Squeaky engine noise?

[Blairh2]

Hi all,

I was almost home from a 150 mile drive where I was giving the car some gentle thrashing and when I got back into 30 mile zone I could hear a faint squeaking/whirring noise coming from the engine bay. When I slowed down to 5-10 miles it got very loud. When I got home I tried to locate and it seems to be coming from front left'ish (if you're looking at the car), right behind the front grill.
To me it sounds like a rubber belt could be slipping??
Any suggestions?

thanks

[jaysrs4]

Tensioner/Idle pulley? Sounds the most likely culprit.

[moondog]

Just bought a second hand '06 RS4 2 weeks ago, similar problem. Wasnt apparent on test drive, but developed intermittently, and last saturday became a full on screech. Sounded like an idler/tensioner bearing failing, but in audi workshop today and all bearings ok. Tech said it disappeared when a vacuum hose taken off around oil filler cap, but no diagnosis as yet. Very odd. Will post any results. Any ideas welcome.

[moondog]

Oil seperator needs replacing apparently. Hope this helps anyone with a similar problem, and saves them 500 odd quid that audi would charge them. I would never have found it myself

[adsgreen]

was a good clue about the vacuum - does limit the possibilities down.
And a good lot cheaper than timing tensioners!

[moondog]

Yeh, hope it helps someone out. I can see owning a RS4 is going to be a steep learning curve for me to maintain myself when I get it to New Zealand in a couple of months. Last car I really worked on was my mk1 Cortina 20 years ago! Looking foward to the challenge. Re tensioners: I meant the idler/tensioner on poly-v alternator drive, not timing.