I believe I have an unusual noise coming from a pulley somewhere. I can't pinpoint it but it definitely doesn't seem normal. It's not loud but I like to try and get things sorted just incase.

First port of call was to check the cambelt tensioner as this is the most important thing I could think of . The garage I bought the car did the cambelt ect 6k ago and I just wanted to make sure they hadn't under tightened it and it was working loose or something. This is how it looks:

It looks about 1mm off centre to me, is that okay?

When the engine is running the point on the tensioner is about 3/4mm back from where it is there, is that normal?

Cheers

Whats the noise like?

Looks OK to me.

 

The procedure for adjusting the "Litens"  tensioner is turn the tensioner until the pointer is in the middle of the cut out in the back plate and the tighten the lock bolt.

 

On all the ones I've changed the pointer has a tendency to move slightly to the right (clockwise) as you tighten the bolt, however this is normal and to be expected......nothing to worry about.

 

As for the noise, check that the centre cam belt cover is fitted correctly onto/over the tabs, if its not then the aux belt tensioner will catch on it. 

Start the car with the aux belt off to eliminate anything els.

Don't want to scare you but I had my cambelt, etc replaced as I found a groove wearing in the middle of the belt. Turns out the studs that the tensioner sits on had sheared and was a ticking time bomb before the belt and pulley collapsed. Apparently, these studs are very torque sensitive and require new nuts after a belt replacement. It's definitely worth investigating further!

Whats the noise like?

I really don't know how to explain it. I'm not even sure it is a pulley, as I can't really pinpoint where the noise is coming from. I was just having a look at what I could while I had a spare half hour.

As regards groove in the cambelt, it looked brand new. I couldn't see anything un towards at all. I just wanted to check that the tensioner was okay.

A whine noise is when a timing belt is fitted to tight.

A grumble noise could be a failed water pump or pully.

Like I say, run the engine with the aux belt removed for a minute and see if the noise goes away.

Will do

I'm going to whip the rocker cover off at some point to check the cam ect too. Are there any symptoms of cam failure?

The car drives perfectly, no lumpy idle ect.

Cam failure as in cam wear can result in a clicking/tapping noise from the engine.

Yeah that's what I mean, I've heard many chocolate can horror stories on PD's. I think I can rule that out then.

I'll keep digging. Cheers guys

It's easy enough to take the rocker cover off and check, only problem bolts are the ones at the back, I think it's two of them that are awkward beside the egr valve and manifold, rest are nice and easy to remove.

With it off you'll see the cams no problem and can check for wear on them.

Does the noise go away when the car is warm?

No it actually seems to appear when warm.

As I've said it's not loud and may just be a diesel thing, I don't know. It just doesn't sound the same as it did when I bought it 6k ago.

I'm not too worried as it drives perfectly, I was just curious as to what it could be. I think it's one of those things where you need to be standing in front of the car to tell if it is a problem or not.