Post B2ejDO4KlTMAL3Szaa by benis_redux@cawfee.club
(DIR) More posts by benis_redux@cawfee.club
(DIR) Post #B2eesvP3EalDpC90TY by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T20:43:49.552733Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Ok, place your bets now: what a wrong with my car? About half the time, when I start it up in the morning I get a squealing kind of noise. It does it even if I stop moving, gets louder as I speed up, then stops after about a hundred yards. Putting the handbrake on and off, or stamping on the brakes, makes no difference. There’s a funny smell afterwards, sort of burnt (reminds me a bit of one time I smelled burnt out clutch).It’s done it intermittently ever since I’ve had it, since when the garage have stripped down the brakes and the gear box but it’s getting worse/more frequent, and the smell has me worried.Shitty recording, but you can just about hear it as an high-pitched whine over the engine. Sounds worse when you’re in the car.
(DIR) Post #B2efCo7e0uSp2GU11k by djsumdog@djsumdog.com
2026-01-25T20:47:20.324685Z
2 likes, 0 repeats
Replace your drive belts. They're about to snap. If you pop the hood and look at the belts you can probably see them physically warping. The squealing can happen on new belts too if they're over/under tightened.
(DIR) Post #B2efGyad2Owoes1o1Y by HebrideanHecate@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T20:46:05.313137Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Flick You've got a tranny trapped in it by his wig?
(DIR) Post #B2efKiF1lLWF73hpZ2 by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T20:48:50.722620Z
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@djsumdog Surely the garage would have spotted that? Passed the MoT <6mths ago!
(DIR) Post #B2efMggCXXkIqfMFrE by benis_redux@cawfee.club
2026-01-25T20:49:09.436994Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Flick it's just a slipping belt, probably the services one. It gets wet with dew in the morning, then as it turns it heats up and dries down. Tell your garage you can hear a squealing belt, they'll know what to do.
(DIR) Post #B2efQPsawbuptzvukK by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T20:49:52.509934Z
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@benis_redux I emailed them the same info just now, how urgent is it do you think?
(DIR) Post #B2efR4SS4iMhkn17Bo by FeartnTired@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T20:49:50.921522Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Flick @djsumdog well maybe they did the over under tightening! I hope it's that fixable, please don't go boom
(DIR) Post #B2effKk4KNiMJQ3fNY by djsumdog@djsumdog.com
2026-01-25T20:52:30.277472Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
🤷 That's just what it sounds like to me. I don't know what else would cause that sequel. It sounds like a belt, and burning clutch is what a belt smells like right before they snap.I try not to go to shops, unless it's something really difficult like the timing belt. I've had dealerships completely fuck up simple things like drive belts. They're so easy to do I might as well do it myself and do it right.
(DIR) Post #B2efhmKSjNY0S1FMZM by benis_redux@cawfee.club
2026-01-25T20:52:58.546682Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Flick not very; get it looked at soon but don't lose sleep over it. The engine sounds healthy from what little I can hear so it's most likely not the timing belt, assuming it has one in the first place (rather than a chain)
(DIR) Post #B2efhphyAR8KvnGg7s by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T20:53:01.464649Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@FeartnTired @djsumdog It’s quite possible they replaced them, I’m afraid I glaze over somewhat when the nice young man brings it back and tells me what they did.
(DIR) Post #B2efv2wqFkfJl5WcVs by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T20:55:24.053884Z
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@djsumdog I’m not interested enough to be mechanically minded, and I trust my (not a dealership) garage a huge amount. Thanks, though! Do you think it’s “do not drive” or “get it booked in”? If it does snap, what happens?
(DIR) Post #B2efzWhXZbbnC8VKG8 by benis_redux@cawfee.club
2026-01-25T20:56:11.367369Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Flick you _are_ running an antifreeze mix appropriate to the temperatures you're seeing, right? The services belt also usually runs the coolant pump
(DIR) Post #B2egAhwO7qFnErmT7A by virvallis@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T20:57:14.048854Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Flick @benis_redux +1 on belt squeal. When it’s really bad the pulley is turning faster than the belt. Sometimes the belt will heat up and grip better. Belts are cheap, modern cars have one solitary serpentine belt with automatic tensioners that drive all the accessories. Worst case is it breaks and you lose the turning of the water pump causing overheating. Personally I think you could drive it for awhile until a shop looks at it.
