hey guys

i picked up an r33 gtst s1. it had an audible noise (a whine) coming from the timing belt. you could only hear it when under the bonnet. i took it to local mechanic.

we took it apart and inspected the idler / tensioner bearings. these seemed to spin flawlessly in our hands. to quickly test, we put back on the timing belt, no other belts, no cover, etc, and started it. no noise. using a stethoscope we listened to idler / tensioner, no trace of the original sound. we suspected over-tightened belt.

all other belts were replaced and put it back together. turned it on, no noise for a while, but as soon as it warmed up the noise was there. the noise is always there now, regardless of being hot / cold, and mechanic still thinks its coming from the idler / tensioner.

should i go through all the hassle of pulling out the radiator, belts, crank pulley, timing belt, to replace the idler / tensioner? i'm concerned that the noise is not coming from them and i'll just be wasting my time, and money

is there any other avenue that i could investigate , perhaps someone has had a similar problem before?

cheers

you could replace the drive belts (fan belt etc). these are relatively inexpensive and if its a fresh import, its most likely they are worn anyway.

If this fixes it then you've saved yourself a lot of time and effort, and if not, well now you know they are new and you've made progress towards nailing the problem

put some soapy water on a bucket, and dip your finger in it and run it all over the fan belt i think it is or timing. just try it, quick and easy.

hey mate i had a similar problem after replacing timing belt with a non gen item it was like the belt was too thick but it made a graunching type noise that increased frequency as revs climbed and i did the same thing took all belts off checked all bearings idlers for drive belts a/c bearings started engine with no belts on at all, noise was definetely coming from timing belt.

I sent the belt back and got a genuine item (which worked out $30 cheaper, got better than trade though) fit it all up then it was fine no matter how much tension i put on or took off the belt, weird huh???? always use genuine eh. to me it sounded like the teeth on the non gen belt were sort of too big for the cam and crank pulleys. i am not 100% sure of the exact problem but all good now.

sounds like a good old Gates timing belt at it again....

change your timing belt for a new nissan one and it will solve all your probs....

thats the one