308 noise from the pulleys

With the engine off of course. Grab your water pump pulley and move it from side to side and see if there is any play in it. There should be none, that's a good sign that your water pump is about to go. Also see if the a/c belt has loosened up.
Jim

 

Do not put engine oil in your AC compressor. Use refrigerant oil that is compatible for the type refrigerant you are using.

 

As for the sound the engine is making, I would remove all the exterior drive belts and run the motor for a short period. If noise disappears, put them back one at a time running each time you replace one. Listen for noise as you replace them.

If the noise is present with them all off, it could be your cam tensioner pulley. That would need to be fixed pronto.

 

ham308,

The refrigerant oil goes IN with the Freon (or whatever these days)
It is charged into the system thru the A/C gauges when you fill the system.


HTH

 

Richard:

From the symptoms you give, it is a cam drive pulley bearing and seal. It will only get worse with denial. The seal behind the bearing of one of my cam drive pulley bearings had worked loose and moved towards the left (clutch) side of the engine. The seals on the bearing then pulled away from the inner race allowing the bearing lubricant to escape and engine oil to leak past the bearing. Both balls and races were quite pitted implying that failure was near. While engine removal might be better for replacement, I was able to replace the bearing and seal with the engine still in the car (82 GTSi). I wrote an article about it in Prancing Horse magagzine; I forget which issue, though

Tom Treue

 

It can also be that the drive gear bearings have died. This happend to a 328 we saw last month. The tensioner bearings were good, but there was over 1mm of play in shaft the drives the cam belt. Bearings (both inner and outer) were toast. This can result when the cam belt tensioners are set to tight.

 

Sorry, I 've been getting my Unobtainium production line started up again & haven't been watching the FChat as much as I usually do.
Anyway, here's the eMAIL I sent Richard:
(I hadn't read this thread when I responded, so it suggsts some things he's already tried.)

> tell me how you could feel the play in the bearings before starting the job.

In my case it was very obvious, After pulling the passenger side wheel &
fender liner, I started the car. My forward belt drive gear & the belt
going around it was visably vibrating around by over 1/16". Not to
mention the racket.

Suggestions:
0) Start the engine & watch the belts & pulleys to see if anything is
vibrating/running unevenly. Hold A mechanic's stethescope, or length of
~1/2" pipe against the WP body, alternator, & A/C compressor to see if
any of them is significantly noisier.

1) Remove the alternator & WP belt(s) & start the engine. If the noise
goes away it's the alt or WP. Don't run it more than a couple of
minuites as there's no cooling w/the WP disconnected.

2) Remove the A/C compressor belt & see if it goes away.

2) Not WP,Alt or A/C? that leaves the cam belt tensioner bearings &
timing drive gear bearings. A mechanic's stethescope, or length of ~1/2"
pipe held against the timing gear cover & on the bolt that's visable
thru the hole in each of the cam belt covers is likely to help localize
the noise.

A failing bearing in it's early stages can be pretty noisey without
exhibiting much motion tho. On the other hand, when my WP's inner
bearing failed, my only symptoms were the wp/alt belt melted itself
around the WP pulley before breaking. Also the weep holes on the bottom
of the WP were oozing grease & a miniscule amount of coolant. In either
case a mechanics stethescope is your best tool.

Let me know what you find. If none of these pan out, then send me your
phone # & a good time to call you & we'll put our heads together.

 

Richard,
Could you be a bit more specific about the rpms. Is it only when the engine is 2000 +/- a few hundred RPM? Or just when at 2000 rpm & above?

BTW, once I had my cam belts off I definitely could feel the looseness in the cam drive bearings.

However, when my WP went, it was the rear bearing & I couldn't feel it, & the wp ran quiet for several weeks before the front bearing started to go noisily.