Mazda Making Sounds On Startup? ALTERNATOR belt?

[mido]

Well, its a tough one to explain, but im sure most of you have heard cars on startup usually make this really annoying loud squealing sound. Its almost as if these is metal to metal rubbing because of low lubrication. Its gotten cold here in Ottawa, just yesterday on a cold start, I heard it on the highway, while the engine was warm. I had my foot off the gas, and when i pressed it, it made the sound for about 5 secs.. it was a quick one. I heard it again after going up another hill near my house too. What could be the cause? Im guessing alternator belt needs tightening or replacing?

Im at 59000 km's and i still have a warrenty on the car until 2011 or 120000.. Its a 06 mazda 3 ATX. I just had my tranny flushed and refilled and im due for an oil change in approx 1000 km's..

Thanks in advance

[Noisy Crow]

Probably the belt. Quick way to check (and temp fix it) is to get a spray can of belt dressing at Canadian Tire. Keep in mind that it's sort of sticky for while, so if you do give it a try don't go spraying it around the engine compartment!

Also, if it is the belt it is a wear-item, so at 59K probably won't be covered by warranty.

[mido]

at 59, is it usually a case of the belt being worn out? Seems too low... Im bringing the car into mazda for a oil change probably next week or so, so maybe i can just ask them to take a look at it for me.

[mido]

i was just out, from a cold start, it was fine, after about 5 mins, i met up with a buddy and the car was idling for about 3 mins, after leaving there was a speedbump, as i slowed down and went to speed up again there popped that sound and this time it lasted for 20 secondes and was REALLY loud, my bud called me after and told me my car was making sounds he heard it too.. I took a quick peak and i dont see any sign of wear (cracks or really worn out spots) The teeth on the inside look fine too. Hopefully its just a matter of tightening and HOPEFULLY its just that and not something else. Could this be caused by my oil being over filled. The oil is overfilled by a little..

[condor888000]

Hum, the belt should be self tensioning, so there is no way to actually tighten it by hand.

Overfilled oil isn't great, but shouldn't cause any issue like you describe. Odd.

[mido]

There is nothing to tighten the belt? Theres gotta be? Well, wat is usually the cause of the noise? Its definatly not work out, so the only thing is that its loose or its not even the belt thats doing it. Its really annoying now, im always listening and keep hearing weird noises.. I think im paranoid! i guess ill let the dealer figure it out then.

[Donutz]

Nope, there isn't anything to adjust the tension. There could be a number of causes of the noise. Could be the belt; could be a rotten tensioner; could be a number of things related to pullies.

[mido]

Ok, so when i go down to the dealer, ill just let em know wats happening, Most likely, they wont do anything but claim they did like most mechanics do unless they find something. Think this will be covered under my warranty? Unless its wear and tear.

[mido]

I thought id run down to timhortons as an excuse so i can listen to see if that noise would come up. It didnt, but i noticed something else. I noticed then when im below 2000 rpm's but very close to it (1800, 1900) it makes this weird noise almost sounds as if something is bubbling. I noticed also at idle the car makes a tiking sound. Tik tik tik tik its very faint, but it is there. Would this bubbling sound be caused by oil being overfilled? And because winter is coming, do you guys think i should change of to synthetic to maybe help out with the engine warming up at startup? Or once i switch do i need to always use sythetic? I just switched my tranny oil to synthetic and its working great i noticed an improvement. Im thinking of going out again tonight, this time i will tape down a voice recorder in the engine bay, then drive around so i can post the sound on youtube for you guys..
Any opinions?

[mazdabetty]

Weird, I get a similar noise sometimes too.... doesn't happen all the time but it sounds like a faint hissing/squeal when pressing the gas. It's not as prominent as yours though as I can only hear it once in a while if the radio is off. I thought it might have something to do with the fuel pump as it doesn't happen any other time :whoa

Keep us updated when you take it to the dealer, I'm curious.... hopefully it's just a belt and nothing major.

Oh and as for your question regarding switching to synthetic, I would say don't bother. Just my opinion. There are a lot of people here who swear by it, and yes it is much smoother and lasts a little longer than the regular conventional oil, but I've been told several times that once you put it in you have to keep using it.... unless you get a flush I think. People also claim that you save more in the end, but for myself I just use the regular stuff and change it every 5000k to keep it fresh, just to be sure. It shouldn't have a major impact as to how your car runs :)

[mido]

Ya i had the same logic... From looking at my scheduale i definatly wont be able to bring it into the dealer this week. Hopefully next week sometime. Will keep you guys posted.. Thanks

[TheMAN]

Weird, I get a similar noise sometimes too.... doesn't happen all the time but it sounds like a faint hissing/squeal when pressing the gas. It's not as prominent as yours though as I can only hear it once in a while if the radio is off. I thought it might have something to do with the fuel pump as it doesn't happen any other time :whoa

Keep us updated when you take it to the dealer, I'm curious.... hopefully it's just a belt and nothing major.

