Hi to all

Just joined the club, I have a query in regards to my 2009 1.8 TDCI Focus with only 45,000 mls, I have two noises from the engine bay, I suspected the aux belt tensioner & idler pulley, so changed both the tensioner & idler pulley but the noises are still there.

One noise is sort of a rumble like a bearings given up the ghost, the other is a sort of it's hard to say whether it's a squeal, a sucking sound or again a bearing. However when I took the aux belt off & started the car no noises at all, hence the replacments stated above. I can only think it might be the alternator, the AC or water pump. Is there an easy way to diagnose these without replacing all the parts unnecessarily.

There is no change in noise when the car has all the electronic accessories switched on & no change when the air con is switched on which is working fine as the pipes cool almost immediately.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards

Steve

Dont quote me on this but i think the water pump is ran by the timing belt.

Ive seen in here alternators and ac pulleys going. Anyway can you get the belt off and spin it manually and feeling for what you described.

Does the noise go when you rev or drive?

Hi John

With the belt off there is no noises at all, when the belt is on the noise is constant and increases when the revs do and when is still present when driving.

Regards

Steve

If there is no noise when the belt is off, the noise is clearly coming from something being driven by the belt.

Obvious culprit for the rumbling sound would be the alternator - bearings do go, but 45k is a bit low (mine is 96k)

.

Try removing the belt and then - with the engine OFF - reach in and spin the pulley on the alternator. If it's silent, everything's good there. If it's noisy, you have your answer.

I had a new alternator fitted last week to my 2006 1.8 TDCi, cost £264 including labour & vat from a local garage (not a Ford dealer).

Could have bought a part for £160-ish from Euro Car Parts, but fitting it is another matter - the mechanic said he had to take other bits off to get access, and I'm not that confident.

My aux belt has always made noise, especially noticeable when idling. Kind of like a tttsssh tttsssh tttsssh noise if you know what I mean, which increases as the revs increase. Seems to disappear once the engine is warm. Hasn't caused a problem or got worse in 23K so not too worried about it.

Not sure if this sounds like your second noise? Mine's a 2008 1.6 TDCI.

Yeah Pitmonster,,,, my I changed the alternator on my old 56 plate focus 1.8tdci, and it was a PIG of a job. Not so much technical, but the total lack of space to move. And to add insult to injury, the alternator I fitted (brand new) was faulty, so it then had to come off again and another one had to be fitted again grrrrr. It did go on quicker second time round haha. But such is life.

On the issue of the noise in this topic,,, my alternator was noisy, but in the end it was the idler wheel on my tensioner that was to blame, so replaced this and al was good.

Hi All

Found the problem, jacked the car, removed the plastic cover under the engine started the car & looked up from underneath & saw that the pulley at the top, right under the engine mounting was wobbling, I'm sure thats the water pump. Did as suggested in removing the belt, no bearing noise coming from the AC or Alternator. How hard is it to change the water pump? I know you have the take the engine mount off in order to get the to pulley, have i also got to remove the timing belt cover & belt, as I think as always they don't make these jobs easy, especially with the pulley being so close the the inner wing.

Steve

Don't think that's the water pump, if I remember correctly, the water pump is driven by the cam belt, not the fan belt. I think (this is the one that was gone on mine) that what your looking at it the belt tensioner and there is an idler wheel right next to it. Replacing the pulley itself is easy and can be done from underneath without removing anything else.

Hi all

Definitely the water pump there is a lot of play in the pulley, how do I get the water pump pulley off with it on the engine I've tried loosening the bolts with the belt still on but the bolts won't budge, I've tried a wooden wedge to try and stop the pulley from turning but no joy, the Haynes manual also mentions removing the a engine mount, but due to limited clearances I cannot remove the mount from the engine block I can loosen it but cannot jig it about to get it clear as I need to get to the the bolts at the top of the pump which is behind the mount which you need clear to gain access, any ideas on these two issues would be appreciated.

Regards

Steve

Just had mine done at a mates garage pump belt and tensioner s and bottom hose 250 cash so a rough idea what it would cost in a garage if I'm correct if you take the belt off you have to lock the crank and pump and the crank is what they call a floating crank (no woodruff key in the pulley)so if you do it get it right first time as you will damage your engine (don't ask) .the belt and pump come as a kit as well .

I did mine a couple of weeks ago when the water pump went. New QH water pump has a metal impeller instead of Ford's terrible plastic thing.

I did the timing belt while I was in that far. Water pump leaked, so I changed the gasket next day - pump can be taken off and replaced without disturbing the timing belt.

You need a deep 18mm socket for the nuts holding the mounting onto the 2 x torx stubs, and you really need to remove the mounting totally. I put a block of wood spanning the whole sump and used a trolley jack to lift the engine a bit as the mounting block has some 10mm a/f bolts which need to come out to get at the water pump. It's all quite fiddly but straightforward.

I did have to use a wedge to tighten the bolts. I can't remember exactly what I did, but I got a wee routine of having a spanner on one nut and tightening another, if that makes sense?

So you can take water pump of whith out taking cambelt off what drives water pump? 

Ford focus 1.8tdci 2003 vibration from engine when reving . Worse when driving. Garage said drive shaft which I had done. Noise is very noticeable.  Suspect alternator bearings as I had comelette timing belt, power staring belt + pullys and tensioner 2 years ago. I placed a screwdriver on alt and to my ear can definitely hear grinding. A bit of a ball ache to get alt belt off and spin alt by hand without a ramp. Any ideas