(DIR) Post #B2egGUxXIrU2iO4xFI by Kang_Kong3@poa.st
2026-01-25T20:59:17.275981Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Flick @djsumdog I'd say prob better to get it looked at properly sooner rather than later.If it does break you won't be going anywhere. It's generally something that takes a while to get from squealy noise for a couple of seconds that goes away to actually breaking
(DIR) Post #B2egGoTmjBZLFuJTeK by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T20:59:20.846470Z
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@benis_redux I know what all those words mean, but…. It hasn’t been below freezing for a week or two.
(DIR) Post #B2egKWnEQXmpYpBFtQ by benis_redux@cawfee.club
2026-01-25T20:59:59.043706Z
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@Flick @djsumdog the timing belt snapping means either stopping dead in your tracks or bending all valves in one fell swoop, depending on the engine type. Either way, it's never good news. Still, it doesn't sound like you're having timing belt problems to me.
(DIR) Post #B2egTQdOh5uP4ApCCW by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T21:01:37.019323Z
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@virvallis @benis_redux I have a vague memory of someone, presumably the nice young man, saying something about something snapping and the reassuring me that it wouldn’t involve anything going boom. Checked my MoT and nothing in the advisories about belts, but maybe he mentioned it in passing…?I probably should pay more attention to him, shouldn’t I?
(DIR) Post #B2egWUNhDiFBYUwL6e by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T21:02:10.655379Z
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@benis_redux @djsumdog Well that comment improved dramatically towards the end!
(DIR) Post #B2egWZrIr3tiXlpYRs by benis_redux@cawfee.club
2026-01-25T21:02:09.290191Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Flick that's good. If you don't need to top up the radiator fluid regularly due to a leak in the coolant circuit you're probably fine.
(DIR) Post #B2egbPCZu7ZmwL5Gca by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T21:03:04.097800Z
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@benis_redux And again…. The garage has never said there was a leak, or I would have told them to fix it.
(DIR) Post #B2egksqF4d5ZTL9jRQ by benis_redux@cawfee.club
2026-01-25T21:04:44.801273Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Flick that's the sensible choice when parts are available and one can afford them. Unfortunately, there are times where either one is lacking and people have to make the best of a bad situation.
(DIR) Post #B2eglqjwNBhPFAfXwu by djsumdog@djsumdog.com
2026-01-25T21:04:53.249751Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
If it snaps you'll likely be stranded and need a tow truck. You might lose power steering. If it's the belt that drives the alternator, you can still drive for 10~15 minutes until the battery drains out, and then the car will no longer be able to power itself (run the sparkplugs, fuel pump and what-not).If it's a belt that goes to the water pump but not the alternator, the car could overheat. But you'll see the little temp gauge go up and the light turn on before that becomes an issue.
(DIR) Post #B2egtp6iKLRSUr7i1w by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T21:06:23.817208Z
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@djsumdog As long as we’re not talking boom fire doom, that is livable. Ta.
(DIR) Post #B2egyAD3oLLz6RA4lk by meowski@fluf.club
2026-01-25T21:07:07.088627Z
2 likes, 0 repeats
@Flick sounds like a bad bearing in an idler or tensioner pulley for a serpentine belt, alternator pulley, power steering bearing, or similar thing that is driven by a belt. if you smell burning rubber, the bearing is seizing up or has a lot of resistance and is burning the belt. get someone competent to listen to all your pulleys with a stethoscope or just inspect it during a cold start. leaving it much longer will likely leave you stranded when a belt breaks.
(DIR) Post #B2egzOSGKifhZarI12 by djsumdog@djsumdog.com
2026-01-25T21:07:20.043124Z
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Yea timing belts should be done around 100,000. If they snap, on most cars you'll bend valves and need an engine tear-down to check for damage. But timing belts also don't sequel. If they start slipping, you're already fucked. If you have a timing chain, they never need to be changed.Drive belts are the ones you see clearly outside on the engine block. Timing belts/chains are internal and go from the engine crank to the cams/valves.
(DIR) Post #B2eh6myLZmTJdjONc0 by benis_redux@cawfee.club
2026-01-25T21:08:41.538723Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Flick just as an example, when a cylinder liner cracks on an old engine, water can start slowly seeping from the cooling circuit into a combustion chamber. Old engine, old car, means that fixing it would probably cost more than the car's worth, so people just choose to top up the coolant every once in a while.
