[s-cars] Subject: T-belt noise

[Tom Winter]

From: "Martin" <derocco_16v at comcast.net> wrote:

>Few days ago upon starting my car in the morning I could hear the t-belt
>making a noise. It sounded like it was hitting the cover, and it stopped
>after 10-15 seconds.

Martin - Are you sure it is the timing belt?

I had some noise (don't want to say it was the same noise as you are
experiencing w/o hearing it, but it might be the same). I did an inspection
and it turned out that my serpentine belt was showing a bit of wear. Of
course, because I didn't replace it on the spot, it failed two days later,
making the experience a bit more interesting. . .

Of course, now that the serpentine belt has been replaced, the noise is
gone. But the self destruction of the belt did cause some other damage such
as cracked t-belt cover and some other stuff, making me wish I had been more
proactive. In my case it was an easy fix, w/the exception of dealing the
tensioner which was a PITA due to its prior life on the salted winter roads
of New England. Maybe it's something you should try doing as replacing the
serpentine belt is easy and cheap.

Of course, you should also remove the T-belt cover and check for any unusual
wear, cracks, or marks that would indicate some sort of contact being made.
Could be that the cover is just loose, I suppose. . .

Tom
'95 S6 Avant