Hi I had my serpentine belt replaced 2 weeks ago. ( was squeaking) Yesterday the squeak came back at idle, and would become louder while accelerating. Today the squeak is still there but now I think I also hear a little rattling noise. I took it to the place I had the belt replaced and they said its probably 2 of the pulleys. any suggestions? from my knowledge nothing on the engine has been changed or swapped out (performance parts wise.)

ty everyone.

 

2007 Mini cooper S conv.

R52

 

Does your car have a new supercharger pulley that you know of? Maybe the shop put on the stock sized belt and it needs a shorter one because the pulley was replaced. The rattling could be a worn out belt tensioner.

 

I do not know. how could i check that?

 

How many miles on the car?

The OEM supercharger pulley is pressed on so you see no small screws/bolt at like 12, 3, 6 and 9. It is also black. An aftermarket pulley is usually a shiny looking metal and has the screws at 12, 3, 6 and 9. You may need to put a small mirror down between the pulley and the car frame to see. If you have an aftermarket pulley, go back to the shop and ask if they compensated accordingly.

Also just for s&gs, check to see if the shop pulled the tensioner strap pin out. If you have not watched, the video below by Mod Mini will show you the pulley, the belt, the tensioner and how you get them all off (the strap pin as well).

The mileage will tell allot as you may have a bad crank dampener pulley, tensioner pulley or even the alternator/ac compressor. If the belt is slipping it is loose or a pulley is seizing up. The question is whether you are hearing a bearing rattle.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpQuHeJLFHk

 

122k

 

it would be the spring that would need to be adjusted to compensate? And I watched the video of the pin hole Ill check that.

 

Where is the strap, can you see any of the holes? If the belt is tight the strap should be protruding up. If it is not, would think the belt is too long.

 

 

sorry its so big but thats the piece?

 

 

That's a stock pulley. What brand of belt did they install and what's the part number? Also, do you have a JCW or a regular S?

 

said he bought it from Mini dealer w/o says 11287520199. Cooper S

 

49 bucks

 

That belt does have tension it. In fact I think it is good and tight. You would need to go the second hole to get the tension off.

If you are getting squeaks and rattles I am thinking you have either a bad crank pulley or a bad tensioner pulley

 

Everything seems right parts wise and from the amount of the tensioner tab showing. It could be the strut on the tensioner is worn out so the tensioner is bouncing around and causing the squeak. The strut is what usually fails on the tensioner and is not available separately. Most recommend the Gates tensioner as a replacement which is around $125.

Not sure how far away Philidelphia is to you, but it's home to one of the best MINI specialists in the country, Helix Motorsports. It might be good to have Eric check out the noise and also see if you want to use them for future work.

http://store.helix13.com/

 

not sure how well you can see the picture but it looks as if a pry bar was used to pull the tension of the tensioner. If the pulley was used to pull the tension off could that bend the bolt from the pulley and cause this problem?

 

I'm not sure it's possible to detension the tensioner enough prying like that, but that doesn't look good. Was the shop who did the belt a MINI shop? Also, the pic reminds me that Litens is another good choice for a new tensioner as they are supposed to be the OEM manufacturer of the part.

 

Im not that far from philadelphia maybe an hour or so. Now I am at a point where its a little bit of a concern to drive it that far. I do not want to make a problem bigger than it seems to be already. Maybe the rattling noise wasnt there but the squeak/squealing noise definitely are.

 

no it wasn't, but they advertised European makes (BMW, Mercedes, VW) I wish I knew more about these cars and how they worked. Id do the work myself. So from the picture the belt tensioner was already replaced before?

 

Those pulleys are pretty tough. A good mechanic will have a stethoscope and can tell which pulley or bearing is involved.

 

The fulcrum point for the pulley tool is back toward the radiator where the tensioner bolts to the engine. The pick point is farther toward the firewall so I'm thinking that prying at the picture point is not going to get the tension off.

 

what would be the worst case? as of now its sitting in my driveway and im worried to cause more damage.

 

If you can turn a wrench then go to youtube and pull up some of Mod Mini's videos.

 

I can lol