Squeaky 3.0TD GU Patrol
Submitted: Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 15:39
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hillie
Guys,
Just want your thoughts before I get very frustrated with someone.
About six weeks ago I took the GU into the local Nissan
shop as the idler pulley/tensioner on the fan belt had given up the ghost. I thought it was the belt which I replaced 2 days before having the pulley fitted. Noise went away after these 2 fitted. All good.
Six weeks later the bloody noise is back. Not as loud, but is a squeak I can do without!!
Before ringing Mr Nissan again Ii gave it a very quick spray of belt dressing this morning to see if noise would go away. Sure enough it did. So i thought maybe just a belt. But a belt should last longer than 6 weeks!!!
So I rang Mr. Nissan service dept today and he said "wouldn't think it was the belt or pulley/tensioner if it was replaced 6 weeks ago. You have one of 2 options - replace the belt for $50-60 bucks (whatever the price) and see if goes away or it will need new harmonic balancer and/or
water pump pulley" (which just happens to come as a complete w/pump). I am thinking dollar signs now. I asked him to excite me with the price $800-900 (roughly).
So all up, with replacing the tensioner and these other 2 parts (if needed), nearly 2 grand in 6 weeks.
We went on a day trip 2 weekends ago with a little bit of dust and I thought maybe one of the pulleys got some dust in it. Have washed down the motor....might give it another more thorough going over tonight to see if that changes anything.
Of course, Mrs.Hillie is delighted, keeping in mind she didn't want the car in the first place. We have only had the car 6 months and wants to meet me at the Toyota dealership on the way home this arvo to buy a Corolla!!!! She wants it gone??!!
What are your thoughts???
BTW - 2000 model, 138k's, mum's taxi - not flogged
Thanks Hillie
Reply By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 15:43
Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 15:43
Are you going to give in that easily?? Meet her there!!! Just give her the keys and tell her to bring back something she likes!!! Michael
AnswerID:
195333
Follow Up By: hillie - Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 15:54
Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 15:54
Michael,
As much as I dont want to part with it, when it is costing me close on $2k in six months, it starts making me nervous about how much more is it going to cost me.
I normally only ever buy new cars for the fear of buying someone elses problems, but I couldn't afford a new GU. I thought I was getting a pretty straight solid car when I bought it.
Hillie
FollowupID:
453417
Reply By: Member - Craig D (SA) - Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 15:45
Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 15:45
Hillie, my 2000 3 litre used to do it all the time. The pulley/belt picks up a bit of chit then the bloody squeaking nighmare begins. I changed the belt and after the first bit of mud the squeak was back with a vengeance. Ultimately, I had to spray the belt with Series 2000 Belt Conditioner which solved the problem, but only for about a week at a time.
Funny you should mention Mrs. Hillie's thought process as my wife's first question when I looked at the 4.2 was "does it have a Serpentine belt?" When I said "no" she said "
well that's it then - get the 4.2!". Guess it got the better of her too (not to mention the dramas we had ever since we bought the 3L - another very long story).
All the best mate.
AnswerID:
195334
Follow Up By: Member - Ian W (NSW) - Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 16:03
Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 16:03
Sounds somewhat familiar to my pathetic Bravo. Regular sprays of the belts with WD40 would cure the squeak for a fortnight to three weeks.
Replaced all the belts, gave them and the contact faces on the pulleys a good dose of silicone spray and have not had a squeak in the last four and a bit months.
Ian
FollowupID:
453419
Reply By: Member - Craig D (SA) - Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 16:03
Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 16:03
Hillie, where do you live roughly?
AnswerID:
195336
Follow Up By: hillie - Wednesday, Sep 20, 2006 at 08:21
Wednesday, Sep 20, 2006 at 08:21
Northern suburbs of BrisVegas
FollowupID:
453542
Follow Up By: Member - Craig D (SA) - Wednesday, Sep 20, 2006 at 08:55
Wednesday, Sep 20, 2006 at 08:55
Phew....I thought you may bought my
old car!
FollowupID:
453552
Reply By: hl - Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 16:09
Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 16:09
Hi,
Mine does it too.. especially when first started on a humid morning..
