Uncategorized RoadWhinge on 03 Jan 2007 04:11 pm
Noises
Oddly, perhaps, for a bloke who writes a blog about cars, I have no real clue how the blasted things work. Oh, I can do the basic things like filling the tank with petrol, filling the screenwash bottle, changing a wheel, opening the bonnet and scratching my head…
At the moment my car is doing that thing that I so often hear cars doing - usually just as they start or pull away - namely emitting a kind of screech or squeal. Instinct suggests it is a clutch or brakes thing. In the case of my car, turning off the engine and restarting gets rid of it, and usually it will go off shortly after I pull away, anyhow.
Bloody annoying though - and even more annoying if it turns out to be something disastrously expensive that needs urgent attention.
Does anyone have an idea what it might be?
on 03 Jan 2007 at 4:52 pm 1.David Traver Adolphus said …
Odds are very good it’s a belt, cheap and easy to replace, or even treat with a belt dressing, which would eliminate other somewhat more serious possibilities.
Next in line as a culprit would be the power steering pump or an alternator bearing, which both have more work when starting (circulating thick fluid and charging), the same reason you should look to those belts first.
on 03 Jan 2007 at 4:58 pm 2.RoadWhinge said …
Great, thanks for the suggestions. I’ll look into it in more depth.
Your advice, simple though it is, just confirms that I am easily scared by anything mechanical. The mere mention of power steering pumps and alternator bearings has me reaching for a sedative.
Fingers crossed for it being a belt!
on 03 Jan 2007 at 5:08 pm 3.David Traver Adolphus said …
Well, unless you’re driving something brand new, alternators are usually neither difficult nor terribly expensive. Unbolt the old, bolt in the new, connect two or three wires (literally two or three), check the belt tension and Bob may or may not be your uncle.
Really, you’re not performing a skin graft on your elderly mother here, are you?
Let me know if anything develops.
on 04 Jan 2007 at 2:59 pm 4.RoadWhinge said …
Thanks, David. Will do.
I appreciate your input.