Anybody with educated guesses as to what I'm hearing? This started over the last 600 miles or so - listen for the 'screech'/'squeek'/'squeal' sort of sound behind the engine clatter. Especially pronounced once engine dies down on.

Video link on tinypic

Thanks for helping out!

 

Have you powered down with your head in the engine bay?
Grab a friend and shut down with you ears / eyes peeled to the engine bay.
Sounds like a pulley bearing if anything...

- Erik

 

Mine makes the exact same sound. Seems like i have read somewhere that it's the sound the waterpump makes. Not sure but its very intermittent on mine.

 

Mine does it every morning or when the engine is cold and lasts for about a minute and seems to go away as I drive off and the RPMs increase. I have a service appt this Thursday to get it checked out. I think it's the serpentine belt tensioner, the water pump or other pulley in there.

 

After a day of not hearing anything while in service they finally heard the screeching noise. They think it's the water pump and will be replacing it today. Hope that's the problem!

 

Wow, now they're saying it might be the timing chain... Not sure how they went from the water pump to the timing chain and why the timing chain would be making a screeching sound. I had my timing chain/tensioner replaced this past Feb for the cold start rattling issue as the chain had stretched and was out of limits. More to come...

 

appreciate the updates. I also had the timing chain "fixed" (I believe not /replaced/ last time)...

 

Been a strange day... Another SA called and said the SA that called me was mistaken, no timing chain issues on my car. The first SA had said they were waiting on Germany for some measurements they took of my timing chain. It turns out they checked the water pump and the serpentine tensioner, both looked good and will be replacing the serpentine belt because it looks a little frayed and cupped. It all sounds fishy to me. I always get the feeling they try to cover stuff up, that they don't really tell me the whole truth. It's all under warranty so I can't complain especially since I only have about 26 days left on my warranty. The car should be ready on Monday, we'll see...

 

Picked up my car and so far so good. They replaced the serpentine belt but the real test will be at start up tomorrow morning. That's usually when it made the screeching noise. I'll keep you guys updated.

 

Well, I can happily report my screeching is gone after they replaced the serpentine belt. Guess a worn belt can make all sorts of noises. Mine only lasted 26k miles... Oh well, all is good now!

 

Im actually waiting in service now for a similar issue. Squealing from the tension belt / water pump area...turned out to be the water pump that is being replaced. The funny thing is that I havent heard it for a few days, but just so happen to be getting an oil change so i mentioned it. 10 minutes after sitting in the waiting area my MA comes up tell me they're replacing the water pump.

 

Sticky,

Was the sound a squeak when shutting the car off or a belt squeal that happened all the time? My car with 1400 miles on it has had a short and faint squeak when shutting the car off. I am not really that concerned about it and plan on listening under the hood this weekend.

 

mine has been doing this since the day i bought it. some older posts here had the water pump replaced to 'solve' it but the noise came back later. i brought it to the attention to my MA and they said it was 'normal'

 

As the OP, may as well update that interestingly (temps?) my car hasn't done the noises for about a month or so.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I have a feeling my car only does it when its really got outside. Its suppose to cool off this weekend so I'll report back.

 

It will come back. Try turning off the A/C, the slight drop in rpm make make show up. Mine once dissapeared just to come back worse than ever.

It is the water pump and/or the friction drive. The quality control on these are terrible. I'm now on my 5th water pump and maybe the same amount of friction drives on my '09S.

My dealer has been great and never has given me a rough time on the repairs though.

 

I just noticed this on my 2009 factory JCW. When I shut it off the other day, it gave a very faint squeak and a very tiny shake when it stopped. I started it again and shut it off, and it did the same thing. Unfortunately for me, my 2009 with 17,500 miles just went out of warranty 3 weeks ago, so if it's a water pump problem, I'm a bit screwed. I had it in the 2nd week of July for an inspection before the warranty went out and they said everything was fine. Other than that, it runs great - just that very faint squeak when it shuts down.

 

i had water pump replaced, and timing belt (i believe it was replaced) and i still have that sound. not as bad as the video, but i do hear it a bit. with the battery problem that i have, i am going to mention this as well.

 

I had a similar noise on mine a few years ago, turned out my valve cover was leaking and the leak was only audible when powering down, for a moment. Possibly not even linked to your issue, but another avenue just in case.

If your water pump is the problem, I hope they replace it before your warranty runs out. According to the repair manual, it looks like a real bear to replace DIY.

 

It was the main water pump. Unfortunately I was one month out of warranty. Oh well, at least it's fixed.

 

hmm, thought I had posted this already -- as some of you said, the sound did come back. Depends on a myriad of factors... some days nothing, some days it is there...