Goes away when the belt gets warm.
Why on earth would you want to spend 2 grand to fix it?
Cheers
AnswerID:
195338
Reply By: Member - Axle - Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 16:30
Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 16:30
The serpentine belt on the landy squeaks its head off at times, if it gets to bad i slacken off the tensioner spin the belt around re fit and it will be ok for a few weeks!.
Cheers Axle
AnswerID:
195343
Reply By: PhilZD30Patrol - Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 17:25
Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 17:25
Hillie
I do a little more research as I suspect it is the belt when it is cold and humid.
My belt or what ever it is make a noise on cold foggy mornings but quietens down once it all warms up.
Me thinks we sometimes worry a little to much. It hasn't stopped so keep driving and stop worrying, within reasons of course.
I am still on the original belt in my 2001 GU ZD30, but carry a new one just in case.
regards
Phil
AnswerID:
195360
Reply By: Andrew (Bris) - Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 19:11
Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 at 19:11
Had similar situation. Horrible noise from the belt. Unfortunately took it to a mechanic I didn't know while away from home. He changed the tensioner to a new one. Hey presto noise stopped. Couple of weeks later the squeel was back. Took it to my regular mechanic who replaced the tensioner again and
water pump assembly. Haven't heard a sound since.
Good luck with it.
AnswerID:
195376
Reply By: davidta - Wednesday, Sep 20, 2006 at 14:47
Wednesday, Sep 20, 2006 at 14:47
Have a look at the air conditioner pulley bearing.
Mine has failed twice now, to one tensioner.
It will also give little squeal and/or rattley noises at times.
David
AnswerID:
195517
Reply By: IanP - Wednesday, Sep 20, 2006 at 18:06
Wednesday, Sep 20, 2006 at 18:06
Hi Hillie
I had a very similar squeal on my GU, and when the belt spray only solved it for a short while I put on a new belt. And the squeal persisted.
I remove the tensioner pulley with a view to replace it but noted that the bearing was a bit dry of grease so I popped out the seal cleaned the bearing (still in the pulley) placed in new grease replaced the seal and cleaned off all the belt spray on the other pulleys.
The above has solved this squeal problem for me twice (seems to happen after a big clean down after the car has been very dirty).
Regards Ian P
AnswerID:
195548
Reply By: TheMajor - Wednesday, Sep 20, 2006 at 20:39
Wednesday, Sep 20, 2006 at 20:39
Hello Hillie
Know all about the problem and so does Mr Nissan as they have a recall Bulletin for the problem you are experiencing and can be fixed under warranty if you are still in that category. I had the horrible screamy noise and my belt tensioner was replaced under warranty as it was a common problem. Although my local dealer said he had never heard of the problem. After the belt tensioner was replaced the noise went away for a short period and comes back every time I wash the car or was foggy, humid or just over night. Sounds silly but as you can see by the other comments, it does happen. Once again made enquiries with the Nissan technical people in
Melbourne and they informed me that there was not only a problem with the belt tensioner but also with alignment of the harmonic balancer,
water pump, etc. anothe warranty Bulletin was issued by Nissan on this alignment problem as
well. Once again under warranty all these were replaced and noise went away, however, I still get the same noise if I wash the car and some
water enters on the fan belt or if I go through a puddle when the motor is cold but after it warms up the noise seems to disappear. If you do a search on the
forum you will see that it is a common problem that is discussed on the
forum. You should see your local Nissan dealer and ask him for a copy of all the warranty Bulletins issued by Nissan so that you can get the exact diagnosis of the problem they recognise. Be wary of what dealers tell you.
Regards The Major
AnswerID:
195572
Follow Up By: hillie - Thursday, Sep 21, 2006 at 09:25
Thursday, Sep 21, 2006 at 09:25
Major,
One of the first questions the Nissan service guy asked me is it still under warranty (2000 model, so out of warranty) so he may have been going to go down that path.
Interesting that they hide behind all this. He was quite happy to tell me that it was going to cost $800-900 to fix. Should have been trying to get some sort of compensation from Nissan.
All too hard for the "little pets"
Hillie
FollowupID:
453768