Alternator Belt Squeeking

Radharc na Sleibhte

There was a whirring squeeky whistle coming from engine so I brought car to local garage who diagnosed problem and said alternator belt needs replacing. He said not a big job. I said how much are we talking, and he says ah not a lot at all.

I didn't wanna seem a tool by saying seriously how much exactly but does anyone know roughly how much its gonna cost to replace the alternator belt in a 03 Laguna?

The alternator itself is fine afaik.

alias no.9

Belts are usually cheap and shouldn't take more than an hour to change but these probably have a tensioner which may be the root cause of the problem and could push the price up quite a bit. Another thing to consider is the timing belt, the alternator belt will probably be on the car for the same length of time as the timing belt. If the alternator belt is failing, I'd be concerned for the timing belt. Timing belt failure is €€€.

Radharc na Sleibhte

There's only 48k miles on it.
When you say timing belt failure is €€€, how much is timing belt replacement?

Zube

MikeySligo wrote: »

There's only 48k miles on it.
When you say timing belt failure is €€€, how much is timing belt replacement?

The expensive bit is when you don't replace it and it snaps: you destroy the valves. New engine time.

Radharc na Sleibhte

I'm looking online and its saying anywhere between 60k-100k miles.
Surely I'm ok for a timing belt?

Jeez this alternator thing has me worried enough....

L1011

Timing belts also just age, your car is 5 years old which means it'd be due replacement interval on average enough mile (12,000 a year if the interval is 60). If its not been done yet I'd get it done for peace of mind.

crosstownk

As stated, the alternator belt should not be expensive to repair. But there maybe an outside chance that the belt tensioner is faulty and that it is causing the belt to slip.

As for the timing belt, I know that Renault revised the replacement interval back to 40k-sih miles for timing belts a few years back. But I'm not 100% certain that 2003 models were included. Maybe you should call a Renault dealer just to be sure.

CPG

If your alternator or aux belt squeels, it doesn't mean your timing belt is on the way out, every car has adifferent t-belt service interval, have this checked first before splashing out on having the lot done.

Darragh29

MikeySligo wrote: »

There was a whirring squeeky whistle coming from engine so I brought car to local garage who diagnosed problem and said alternator belt needs replacing. He said not a big job. I said how much are we talking, and he says ah not a lot at all.

I didn't wanna seem a tool by saying seriously how much exactly but does anyone know roughly how much its gonna cost to replace the alternator belt in a 03 Laguna?

The alternator itself is fine afaik.

I wouldn't be so sure! Last time I saw this problem on a Laguna of the same year, it was the alternator belt pulley itself and not the belt. They cause trouble on the Laguna's because they have a rubber flange in them that wears... If your mechanic is replacing the pulley, he should probably replace the belt as well. I'm not saying the problem is he pulley, as your mechanic has looked at the car and I haven't, but just make sure your mechanic took the belt off and checked the alternator pulley for play/wear. Your looking at a big difference in price to just replace a pulley belt, as compared to taking out an alternator, removing the pulley and putting it all back together again, so make sure you are protected from further costs and that he is standing over his diagnosis on this one... Last thing you want is to get a call from him saying something else is wrong and your bill is up at 200 odd Euro. He obviously has his own way of doing things, but I think he should have mentioned to you that there is a possibility that you could need an alternator pulley replaced and/or a belt tensioner, so if there is a problem with these parts, he is not on the back foot because he told you it was just the belt. Jasus, thank God I'm outa this game!