Thread: 94 Disco TDi Serpentine belt, Tensioner or Waterpump...That is the question.

I say take the belts off and check the bearings of the idler pulleys and water pump.

Mine started doing the same thing a week ago,I think mine is the timing cover bearing as it's original and 400+K's old. Pat

The only noise i have ever heard in my disco was a dull knock once or twice when first started, about a week later the steering started to get heavy . I checked the serp belt and a/c belts and both were old and starting to perish and notice main serp belt was missing a rib ie started shredding. Replaced both belts only to hear the same dull knock (which was the new belt trying to track ) and the new belt also lost a rib off the inner side = result was ps pump knackered and pulley has moved forward 10-15mm. I cant complain as its the only thing i have ever had to replace in 3 years of ownership.

if its a bearing type race sort of noise I would be looking at the idler bearing first and the air condition bearing both bearings are very cheap to replace......and its quite common for these to fail.

my next port of call for a squeek if its not a belt is the tensioner. I think they can get a bit of a squeek to them if the internal spring has some age.

Its a hard one as I too am chasing a similar problem and have put the car in the garage to have it looked at

There are quite a few threads around on squeaking/chirping belts.

I've had some dry bearings and also a worn tensioner in mine - both made it squeak.
One thing I found useful is to spray something on one side of the belt while its running, and see if it changes the noise. I use water in a squirt bottle.

If the noise changes you know instantly which belt, and which side the squeak is related to.
As an example if you spray the flat side of the belt and the noise stops for a second or 2 then its either related to the tensioner or the P/S pump as those are the only pulleys that run on the back of the belt.

As others have said, dropping the belts off and giving the idler pulleys, fan shaft and water pump a spin are good checks to help track it down.

I see you're in Geelong. I'm happy to give you a hand tracking it down if you like (I'm in Lara). I've even got spare idler pulley bearings and a brand new water pump if you need them.

Steve

G'day mates,

And thanks a lot for your tips, first thing I'll do will be to call Steve in Lara and arange a get-together...Two heads are better than one
As for getting my Disco to a LR service center...last time I did that I wanted a price to fit a set of side-steps...I was providing the Disco steps...I ended-up doing the job myself with the help of my nephew as I thought the LR center was giving me their phone number when they quotted the price! When I queried the price they said it was a "four hour" job!
It took the nephew and I "less" than "one hour" to fit the steps!

Is it any wonder I don't trust service centers

Thanks again mates,

Bill

Just got back from Steve's place at Lara and the noise problem has gone.
We checked and found the tension pully was locked-up, Steve freeded the jammed tensioner pully and the noise was gone. Steve also found a duff bearing in the AC guide/pully and thankfullly he had a spare bearing for the guide so he installed the new bearing while I was at his place...saves me from buying a bearing and doing the job on Monday...If I had looked for and found the duff bearing.
Problem solved in about 30 minutes or so...thanks to Steve

Cheers Steve and thanks a lot for your help mate. If I can do anything for you...Just give me a Hoi!

Bill