so ever since it has been cold here in minnesota i have had a bad rubbing sound from my engine bay. It is coming from the belt train. I turned on my a/c to see if it would change the sound but nothing changed. i think its my idler pulley. so i was wondering do these symptoms go along with a bad idler pulley? it almost sounds like a grinding sound so i hope its not my timing chain. but i have also considered it being that as well.
any input would be appricieated

 

try sprayin the pully with sillicone spray, if the noise goes away .... that is likely the problem, it will return again if it's a bad bearing.

auto or 5spd?

 

5spd i have already tried spraying the pully with some lubercation with no results

 

are you sure it's coming from that side of the engine bay and not the back side of the motor? i am guessing it's the IPS bearing on the trans .... but there is a way to test:

put the car in N and start it ... listen for a "rubb rubbbb rubbbbb" then press in the clutch and hold it ... see if it goes away. if it goes away ... it's likely the input shaft bearing on the trans. our beloved A32's are notorious for the IPS bearing going bad.

check this and get back ... keep us posted mate!

cheers

 

It doesnt seem to go away after i push the clutch in. but then again i havent really tried to listen to it while in neutral. I did put in a new tranny about 50k miles ago so i really hope its not that. but i will post after i try it again after i drive it to work. thank you for all the input i really do appriciate it.

 

np mate

 

well u can wait till the pulley eventually will seize and break the belt off...

i was getting that noise for quite some time now... a mechanic told me that its the idler pulley... i changed it yesterday and the sound still stayed... i than started thinking that its the ac pulley... but this morning i drove the car out and both the belts broke i drove to a nearby garage and found out its the crankshaft pulley... it was too old and needed to be replaced because of excessive wear... the outer pulley shifted in towards the inner pulley breaking off both belts... with engine on check the rotation of all the pulleys standing right at front, if theres a pulley vibrating left/right... change it...