Ford Focus whirring noise from engine tonight

pete4130

I set off tonight to drive across the city about 6pm and got maybe half mile from the house I was at a set of traffic lights on a hill and when I went to pull away a whirring noise came from the inside of the engine bay and increased under acceleration/revving. I immediately turned around and limped the car home barely going over 1500 rpm. It was dark out, bucketing rain and hard to see anything under the bonnet.
The car is an 05 Ford Focus TDCI with a little over 100,000km on the clock, regularly serviced (due one around now).

I thought maybe the turbo had blown but when the revs did pick up the turbo was kicking in. The car was started from cold and once the whirring noise started the cars heater got hot very quickly for being a diesel.

The noise sounds as if there is something rubbing off a belt somewhere and there was a smell of something burning. The car is parked up until I can get it to a garage to be looked at, which probably won't be after the new year at this stage with garages being closed.

I'm suspecting it maybe be the water pump being seized as the heater was hot very quickly. I wasn't driving the car long or far enough for the engine to get hot or to overheat.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this in their Focus? How much should I expect to pay for to get a new water pump fitted with parts and labour and another question is while I'm at it (if it is the water pump), should I get the timing belt done at the same time.

Thanks for any advice/input.

congo_90

Fair play for not continuing the journey. Stopping the engine may save you a few euro at this point.
Perhaps take a lookin in the day to see under the bonnet if there is anything out of place in the engine bay.
Even run the engine to see where the noise may be coming from. Other than that I'd say it could be a stick from the road in the belts making a whirring noise.

Do check in the morn before sending off to a mechanic. Could be something simple as a worn belt. worst case scenario be it t-belt? though that wouldn't explain sudden heating too well

Hal1

The wirring noise could be low power sterring fluid cause of a leak, and the pump is struggling as a result (check all fluids). This happened to a family member. The hose at the power sterring pump was faulty and leaking onto the timming /fan belts which was giving off a burning smell in the car. Ford had a recall out last year because of this problem.

snowman707

bearing gone in the alternator

could be a number of things , hopefully something minor

the magician

I have an 05 focus and sounds like it could be the same thing that happened mine.

check your power steering fluid.

There is a fault with the 05 focus one of the power steering pipes develops a leak from the fitting at the power steering pump.If this is your problem there is a modified pipe available from ford.

If the fluid has leaked out it can cause a whirring noise like your hearing that gets louder as you increase the revs.

The part is around €130 and probably takes about 2 hours to fit.( I did it myself)

sure have a look in the daylight and if it's not that get it to a mechanic hopefully nothing major

Rackstar

pete4130 wrote: »

I set off tonight to drive across the city about 6pm and got maybe half mile from the house I was at a set of traffic lights on a hill and when I went to pull away a whirring noise came from the inside of the engine bay and increased under acceleration/revving. I immediately turned around and limped the car home barely going over 1500 rpm. It was dark out, bucketing rain and hard to see anything under the bonnet.
The car is an 05 Ford Focus TDCI with a little over 100,000km on the clock, regularly serviced (due one around now).

I thought maybe the turbo had blown but when the revs did pick up the turbo was kicking in. The car was started from cold and once the whirring noise started the cars heater got hot very quickly for being a diesel.

The noise sounds as if there is something rubbing off a belt somewhere and there was a smell of something burning. The car is parked up until I can get it to a garage to be looked at, which probably won't be after the new year at this stage with garages being closed.

I'm suspecting it maybe be the water pump being seized as the heater was hot very quickly. I wasn't driving the car long or far enough for the engine to get hot or to overheat.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this in their Focus? How much should I expect to pay for to get a new water pump fitted with parts and labour and another question is while I'm at it (if it is the water pump), should I get the timing belt done at the same time.

Thanks for any advice/input.

I had a 06 TDCi Focus with 130k on it last year and got a whirring noise from the engine bay also. I was driving and as soon as the whirring noise started I noticed the lights dip. Sure enough the alternator went. Car wouldn't start next time I tried.

Might be whats happened to yours. Who knows!

pete4130

Thanks for the replies guys. I was lucky enough my local indy was open til 2pm today.

They have a broken seal on one if the pipes around the turbo and replaced it. The whirring noise was still there though, not as bad. Drove it out of the garage to go home and ABS & power steering lights came on, off and on an off etc... and I'd lost power steering, drive it straight back into the garage and it wouldn't turn over at all. Battery was dead so they gave it a boost and let it run.
The altenator seemed to be charging the battery when a multimeter was attached but it wouldn't turn over again.

Looks likely the altenator is gone

How much was to get your altenator sorted rackstar?

Thanks again for the replies.

Rackstar

pete4130 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys. I was lucky enough my local indy was open til 2pm today.

They have a broken seal on one if the pipes around the turbo and replaced it. The whirring noise was still there though, not as bad. Drove it out of the garage to go home and ABS & power steering lights came on, off and on an off etc... and I'd lost power steering, drive it straight back into the garage and it wouldn't turn over at all. Battery was dead so they gave it a boost and let it run.
The altenator seemed to be charging the battery when a multimeter was attached but it wouldn't turn over again.

Looks likely the altenator is gone

How much was to get your altenator sorted rackstar?

Thanks again for the replies.

Think it was about €280. Not 100% sure though. It was a company car so was just sorted by the garage that looks after the servicing.

Some of the lads on here might have a better idea!