There was a loud rattling/rumbling noise coming from the engine. Sounded like something loose, like a guard or something.

Garage said it was the tensioner pulley and quoted me £140 to fix. They didn’t have any time for 2 weeks so I decided to do it myself.

I just bought a cheap Ridex one and a new Febi belt from Autodoc. Saved myself around £100.

Just finished the job. Chuffed with myself , as I’d never done one before. Messed up a little bit by pulling the pin out of the new part before fitting it, so was a bit of a bugger to get the belt on myself.

Problem is now…

The loud sound has got better, but I can still hear a small noise. It’s a bit like the sound of the engine, but a little louder, with intermittent clicking sort of sound.

It seems to be coming from the same area as the pulleys.

I must have done something half right, as it’s not making the big noise as before.

Could it be another part gone in that area?

One thing I have noticed is, the new tensioner is vibrating and the belt is vibrating a bit. Is that normal?

I have made sure the belt is in the correct way and also that it’s lined up with the grooves.

Ah ffs. Just took it out for a spin and it sounds the same as before.

So if it wasn’t the tensioner, what else could it be?

4 hours ago, jackrmee said:

Garage said it was the tensioner pulley and quoted me £140 to fix.

Think that's looking quite a good price now !!

5 hours ago, unofix said:

Think that's looking quite a good price now !!

Well it was a good price, but he couldn’t do the job for a few weeks and I like doing stuff myself.

Thats the whole point in forums like this, right?

Do you know how to help me, or are you just going to ridicule me?

The job is a simple one. I was a bit worried about doing it, as I’d never changed one before, that’s all. I have a bit of mechanical sense, but may need a few pointers here and there. I’m not good at diagnostics, but if someone tells me a part needs changing, I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to do it, as long as I have the right tools.

The garage told me it was the tensioner, so I changed it, along with the aux belt. 

Are you saying I’ve probably messed up the job? If so, maybe it would be helpful to tell me how I might have done that and help me come up with a possible solution?
Or is it just easier to laugh at me and be sarcastic?

I can’t see how, even if I messed up the job a little bit, that if the tensioner was making that noise, the new one would make the same noise.

Surely it must be something else?
And if that’s the case, the garage would have charged me £140 and still wouldn’t have fixed the problem either, so no, that wouldn’t “be looking like a good price now!!”

Anyway, thanks for your help.

The new tensioner will jump about a bit.  As they age, the sprung parts gets stiff.

Best idea is to remove the belt again.  (You can actually put the pin back in if there's enough access space, but I take no responsibility for any loss of fingers lol...)  Then spin all the pulleys by hand to see which one is causing the rattle.  My guess would be the AC pulley.

You can also run the engine with the belt off briefly, just to make sure the noise isn't being caused by something else altogether.  Just bare in mind the battery isn't charging with the belt off, so don't run it for too long.

Very likely to be air conditioner clutch. Mine does the same. I changed the tensioner pulley (you can get just the pully if you search around) and that did not fix the noise. The only other thing in that area is the air con pump. My air con does not work but if yours does, try putting it on to see if that changes the noise.

Possible crankshaft pulley?