WEIRD Squeal... Tension? Heat? Cold?

[EricAkaAviator]

So confused by the squeal on my vert.
I've tried to chart it, it's not always when it's cold, hot, warm, fast, slow, high rpm, or low rpm (but it's more common in the low rpm's).

Sounds like a belt (but also metallic from time to time). All belts are tight and no issues with driving... Except for my car sounding a bit like a rusted out 1981 Geo Metro.

Any one have any clear cut ideas? I spent some time searching through the forum but came up blank... Would love ideas!

[Cabriolet]

My water pump squeaked before it died. also PS pumps will squeak near death.
if both of those are good. look at the tensioner and see if that has failed/failing. my dad's tensioner died and it was squeaking because it was riding inside the timing cover.

[rogue38]

I had the same issue after putting my belts back on. The AC belt and pully was making stange sounds. Would quiet down with a slight spurt of WD-40 on the belt. Turns out belt was too tight. I loosened the two upper bolts then slowely loosened the CAM bolt lock nut until it slipped just a hair. I then tighten all up and the sound was no longer there when I started her up.

[EricAkaAviator]

My water pump squeaked before it died. also PS pumps will squeak near death.
if both of those are good. look at the tensioner and see if that has failed/failing. my dad's tensioner died and it was squeaking because it was riding inside the timing cover.

Man, I wish I had an idea of what these items look like... So very different from a Chevy 454 and a Miata, lol.

[Dermeister3]

Part 16 is the tensioner. You have to take off the timing belt cover to be able to see it though. It's basically a pulley on a swivel which tensions the timing belt to the right torque. If its broken or on its way out, when it spins it will make a squeel noise.



Part number 1 is the Water Pump. Again, if it's worn or broken that could be it.

A lot of people like to change the timing belt/tensioner/ and water pump once they buy an E30 (no matter the history) You're supposed to change the timing belt every 40k miles, and the water pump every 60k(??). So doing them together is easy since you have access to them both at the same time.


That is the schematic for the timing belt cover,which needs to be removed to access mostly everything on the front of the engine (front of the car)

you can see the cover location with this schematic picture:

[jeffnhiscars]

Timing belt and tensioner is 60k/4yrs. The water pump is not listed in scheduled maintenance and despite the rule of thumb being to replace it every 2nd timing belt (along with the rest of your cooling system) many of us change the water pump and timing belt together.

[audiquattrot]

like mentioned above, my water pump also squealed right before it died.