Oh and as for your question regarding switching to synthetic, I would say don't bother. Just my opinion. There are a lot of people here who swear by it, and yes it is much smoother and lasts a little longer than the regular conventional oil, but I've been told several times that once you put it in you have to keep using it.... unless you get a flush I think. People also claim that you save more in the end, but for myself I just use the regular stuff and change it every 5000k to keep it fresh, just to be sure. It shouldn't have a major impact as to how your car runs :)
it's a myth that once you switch you can't go back

you can mix oils as much as you want and it won't hurt a thing
besides the additional life and protection of synthetics, the REAL legitimate reason to use it in canada is the fact that synthetics don't glob up in super cold temperatures like dino oil does... so that really helps starting the car easier in those cold snap days in the middle of january ;)

[Flagrum_3]

I was getting a hissing sound when starting the engine cold and once in a while a loud short squeal when the engine was under load....turned out to be the belt tensioner.


To Mazdabetty; You should seriously consider switching to synthetic!!...With living in Ottawa and all....It'll protect your enigine from wear during the most important time...'First morning cold start' and will do so far better then conventional oil, and it won't cost much more then your current method as you can go 8k easily before a change....just a thought.


_3

[TheMAN]

yeah.... cost will either be equal or lower when running synthetic.... because of its longer life abilities, you can extend oil change intervals.... this makes the oil change figures the same overall or better if you go more than twice the mileage as dino oil

[mido]

Ok great, so next oil change ill make at a synthetic one. ill explain to them the sound squeling story, get them to figure it out.. In the end, im 99.9% sure they are gonna tell me nothing is wrong at all. The sound doesnt happen all the time so its not like they can hear it and from there pinpoint where its coming from. But if it is the tensioner, is this covered under warrenty?

[Flagrum_3]

Ok great, so next oil change ill make at a synthetic one. ill explain to them the sound squeling story, get them to figure it out.. In the end, im 99.9% sure they are gonna tell me nothing is wrong at all. The sound doesnt happen all the time so its not like they can hear it and from there pinpoint where its coming from. But if it is the tensioner, is this covered under warrenty?

If your vehicle is still covered then yes the tensioner is...Had mine replaced twice under warranty. :)


_3

[mido]

Its going in on sat, but i thought id let you guys know, i noticed today that the sound is alot louder when in lower gears. The higher the gear the fainter the sound gets. The sound is getting worse and worse everyday. Today i heard the LOUD squell that you can hear a mile away like 10 times. I can tell because right as it happens everyone around just looks at you. Omg do you know how embaressing it is? I really hope the dealer finds something to fix and not just brush me off like usual. :flaming

[mido]

Just thought id ask, if they repalce the tensioner, from wat ive read, the ac belt has to be cut off? And so they must replace it also? Is it possible that they can reuse it? Maybe i should mark it or something, or will it be visible that its been somehow reattached?

[Flagrum_3]

Just thought id ask, if they repalce the tensioner, from wat ive read, the ac belt has to be cut off? And so they must replace it also? Is it possible that they can reuse it? Maybe i should mark it or something, or will it be visible that its been somehow reattached?

They must replace 'Both' belts when replacing the tensioner as it calls for in the TSB.....and as they did with mine.


_3

[mido]

UGH THIS IS SO DAMN FRUSTURATING! ok, so,, i brought it in today at 1, service closed at 3:15. When i brought it in, the lady told me that why might no have enough time to do the belt check, so i told her that i booked an appointment just for it not just an oil change. So they claim they did it, and they found nothing at all no sign of wear and just the right tension. They said they didnt even hear the sound. The lady told me to book another appointment DURING THE WEEK so they have more time. Nywayz, on the invoice, the comments said that the noise COULD be coming from the lack of oil in the engine before the oil change. He said it was 1L short. I find that really really hard to believe as i had my oil changed at oil changers and they over filled it accidentally so i dont see how i was 1L short in the end? Too much oil will cause it to become low?! BUt, on the bright side i noticed the sound is alot less. But the temp is warmer today so the real test will be tomorrow morning. Let me know if anyone has any ideas about this oil thing as its really weird.
Thanks

[mido]

Booked another appntment, now they need the car for the 3rd and 4th. Ugh, so inconvenient and annoying.