Engine noise? Impending doom?

[xlr8]

Hi all,

Not a perfect first post, but I hope someone can give me some advice with an engine noise I have. I haven't owned the car for long and am not sure if its a quirk of the engine, but it has a definite 'whizzing' sound related to engine speed. Its not bad but is audible and does quieten as the engine warms. Recently, if unused for a period I get an extra noise which last for about a second after starting which sounds like a dry bearing noise. I assumed waterpump or alternator as a probable cause, but a mechanic friend popped the car on a ramp and said the noise was loudest in the engine sump???? Any ideas? The car runs and drives perfectly and has only covered 34,000 miles. It hardly uses oil and uses no water. Its 2005 manual.

Also, we were both at a bit of a loss as we couldn't find an air con compressor or power steering pump to check. We all have to start somewhere!!

Thanks in advance,

Paul

[gottanS]

The noise heard for about a second on startup is the timing chain tensioners, there is a known issue that these do not hold pressure over time so are a bit loose on startup. As the oil pressure builds these tension the chains and noise is gone, there are several threads on the issue if you use the search facility.

Have you tried setting the air con to eco mode as this disengages the compressor to see if this changes the noise.