoms that it might be the alternator pulley, which has a ratchet system on it. Might this be it?
This is driving me mad now and I cant afford to take it to another garage as I'll have to pay to start the diagnostics again.
Any help/advice would be VERY much apprecaited!
Cheers,
Chris
Dec 2, 2011 at 8:31 PM