Noise from engine

[Fast_Muchly]

Hi have a diesel renault megane 1.5 dci estate done around 79k . Its recently had a cambelt change , pulley and water pump also front nearside coil spring was replaced after giving up the ghost . Since the coil spring repair I have had abs , ebs check brake system light come on and off .I now have this noise from engine it's hard to explain it but I have included a video . Is this the drive belt that needs changing or does it sound like something else.

9 May 2021 - YouTube

 

[ktuludays]

No video

 

[Fast_Muchly]

No video

Sorted video hopefully

I should add that the cambelt did not snap but it did fray and it did make a noise , which is why i took it in . This noise is new but is it still cambelt related or is it something new . Could it be my drive belt but heard that is a squeal when it starts to go . Ive looked at the belt im trying to get on video towards the end and it doesnt looked as tho its frayed but i suppose it could be slack . Im not a mechanic so i dont have a clue . A car to me is a box on wheels designed to take you from A to B , their all the same to me .

I should add it seems to drive fine to me , just the same bar this damn rattley noise .I cant make to what type of noise it is as it has some sort of rattle but it could also be a rubbing type of sound .

 

[Burnerman]

The dci is a nice quiet engine, by and large.....if it was mine I'd pop off the auxiliary belt (which was hopefully renewed at the same time as the timing belt) and check for any play or noise in the A/C compressor pulley, the alternator and any other tensioner by spinning them.
Feel free to start the engine up with the belt off, and if all is well there then we are getting somewhere.
John

 

[cdbe]

All diesel engines sound noisy when you open the bonnet and stick your phone in. As John says, if you knew what you were doing you could remove the aux belt to investigate and rule out cam belt and water pump but if you don't do cars and are sure it doesn't sound normal I'd get it back to the garage.

 

[Fast_Muchly]

All diesel engines sound noisy when you open the bonnet and stick your phone in. As John says, if you knew what you were doing you could remove the aux belt to investigate and rule out cam belt and water pump but if you don't do cars and are sure it doesn't sound normal I'd get it back to the garage.

Hi ,
Thanks for replies it cant be cambelt and waterpump timing belt etc as they have been changed to the tune of £650 !!.

Update is after bumping into someone who has been a mechanic he listened to it and said it is at the top end and timing belt might be a notch out and advised not to drive it at all .So with that info i have taken it to a different garage than did the cambelt repair last time that this mechanic has advised i go to . They have the car at the moment and at first visual inspection but there yet to get into it proper they think its the alternator , but that might change tomorrow once they have taken a good luck . They have also said it doesnt look like the previous mechanic changed the drive belt as their saying you would see some numbers/marks on the belt with it being new when its rotating , which they could not see , so ive asked them to change that as well seeing as its on 79k miles .

The noise is deffo getting worse and its sounds like a grinding rubbing noise to me , yet the car does seem to me to drive the same bar the noise .The noise is there from the minute i start the engine to the minute i switch it off .

Ive read into things and looked things up , and it does sound as though it might be the bearings in the alternator if this is the case would you just go for the bearings to be repaired or go for a whole alternator . I was expecting around about £100 for an alternator but looking at it their are alot of pricy ones to to the tune of £500 , im dreading the phone call tomorrow as this car has cost me a fortune in past 4 months .

Car is a renault megane 1.6 dci diesel estate . 2011 reg .

 

[Fast_Muchly]

Ok Just rang garage and can confirm its the bearings in the alternator , they have taken the alternator off and the engine then runs as quiet as a mouse .

So on that im pleased its diagnosed but alternator for my model has cost £200 which gave me a shock as i only thought these parts cost around £100 ish .

WHAT IM NOT PLEASED ABOUT !!

Im so sick and tired of garages not doing what they can .

1. I do know that if its the bearings , why have they sent for and ordered a whole alternator , why not just replace the bearings making it a much cheaper repair for myself .

2. I have asked them to look into why my abs/ebs fault light keeps coming on and off , this has happened since my front nearside coil broke a few months ago . They have told me it is most likely a sensor ( cheaper option ) or something else more expensive to fix . So they will go with fitting the cheaper option to try and fix it what i dont like is if this doesnt fix it , WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO PAY FOR SOMETHING THAT HASNT WORKED , IM PAYING THE GARAGE FOR THEIR EXPERTISE . All garages nowadays seem to work this way i dont get how they are getting away with it . Surely the customer shouldnt be paying for a part that they dont need ? .

I have yet to find one mechanic or one garage who is honest and actually do what they say and go about it in the right way , im really irritated with garages at the moment .

