1992 cutlass ciera(need advice)
jedi_77c
09-11-2006, 04:17 PM
I need some advice on my car. when i start my car, there is a clacking noise
it sounds like its coming from the power stering pump or the alternator area.
the drive belt was old so i replaced it. strill the noise is there, i noticed that when i accelerate the noise settles down. also when i turn the wheel when stationary there is a grabing noise but when i slowly bring up the rpm's and turn the wheel the grabing noise is no loger there.
can any one help?
thxs.
it sounds like its coming from the power stering pump or the alternator area.
the drive belt was old so i replaced it. strill the noise is there, i noticed that when i accelerate the noise settles down. also when i turn the wheel when stationary there is a grabing noise but when i slowly bring up the rpm's and turn the wheel the grabing noise is no loger there.
can any one help?
thxs.
maxwedge
09-11-2006, 06:38 PM
Welcome to AF. I would suggest you or someone with you turn the wheels and listen under the hood for the location of the noise, check the p/s fluid level, if necessary you may have to remove the belt and run the car for a few minutes to see if the noise goes away. If so try and turn the various pulleys to see if you feel a roughness or looseness in one of them, this takes a little experience to pick out a suspect component.
jedi_77c
09-11-2006, 07:58 PM
how can i run the car without the belt on isnt it crucial? when i changed the drivebelt i played around with the pulleys the only one that didn't seem wright was the power steering pulley it had a little play in it(pushing in and out).
caddyman379
09-11-2006, 09:38 PM
The drivebelt is crucial, but you can still run the engine briefly without harming it, assuming its somewhat cool. Since the belt isnt on, the alt will not charge, the power steering is useless, and the water pump doesn't turn. But, it can help isolate the problem. Is your clicking noise more of a metallic clang? See if you can rotate the drivebelt by hand; possibly indicating a bad harmonic balancer
jedi_77c
09-12-2006, 07:13 PM
I cant rotate the belt with my hands. what exactly does the harmonic balancer do, and where is it located because most of the noise sounds like it's coming from the power stering pump area. there's no metalic sounding noise but there is a clunking noise when i turn the car off.
caddyman379
09-12-2006, 08:55 PM
The Harmonic balancer allows the belt and the accessorys that run off of it to keep turning smoothly in between each cylinder firing, if it fails generally you'll will hear a clanging metallic noise that has the rhythm of each cylinder firing, but will go away once your a little above idle.
Did you try removing the belt to see if the noise stopped?
Did you try removing the belt to see if the noise stopped?
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