My fiancee and I just purchased a brand new 2005 MCS Coupe prem/sport/LSD. We test drove the car before buying and it came w/ 6 miles on it, took it around for 10 miles and noticed a loud squeeling coming from the front. At first I thought it was the wheels, but when we got back to the dealership they said it was the s/c belt.

When we rev'd the engine in neutral it did indeed squeel with a higher pitch as the rpms went up, which seemed logical to me that its the belt. They said they've had other customers w/ brand new MCS have this noise and once the belt is broken in after ~400 miles it should go away.

Well we drove it home 200 miles from the dealership and its probably louder now at appears at every rpm when on the throttle. I'm ready to give it another 200 miles but things aren't getting any better. Is this normal, is there anything else that could be a problem than the belt itself?

 

I had the same problem at about 1200 miles ('03 MCS, now @ 25k). Dealer replaced the belt & tensioner & it went away for about a week. Brought it back & they replaced the supercharger itself. That fixed it.
I can't believe they told you it was normal.
Good luck - Bodinski

 

Same problem, brand new MCS 2005. Dealer put on a JCW Belt and that fixed it or it is just masking the problem?

 

1000 miles on it and the sound has largely gone away, but it still shows up now and then and is still quite annoying. I'm taking it in for checkup next week, we'll see how it goes.

 

FWIW, sever people have found that the alternator becomes, or is, slightly out of alignment, and can cause this squeek and abnormal wear.

Its a real bear to get too. You'd have to pull the whole front bumper and radiator assembly to get to all the bolts that adjust the alternator. If you're in warrantee, get the deal to fix it.

 

You may have the wrong size belt on (sorry i cant remember which, but someone here on NAM had this problem - and had a good dealer that realised this). A few 05 MINIS have had this problem. Maybe your POS dealer knows this now. Call them and find out.

 

I wouldn't call them a POS if I wanted a new belt!
<snicker-snicker>

 

I kinda qualify on this. I had the belt squealing problem. Dealership fitted a JCW belt, but I don't know if this is the right thing to do. For one, it shouldn't need a smaller belt... What happens if I want a smaller pulley down the road.. am I screwed?

Shouldn't it just work with a normal belt. Makes me wonder if the fix is just masking a bigger problem.. but maybe I've just got my knickers in a twist about nothing??

 

Hmmmm. Does this seem to happen to mcs built only after jan or before as well. I picked up mine Dec 20th and havn't had a problem with the S/C belt and currently have over 8000miles. "Knock on wood"

 

Mine was built in April/May of 2005.

 

This is starting to happen with more and more people, but oddly enough it usually disappears after 1500 miles or so.

 

My brand new 2005 MCS that I picked up yesterday is doing it. I'm at 100 miles.

High pitched squeak/squeal that is RPM dependent. It sounds pretty ghetto, and is embarassing for a new car. I'm not pleased.

Guess I'll have to take it into the dealer; they'd better hook up a loaner for me.

 

Mine started sqealing in the first 100 miles on the way home from the dealer. It only occurs when the car has warmed up and it's worse on hot days. I was hoping it would go away, but after one week and 1100 miles, it's still there and getting worse. I have an appointment at the dealer on Monday. I should have 1700 miles by then. At least it's consistant and unless the "gone by 1500 miles" is correct, it should still be there.

Steve

 

I have an appt. for tomorrow morning. Service writer says it sounds like a tensioner (mine is more of a squeak than a squeal)

We shall see...

 

Exactly my experience. Did not do it from a cold start. Was worse on hot days.. did it more in start/stop traffic.. Infact if I went straight from a cold start onto a highway, I could stay on the highway for an hour and the squeal wouldn't appear until I exited the highway and got back into start/stop traffic.. 2mins later and it's back. Very mysterious.. but very embarrassing.. I've got those super cool black MCS with web spoke wheels and it sounded like a clapped out LADA.

Let me know what you find out... Although they fixed the squeal by fitting a JCW belt.. I'm not sure if that's the right fix.. My guess is that the squeal is being caused by the belt slipping. If the belt is slipping perhaps a component on the belt is not moving as freely as it should and by simply putting on a tighter belt you end up forcing the component to move. This doesn't sound healthy to me.... but I'm not a mechanic.

Whatever the root cause, MINIUSA must know by now that this is not a one off. I'd expect them to have gotten to the bottom of this. If they have and there's a specific fix, then I'll take mine back to the dealership.

 

I think my car is now near ~1500 and we hear it less. My fiancee (who drives the car), says it appears when the A/C is on. There was another thread where the owner said the radiator had a leak which was spraying coolant on the belt, making it slip. She thinks that sounds reasonable and we're going to take it in and possibly suggest looking at that.

 

Angus, I believe the JCW fix may be the correct one in this case. My tensioner looks to be maxed-out. It is almost touching the the S/C pulley and doesn't look like it can get any closer. The shorter JCW belt will pull the tensioner away from the S/C pulley giving it a chance to work. At least that's my theory.

Steve

 

That is my experience as well. In fact I drove it back from the dealer (100) miles wihtout hearing anything and then as soon as I got off the highway in Chicago I started to hear it. The more I drove around the city the louder it was.

 

If the JCW fix is the correct one, then what happens if I fit a reduction pulley. Many people prefer using the JCW belt with a reduction pulley to avoid belt slippage due to a shorter path. Won't I be back to square one if I go with a reduced pulley? I'd hate to see a true warranty problem from preventing me from doing what would otherwise be a pain free mod. Something is simply wrong that prevents this from working problem free with a stock belt.

 

I'm hoping the stock belt is just a little too long and the JCW belt is overkill because I plan on doing a 15% pulley, also. If that is the case, I expect the JCW belt will still be short enough. I believe there are also shorter belts available, also. Something must have changed since there seem to be a lot of complaints about squealing belts on '05s. We'll see on Monday after I see the dealer.

Steve

 

Just went for a 2 hour fun run. It's definitely a squeal, not a squeek (like a bearing) as I'd previously thought. I had my fiancee rev the car while I popped the hood and listened. Definitely seems like it's the SC belt.

It is *LOUD* too. Ambient temp indicator read 74 degrees; we were cruising with the windows down. I'd say the noice is about halfway in between "really frickin annoying" and "hellaciously offensive".

Like an '82 Cutlass Sierra fan belt really.

 

Yep, I posted the same problem like 2 weeks ago. I picked up my MCS and after 100 miles it started squeeling. It is really loud when its hot. My dealer told me that they are going to change the supercharger and I am waiting for the parts as they have several cars with same problem (?). I picked up mine in June 30th. Is it in late 05's or all 05's get it???

 

FYI - had the tensioner, SC belt, and fan belt replaced last week. No problems whatsoever since.

 

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking on NAM for sometime and this is my first post. Just got back from Classic MINI with my 14 day old MCS. Their fix to the squeak/squeel problem was to "Remove Tensioner mounting bolt and lube bushings and tensioner"

Classic did the fix during lunch time while I waited. So far so good!

 

Late June 05 build - had squeal within 100 miles. By 200 thought I was going to throw the belt. Fix was replacing the tensioner and belt. So far so good.