(DIR) Post #B2eh6pHD0ckQmoETI0 by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T21:08:44.213334Z
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@djsumdog @benis_redux timing belts should be done around 100,000Miles? I’m <50k
(DIR) Post #B2ehL4xxTMbfV61a0u by djsumdog@djsumdog.com
2026-01-25T21:11:14.910308Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
Yea, sorry I forgot my units. 😋 I had mine done at 130k miles. Check your owners manual. Drive belts are typically replaced at like 30k~50k miles.
(DIR) Post #B2ehM4G9aKPFbC0TLM by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T21:11:29.476435Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@meowski Well, I emailed the garage, and if they want it in then it will get someone starting it from cold (one of the mechanics drives past my house to go to work, so he just swaps cars when he gets here).
(DIR) Post #B2ehU99lGJyj6RrwR6 by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T21:12:57.167331Z
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@djsumdog @benis_redux Oh, that sounds very plausible then! Thank you, I am both better informed and somewhat reassured.
(DIR) Post #B2ehZrcNNnCyRhynBY by meowski@fluf.club
2026-01-25T21:13:57.679214Z
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@Flick i would emphasize the smell part when you talk to them. you definitely want to take care of this before the belt breaks
(DIR) Post #B2ehdP5hO5n184NnnM by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T21:14:38.101358Z
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@meowski I mentioned it twice in my email, both as a symptom and as a reason it is particularly worrying me.
(DIR) Post #B2ehk4cFuYEHedn8Nc by meowski@fluf.club
2026-01-25T21:15:48.598844Z
2 likes, 0 repeats
@Flick squeak plus burning smell almost certainly is a bad bearing driven by a belt
(DIR) Post #B2ehyrzL8uYmpme1Am by benis_redux@cawfee.club
2026-01-25T21:18:28.201318Z
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@Flick as an aside, do you drive at highway speeds with any regularity?
(DIR) Post #B2eiEjlBVFudwpabiq by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T21:21:22.934694Z
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@benis_redux Umm. I don’t use highways at all often, but here the default speed limit is 60mph, and I generally sit at about 50 for maybe half of my driving? But it’s up-and-down side-to-side rather than your typical highway driving, so not sure if it counts?
(DIR) Post #B2ejDO4KlTMAL3Szaa by benis_redux@cawfee.club
2026-01-25T21:32:18.257615Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Flick it's fine. Make sure to drive thirty minutes to an hour at a time every week when it's cold outside, the entire car will thank you.
(DIR) Post #B2ekFmHpnK8FywU8rQ by Flick@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T21:43:57.973617Z
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@benis_redux My Pilates drive is once a week, 45 minutes each way, about half 40-50mph: seems to be enough to keep the battery happy between my more-frequent short runs.
(DIR) Post #B2esH9teIYBb86LGYC by virvallis@spinster.xyz
2026-01-25T23:07:03.367489Z
2 likes, 0 repeats
@meowski @Flick This is a good point, if not a loose belt any one of the accessory or tensioner (if there are any) or idler pulleys could be seizing up.
(DIR) Post #B2gL3Y9yNnAY9hngmm by Gnomeshatecheese@spinster.xyz
2026-01-26T16:11:01.109330Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Flick Our car quite often squeaks once when I start driving. I haven't managed to find any specific circumstances where it does that, and the service has never managed to replicate the issue when they have the car. It's also very good at avoiding being recorded. So the car makes a noise, but apparently never in front of a professional.Maybe I should just hire a mechanic as a chauffeur.
(DIR) Post #B2gSVIpHgaTGO1Iujw by virvallis@spinster.xyz
2026-01-26T16:26:30.279587Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Gnomeshatecheese @Flick This is common- you can never duplicate the noise for the person who needs to hear it to properly diagnose the issue. Some flaw in the universe…
(DIR) Post #B2ggjfc3A4pKTCrJqa by Gnomeshatecheese@spinster.xyz
2026-01-26T20:13:56.439098Z
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@virvallis @Flick So if the mechanic I hired as a chauffeur did not need to hear the noise, the noise would show up? But if I hired the same mechanic as both a chauffeur and to diagnose the noise, there would be no noise? Clearly the solution then is to do the latter.
(DIR) Post #B2ghFUa9hydLWg9AJc by virvallis@spinster.xyz
2026-01-26T20:18:46.957578Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Gnomeshatecheese @Flick This hurts my brain.