Evora 400 engine chirping noise ….

[Phillv6]

 Recently my car has developed a strange chirping noise coming from the engine, it’s there at startup from cold and frequency increases with rpm, it disappears when driving both under load and when the engine is warm. Car drives as normal but it’s annoying and a bit embarrassing when driving round town. 
Has anyone experienced this before or has an idea as to what it may be please.

Thanks,

Phill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 6 by Phillv6

[2011 Chrome Orange]

Hard to say from a sound clip on the internet. But, possibly the start of idler pulley, tensioner or belt squeal?

[Rambo]

Belt or pulley squeal for sure, especially as the noise increases with rpm.

I had a similar noise on my M100, narrowed it down to the alternator belt and changed it. Problem solved.

 

[mg4lotus]

Get somebody to do the revving while you look in the engine bay. You will find the source of the chirping easier to locate.

Rambo will probably be right.

[Phillv6]

So got a friend to do the throttle blipping and although not easy to locate the noise I’m fairly sure it’s coming from the belt area on the RHS of the engine bay, I’ll get my local specialist to investigate.

[EvoraBob]

I agree with others, Belt or pulley squeal for sure, especially as the noise increases with rpm. Where in Cumbria do you live as live in Penrith do other local Lotus repairs.

[Phillv6]

PM sent 👍

[Phillv6]

All sorted it was just the belt nothing else 😀, the car only had it’s 4 year big service a year ago which includes the belt charge,  I’ve just been unlucky there I guess.

Cheers, 

Phill

[JamieF]

Hi there Phil, I had my belt changed last October on my Exige 410 and have had this noise occur a few days after fitting. I took the car out of storage last Friday, and it's still there. It's not there on start up but will slowly creep in before disappearing again after a long run and everything is nice and hot. What did you do to remedy it?

[Phillv6]

I just had the belt changed and that cured the issue …..

[JamieF]

I've only done a few hundred miles since I had the belt changed, I was hoping for a cheaper and less time-consuming fix haha! I know of a few others who are also experiencing the same issue too. Thanks for the reply

[EvoraBob]

With my experience of belt noise on various engines over the years can be caused by many reasons and various solutions have been successful on some engines and not on other. As on engines with a belt adjustable tensioner Vs a loaded belt tensioner. The make and quality of the belt also varies from belt manufacture as from my experience that the Gates belts are good belts but can give more noise compared to other makes. If your engine has been not started for a long time you could get small damp rust on the pulleys and causes noise until its polished off with a few miles driving. Also if the engine has not been used for a long time you also get the belt sitting on the pulleys and causing a slight misshape tension until the belt gets the temperature increase and helps the belt operate around the pulleys evenly. I would also try using the air-con for a few miles to get the extra load on the belt to see if this helps the situation. The other ideas can also help but don't shoot me if it does not work for you. Try using a squirt of WD40 on the belt or even talcum powder but this can get messy. 

Edited March 6 by Bibs

[JamieF]

Thanks for the reply, Bob. Yeah, there could be many reasons as to what is making this particular noise. It just seems strange that a number of owners are now experiencing it after the belt has been replaced so it's not due to the car sitting idle. I'd be really peeved if I had to replace the belt so soon, it's only done a few hundred miles since it was changed. I'll hopefully manage a run in it this week and investigate it further when it inevitably starts up again.