Strange Noise on Cold Start Up

[Stairs]

Now the cold mornings are here my trusty RS has started making a funny noise when starting up. It has done this every year but only now have I thought about seeing if this is a common thing.

It is there when you first start her up then takes a minute or two to go... only happens on cold days.

http://youtu.be/dmIkGpMSHEE

Please excuse the fact it is shot the wrong way up and is out of focus but it is the sound thats the important bit.

[Rick_RS4]

ive had it once on mine, id say its a dry bearing from the belt tensoiner or similar

[rwilsonrs4]

could be the SAI pump behind the RH aux rad , its used to pump air into the exhaust right after start up to heat the precats faster for emission regs sounds like a scuffing noise like a dry bushing or something , may not be that but a suggestion , the noise does increase with engine revs which could possibly be the tensioer for the aux drive belt , the SAI pump may spin faster with more revs with the increased battery voltage , ive never experienced this noise ever

[RossDagley]

I have exactly the same noise. It's 100% not SAI as I don't have it. Must be a bearing. Goes away within a few minutes.
Hoping its a belt/alternator and not timing tensioner / chain related.

[Stairs]

Well mines been doing it for three years, i'm not overly worried just was curious to see if it was a common and known issue..... clearly not!

[RossDagley]

Well mines been doing it for three years, i'm not overly worried just was curious to see if it was a common and known issue..... clearly not!

That's good news for me - I was considering / worried about getting the chain/tensioners done (at a cost of £4k) - really didn't want to. If yours has been like that for 3 years I'll dial down my worry!

[skydude]

Mine did it too when it was well below freezing. Only for about 3 seconds. It has not happened in a year though.

[adsgreen]

I have exactly the same noise. It's 100% not SAI as I don't have it. Must be a bearing. Goes away within a few minutes.
Hoping its a belt/alternator and not timing tensioner / chain related.

Agreed - SAI pump doesn't change with RPM iirc.

I don't think it's component temperature directly - it goes to quickly for anything to actually get warmed up.

If it only does it when really cold then one thing to try is to jump start the car (with a battery, booster pack or a second car) and then start the car normally.
The extra battery should give the on-board battery a bit of a boost so it doesn't drop capacity so quickly. It could be the drain on the cold battery is such that it's causing the alternator to whine as it's under load to replace the charge. After 3 seconds the battery would stabilise from the initial starting shock reducing the load on the alternator and the noise going.
If this does work then maybe a new battery would help cure the problem.

[iluvmercs]

Yup, same noise here during cold weather, so you're certainly not alone! It has happened every winter for the 5 years+ I've owned the car.

I've managed to get my local dealer to hear it and I've been advised it could be a tensioning roller.
Something in the area of the alternator, IIRC.

Darren

[RossDagley]

Yup, same noise here during cold weather, so you're certainly not alone! It has happened every winter for the 5 years+ I've owned the car.

I've managed to get my local dealer to hear it and I've been advised it could be a tensioning roller.
Something in the area of the alternator, IIRC.

Darren

Yep this seems to be the common belief.

Parts required to fix are:

079 903 133 AK Retail is £146.33 Tensioner
079 903 341 D Retail is £44.91 Bearing
079 903 137 S Retail is £18.62 Belt

I'm going to attempt this fix myself over the next few weeks.

[thedoluk]

I did this recently when doing the oil cooler pipes but installed the JHM lightweight pulleys instead of OEM, the weight difference is considerable.
https://jhmotorsports.com/shop/catalog/ ... 56_310_313

[RossDagley]

I did this recently when doing the oil cooler pipes but installed the JHM lightweight pulleys instead of OEM, the weight difference is considerable.
https://jhmotorsports.com/shop/catalog/ ... 56_310_313

Yeah i saw these (the 6 rib ones) but the price... damn. I want a repair, not a new mortgage!

I do like the lightweight stuff though.

[ginch]

Mine has also made the exact same noise when it gets cold for the past 3 years! Would like to find a fix but am not too worried about it!

[CaptainLeadFoot]

I had the same issue last month and it was loose hose from the power steering, the fluid also went low. Had it tightened by the garage and re-fill the fluid back to normal level. So you can also check this if you're worried.

[docurley]

Sound like mine may have the same issue, yesterday at -1 everything was normal but at -1.5 had a strange noise that whent away after a minute.