Worn Bearing?

[jasonlel]

Worst case scenario with a lost belt is no power steering (you\'ll still have steering albeit very stiff) and no aircon (if you have the pump), and the fuse box getting a thwacking (not good), and burnt rubber smell. Other than that should be alright as far as I know. If you can hear it at idle then loosen the belt slightly with the engine running. Bad bearing noise is like a \'chirping\' gradually getting worse, and occasionally may end up with filings around that area if it gets bad enough.

What you suggest is to loosen the nut on the pulley(power steering pump) bit by bit? Any idea what size is the nut, 17mm?

[RAW]

i have exactly the same problem - a loud chattering sound at idle and driving with a cold engine. once warmed up it disappears.  i had it down re:worx last week and they took off the idler pulley, took the bearing out, checked it, put it all back together again, tightened the belt a bit, and it was even louder!  i wonder if it is the belt, although they didn\'t notice it was worn or anything.

do you have to be very careful with loosening/tightening the belt?

[alban1973]

I would first replace the belt, then see what happens....

[ro284]

Originally Posted by jasonlel
So the worst case scenario is snap belt and no power steering?  

No power steering can be dangerous! if the belt snaps or gets thrown off by a siezed bearing, the worst case scenario is you could lose the car! after losing Power steering and air-con,i would check bearings thouroughly first before fitting a new belt, as you may destroy a new belt as well,
good luck Bob

[Paul-Tll]

Slack of the belt  move it round 4-5 inchs from where it was on the pulleys
chuck on some fench chalk or talc.
Might help a bit.
Paul..

[jasonlel]

Problem solved. Worn belt :p :p