I simply didnt have the time to do it myself... so I paid a local garage to change the cambelt, waterpump, aux drive belt, tensioners etc on my polo...

Before it went in there was a slight whine from the belt as to be expected...

But now I have it back, that whine is 200% louder.... My car is fairly noisy at 80mph.... but I can still hear the whining....

Driving around the carpark at work is terrible...it makes quite a lot of noise...

What would cause the excesive belt noise? Is it cheap bearings, or belt being over tightened?

Not really sure what to do about it.... its annoying me!

Sounds like its too tight. Especially if they have replaced all the bearings (tensioners,etc)

I did the belt on my Alfa 147 last summer and I did it too tight, ended up with a real whine, almost as loud as the supercharger in my old Cooper S. I left it because I really couldn't be arsed to do it all again although in reality I could have probably just backed the tensioner off a smidge. Ran absolutely fine though for around a year until I got rid.

Take it back and tell them to get it sorted. If it lets go in a few months it'll be you footing the bill!!

[Edited on 30/6/09 by eznfrank]

Im worried if I take it back they will turn around and tell me that its not "that bad"...

Its not unacceptably loud... its just louder than it should be....


The tensioners have needle guages on them... so it would be fairly obvious if they have been over done I guess... Might be worth me taking the thing appart and seeing for myself where the needles are pointing...


I am guessing the noise is highly unlikley to be a dodgy bearing/part?

can you get at the belt? usually the correct tension is when you can rotate it 90degs at the longest run. Personally I'd double check it as that last thing you want is a snapped belt. It may be just the teeth on the belt just need a bit of wear to sit just right in the cogs but I'd still check it or take it back to the garage. Can't say I've ever had this problem before.

I cant get to the belts without a load of tools... Im at work at the moment.... and have to drive 340 miles this evening.... nightmare!

Talk to the garage, if theyre a good one theyll want you to be happy!
If you touch it and something goes wrong later youll have no comeback.
If they dont want to help fix it yourself but tell all your friends not to use the garage .
Ray

I would do as Raylee29 suggested.

At best the belt is too tight, but you might have a faulty tensioner - I'd want that sorted ASAP.