 

[Mottie]

1. I do know that if its the bearings , why have they sent for and ordered a whole alternator , why not just replace the bearings making it a much cheaper repair for myself .

Because it might take an hour or two to strip out and rebuild an alternator and at £100 plus labour per hour, it wouldn’t be cost efficient for you and you would only have a guarantee on the bearings, not the whole alternator and not to mention that it might take a day or two to source the bearings which means your car will be taking up valuable workshop space.

 

[Fast_Muchly]

Because it might take an hour or two to strip out and rebuild an alternator and at £100 plus labour per hour, it wouldn’t be cost efficient for you and you would only have a guarantee on the bearings, not the whole alternator and not to mention that it might take a day or two to source the bearings which means your car will be taking up valuable workshop space.

O.k i can see some sense in that but im hoping their not on £100 an hour jesus christ im in the wrong job :0 .

The thing that irritates me most is the parts thing where your paying for their expertise yet their guessing which part wil lsolve the problem at your expense , i totally dont agree with this type of principle . All garages are doing it and its time it was altered and looked into .

 

[Mottie]

O.k i can see some sense in that but im hoping their not on £100 an hour jesus christ im in the wrong job :0 .

The thing that irritates me most is the parts thing where your paying for their expertise yet their guessing which part wil lsolve the problem at your expense , i totally dont agree with this type of principle . All garages are doing it and its time it was altered and looked into .

Yeah, well I have a code reader and it will usually say something like "nearside front abs circuit fault". Most times it’s the sensor that is at fault but if you change that and it ain’t, well, your looking at fault finding which could be 4 hours to find the fault and two minutes to fix it. Of course, they have to charge the 4 hours as well as the two minutes!

 

[Fast_Muchly]

Yeah, well I have a code reader and it will usually say something like "nearside front abs circuit fault". Most times it’s the sensor that is at fault but if you change that and it ain’t, well, your looking at fault finding which could be 4 hours to find the fault and two minutes to fix it. Of course, they have to charge the 4 hours as well as the two minutes!

The point is im making is if the fault is still there after they have bought a £60 sensor should they charging for the sensor that i didnt need ? .

 

[Mottie]

The point is im making is if the fault is still there after they have bought a £60 sensor should they charging for the sensor that i didnt need ? .

I can see your point entirely and I suppose a decent technician should be able to test the sensor. I’ve never been that into electrics on cars but I do know whenever I’ve had to change an abs sensor, it’s 50/50 whether it will come out without chopping and drilling it out. The other half of the sensor is built into the wheel bearing and that’s no 5 minute job to replace either.

 

[Old Salt]

Most Garages wouldn't have the time or kit to repair and more importantly test a sensor. If they replace the sensor (cheapest option) and its not the cause what do they do with the sensor they have had to buy, take it back off, wrap it up and send it back? Its now a secondhand sensor, do you want to buy it? As Mottie said they can be destroyed getting them out and at least its the cheapest option.

As regards the alternator if the bearings have gone it wont be long before the commutator follows it and needs repairing/overhaul. How would you feel if the garage had just replaced the bearings and two weeks later you have to go back for further work.

These units are repaired by specialist companies who overhaul and test the entire assembly at a reasonable cost. A garage could spend a morning overhauling your alternator because they only do one a month or so.

The car is 10 years old at 79k miles, how many revolutions has that alternator done assuming its still the original? I reckon you've had your moneys worth.

What you need to do is find a garage that you can trust and use them, sounds as if you may have done that after bumping into your mechanic friend.

P.S. If its any consolation my son has the same car and his engine blew and cost him £2.5k to get it fixed. Unfortunately he doesn’t live near me and gave the dealer the go ahead before speaking to me.

 

[sxturbo]

Regards the alternator as Mottie said, it's actually cheaper in the long run to just replace the alternator. It's not a 5 minute job to replace the bearings, and if the bearings are done likely something else will go shortly after like the regulator or something,

Regards the sensor... Some sensors are really easy to test, others can be rather difficult, especially the hall effect sensors such as an ABS sensor, even moreso when the fault is intermittent. And so sometimes the only thing you can do is replace the part and see how you get on.

It might just be coincidence that the abs played up after the coil spring broke and it's not related.

 

[Stivino]

The only kit required to test an ABS sensor is an ohm meter and it's a two minute job to test them before removing them.
The guys should really be testing components before replacing them.
As for alternator bearings, they are easy enough to replace. The last one I did, I took the old bearing into BSL, they matched it up and didn't even charge me for it. I gave them something for the Monday club though.