That noise sounds mechanical and likely a bearing. Could be the water pump with the water loss too. Could also be the idler pulley bearing though, take off the timing belt cover and may be able to locate the noise better or see if theres any play on any of the pulleys or tensioner for the timing belt. Another possibility is the alternator pulley too, id take the aux belt off first just to eliminate that side of things. Locate the tensioner, let off the tension and you should be able to prise the belt off the pulleys

not sure, will have to dig out the service history for a look.

will probably cost a bomb to fix :(

When was the timing belt and pulleys last changed??

Quite a few bearing based things in that area that could be causing the problem.

Yeah I agree with Alan, My knackered belt made more of a churping sound where as that sounds quite metallic.

I'd still take the belt off if you can and then spin the pulleys to see if any make the wierd noise.

i did say whirring to my mate at work but he said it was more of a squeak.

i'm crap at describing sounds though :lol:

Well I'm wrong about it being an aux belt anyway, that sounds more like a bearing going or something

That's more of a whirring I'd have said as well

[Edited on 20-03-2011 by alan-g-w]

wouldn't know where to start tbh, my dad probably could though as he's pretty competent with that stuff.

heres a quick video i just made. you can hear the noise clearly here. put phone right at the front of the engine bay where the belt is.

That's the smartest idea right there, doubt Ben is able to whip the belt off himself though.

Easiest way to find out would be to pop the drive belt off Ben :) If the noise goes away you can rule out the waterpump straight away then

went to see my dad today and the water hasn't gone down at all and the noise is a bit quieter but it's still there.

he said it may be the waterpump on it's way out and the bearings are making the noise.

going to get a video of the noise and i'll post it up on here.

cheers for all the replies :thumbs:

It doesn't cause a squeaking noise because it dries out, it causes a squeaking noise because the belt expands over time getting looser on the pulleys and the squeaking noise is the noise of the belt rubbing against them.

Only saying that because it's when you get it wet that it makes the noise, since when it's dry it's causing more friction betweent belt and pulleys.

The rubber tends to get less pliable over time and effectively dries out causing a squeeking sound. Change the belt and it should cure your problem.

You definetely need a new aux belt.

the noise gets faster and a bit higher pitched from what i heard whilst in the car friday night.

Mine did this Ben and it turned out to be the Aux belt. Do the noise change with the engine revs?

mine does it on damp mornings, cures itself after the engine has warmed up and dried it out

Could be the alternator belt slipping slightly, try adding a bit more tension on it. Thats most likely with the noise being beside the alternator
Could also be the water pump squeaking but haven't heard of it before, heard some make a whirring noise

noticed yesterday after driving to work in the rain that my car (ford puma 1.7) was making a squeaky noise.

checked the water and it was very low (way below the minimum level line) so topped that upped and let it idle for a bit.

the noise is still there today. it's sort of like a 'squeak...pause for 1 second...squeak' noise coming from the front o/s of the engine, right where the alternator is.

2 people have said it might be the waterpump leaking and water getting onto the belt but i cannot see any leaking.

any other ideas?

cheers.