Hey guys,
Been a lurker for a couple of months, but I cannot stay on the sideline much longer.
A couple days ago I have come across an issue with the R53, in which the coolant ran a few degrees hotter than normal, and when I came to a stop at my house (after the 1.5 hour commute from work) I was greeted by a loud screeching, and possible clunking. I have attached a video for you to hear for yourself. After googling and googling, I have not been able to find a video that has this sound. It sounds like I have some money to throw into this, however I am always hoping for some good news.

The radiator does have a small leak that I was already aware of, and after a flush and proper bleed the coolant stays at the proper temp now. Could have just been a coincidence, however it had me worried regarding the SC and water pump.

I have attached a video and the charts from the OBDII.

The charts do not have anything that jumps out at me as out of ordinary, but y'all are more experienced that I am on this one.

I would like to apologize for the video quality, as converting it to AVI did not allow for sound, and WMV has crappy video. At least you can hear it.

 

To add to this, there is not any noticeable power loss. I can drive it just fine and it doesn't seem to make the noises. However with noises like that, I do not even want to turn her on.

 

That's a bad bearing noise if I ever heard one. Possibly the idler pulley?

 

Just replaced the idler, as that is what I thought. It had a little wiggle to it, but spun freely. Replaced anyways. Next thought if still headed that direction is maybe the tensioner?

 

You've now got your choice of pulley bearings -- tensioner, a/c compressor, alternator, supercharger. Did you check all when you had the belt off for the idler pulley replacement? Water pump also comes to mind.

 

The only one I couldn't put my hand on was the tensioner. Didn't have time to even start trying to pull the SC to get to the water pump.

Any other thoughts?

 

Ok so back on this. Tensioner pulley bearing showed too much play, finally got a new tensioner in and installed it today. Still have noise. Makeshift stethoscope points towards supercharger. I am going to take it apart with the few hours I have available at night and check out the water pump, PTO, and SC.

I am posting just to follow through for when I find a solution, and if someone else has the issue, HOWEVER any and all pointers, suggestions, solutions, links, ideas, are all welcome.