Ford Puma 1.7 Pulley noise I think?

peanuthead

Hi all

My car is a Ford Puma 1.7 Variable cam timing petrol. 00

Was wondering if I could get some help.

When I start my engine there is a bit of a rattle from it. It kind of sounds like something is loose in the engine bay, but I'm not sure.

A friend who knows a bit about cars mentioned "It sounds like a pulley noise" to me. People can hear it more than I can to be honest and often say to me that from outside the car sounds terrible.

Driving it, well, I could have sworn I was able to drive it much harder when I first got it last year but now its not as great. Its due a service though, long due a service, which it's getting tomorrow.

However, back to this noise. It sounds like something is rattling around in engine bay and when I'm idling it will sit at 1000 revs but every minute or so will just drop very, very slightly below 1000. Very small movement in the needle. Is that normal?

Also the other night, when I was sitting idle a really strange noise came from the engine, like it was really struggling. The only thing I thought to do was give her a bit of rev then the noise went away.

I appreciate that this could all be very vague, and I am going to speak to the mechanic I'm going to tomorrow, but I was just wondering if anyone could give me any advice or knows that the symptoms described are the tell tale signs of something specific.

Tomorrow will be the first time I've ever had to visit a mechanic as before this I had someone to do my work for me and I'm a bit nervous about being ripped off or sounding like I haven't the foggiest

Thanks
p

flyingsnail

Is this the rattle you hear?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lQEyaBTZj4

peanuthead

Dad is convinced he has the same rattle so he's just gone out in my car at the moment, will start it up and actually post a vid myself when he comes back

I'm not actually very good with distinguishing between which kind of rattle sounds like which. I'm desperate, I know.

I would say that it does sound like that, then when I put up the video it may sound nothing like that at all!

Thanks
P

peanuthead

Never got a chance to get that vid as dad went off for longer than expected with car

But brought it down for service this morning and it was the tensioner, thanks flyingsnail.

Including the service €450!!

I'm just wondering, what are the associated problems with a broken tensioner?

Not trying to avoid getting it done, have already given him the goahead for it, just want to understand these things more

thanks

peanuthead

If an aging belt is not replaced, it may break causing a loss of drive torque to all of the engine's accessories When the water pump stops turning, the flow of coolant stops and the engine begins to overheat. When the alternator stops turning, there is no charging output and the battery starts to run down. When the power steering pump stops turning, the steering suddenly gets very stiff and hard to steer.

Just found this online.

Wow! So I wasn't imagining it - the car had definitely lost some of its power.

And the mechanic did tell me the car would start to overheat in the winter time if I didn't get it fixed.

I think the guy on the phone said it was already broken - hopefully it hasn't done too much damage already - he said I needed new coolant too.

Cuddlesworth

peanuthead wrote: »

Just found this online.

Wow! So I wasn't imagining it - the car had definitely lost some of its power.

And the mechanic did tell me the car would start to overheat in the winter time if I didn't get it fixed.

I think the guy on the phone said it was already broken - hopefully it hasn't done too much damage already - he said I needed new coolant too.

If your coolant level is really low you might need a new heater valve. They are a really common problem on both the Puma's and Fiestas.

peanuthead

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

If your coolant level is really low you might need a new heater valve. They are a really common problem on both the Puma's and Fiestas.

Okay, good to know, thanks.

God I feel so lucky that I went to the garage with this one. It's turning out to be expensive but it would be worse if I had just left it.

With the overheating issue - are we talking possible head gasket problems if that was to be let go? Or is that a different thing entirely?

peanuthead

Hey

After getting the car back from the garage I eventually got a chance to record the engine.

A bit late I know as the problem has already been fixed, but just thought I would post a video of the engine as it is now, and see what you guys think - does it sound healthy? It should by now.

Apologies if the quality of the recording is bad as I wasn't sure exactly where to focus in on.

Also, it's quite loud so beware!

Thanks

Cuddlesworth

peanuthead wrote: »

Okay, good to know, thanks.

God I feel so lucky that I went to the garage with this one. It's turning out to be expensive but it would be worse if I had just left it.

With the overheating issue - are we talking possible head gasket problems if that was to be let go? Or is that a different thing entirely?

What was replaced? what did he actually do? A new heater valve is 50 euros to buy OEM and ten minutes to fit. It accounts for most of the overheating problems with pumas as the broken valve pisses coolant when the heater is on.

Your engine sounds normal, belts a little noisy.

peanuthead

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

What was replaced? what did he actually do? A new heater valve is 50 euros to buy OEM and ten minutes to fit. It accounts for most of the overheating problems with pumas as the broken valve pisses coolant when the heater is on.

Your engine sounds normal, belts a little noisy.

He replaced alternator tensioner and replaced my coolant as the concentration of the coolant I had was too low for winter time.

The price was 485 in total but that included a full service and I also needed my handbrake tightened.

The fact that my belts are noisy is a little annoying tbh because my timing bets and tensioner were replaced last april and now alternator tensioner has been replaced so they are all relatively new.

He didn't replace the heater valve.