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Hi all, 

Sorry for all the questions.. This car is making me paranoid.. 

I've noticed that it's making a slight squeak from the right side of the engine, I'm sure it wasn't doing that when I tested it on the day of purchase

Here is a recording of the sound. 

James 

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  • Gold FFM

That don’t sound right. Some dressing on the belt may stop it temporarily if it’s that. Otherwise some lube carefully applied to bearings will give you a guide to what’s making it

Only here once

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23 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

That don’t sound right. Some dressing on the belt may stop it temporarily if it’s that. Otherwise some lube carefully applied to bearings will give you a guide to what’s making it

Seems to be doing it all the time now, was just when it was cols before. I can hear it more because of my non sealing window.. 

I've added it to the growing list for Williams to Look at on the 11th. May be an expensive purchase this. 

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3 hours ago, jamesbilluk said:

I've added it to the growing list for Williams to Look at on the 11th. May be an expensive purchase this. 

Should have bought a lower mileage one in say titanium storm 🤭🤭

The garage should sort these small niggles under warranty though chap - so sweat not.

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11 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

Should have bought a lower mileage one in say titanium storm 🤭🤭

The garage should sort these small niggles under warranty though chap - so sweat not.

Certainly would have done :) just a pain I still had the finance owing on the i8.

True, should be all sorted once its been to Williams hopefully! 

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Just one of those things when you buy a used car. I'm sure it'll be fine once you've got the niggles out of the way and then you know you've done all that and won't need to do it again!

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8 hours ago, jamesbilluk said:

Very true :)

James

i know it can be a worrying and perhaps annoying time as you think the little quirks or niggles were sorted prior to pick up?

one thing I have learnt from my nearly 3 years of ownership is that every sound squeaks or dash lights cause a heart to beat faster and sweat run down your face ! 
I now am a customised to ignoring the light on dash that comes and goes , the boot that gets wet or doesn’t open , the handbrake that engages when it feels the need lol 

all this outweighs by the sheer delight of driving a car which has a special effect on you or people as you drive by them 😀

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1 hour ago, Cdm2018 said:

James

i know it can be a worrying and perhaps annoying time as you think the little quirks or niggles were sorted prior to pick up?

one thing I have learnt from my nearly 3 years of ownership is that every sound squeaks or dash lights cause a heart to beat faster and sweat run down your face ! 
I now am a customised to ignoring the light on dash that comes and goes , the boot that gets wet or doesn’t open , the handbrake that engages when it feels the need lol 

all this outweighs by the sheer delight of driving a car which has a special effect on you or people as you drive by them 😀

Very true, I think that's mainly it to be honest! 

Just  a bit cross that I didn't manage to notice some of these things on the day, I even came armed with a list of things to check.. I think I got carried away with the first drive on the day, and the colour combo. 

I'll definitely agree with that, I  had a really good drive the other day, and all the problems seemed to go away! Going to treat it to a clean in a bit, then go for a good drive, as the roads are nice now. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’m a bit late to this thread but just to add my bit regarding the squeaking noise.

Is your car parked outside or even in a damp garage? On my previous V6 Exige, the car was always garaged and it wasn’t until we went on holiday to France that it was left outside.

I remember starting the car on a damp morning a couple of days after arriving and hearing that same squealing noise you experienced. It was the same every morning thereafter until the car had properly warmed through. Once home and back in a warm dry garage, it never happened again.

As others have said, once you accept these are quirky hand built cars with the occasional  oddities, you can forget all that and just get on with enjoying the drive. 

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4 hours ago, Spinney said:

I’m a bit late to this thread but just to add my bit regarding the squeaking noise.

Is your car parked outside or even in a damp garage? On my previous V6 Exige, the car was always garaged and it wasn’t until we went on holiday to France that it was left outside.

I remember starting the car on a damp morning a couple of days after arriving and hearing that same squealing noise you experienced. It was the same every morning thereafter until the car had properly warmed through. Once home and back in a warm dry garage, it never happened again.

As others have said, once you accept these are quirky hand built cars with the occasional  oddities, you can forget all that and just get on with enjoying the drive. 

Thank you for the reply :)

Yeah, the car is left outside, to start with it was doing when it was first started, or had been raining, it seems to be doing it all the time now, 

I have it booked in for the 11th, but not sure if I can go now, the garage say they're ok to do it, but don t want to be stopped on the way! 

 

Very true, really is an amazing car, to be honest, it seems incredibly well screwed together, nearly 70k miles, and not one rattle. I'm starting to get a better understanding of it now, don't think I've owned another car that feels like it, the soft sprung suspension and steering feel! 

 

 

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I think you'll be OK with a pre-booked dealer/garage service visit in England, Lockdown v3.0 :

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home#businesses-and-venues-which-can-remain-open

Edited by JimH
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5 minutes ago, JimH said:

I think you'll be OK with a pre-booked dealer/garage service visit in England, Lockdown v3.0 :

Picked up the wife's new evoque this am, had to do the paperwork etc outside. They say parts/service will stay open by appt only,

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Yep, sounds like it is simply a squeaking auxiliary belt, maybe due to dampness or perhaps the surface of the belt needs dressing, as said. Either way, I wouldn’t call it a serious problem and is just a quirk of the car. 
I can say that as a Lotus owner of over 50 years and, trust me on this, they are way better built now than they once were!

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2 hours ago, Spinney said:

Yep, sounds like it is simply a squeaking auxiliary belt, maybe due to dampness or perhaps the surface of the belt needs dressing, as said. Either way, I wouldn’t call it a serious problem and is just a quirk of the car. 
I can say that as a Lotus owner of over 50 years and, trust me on this, they are way better built now than they once were!

Good to hear :) I think I can hear it a bit more too, as my windows not sealing properly. The car certainly has spirit! 

 

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On 25/12/2020 at 08:19, jamesbilluk said:

Hi all, 

Sorry for all the questions.. This car is making me paranoid.. 

I've noticed that it's making a slight squeak from the right side of the engine, I'm sure it wasn't doing that when I tested it on the day of purchase

Here is a recording of the sound. 

James 

If I can but in,that sounds all the world like a dry idler bearing.

difficult to lube as they are sealed. It’s in the maintenance manual to check them when the belt is changed.

My Toyota Ute belt squealed until it women up, then Ok changing the belt stopped the noise.
 

 

If I can but in,that sounds all the world like an idler bearing.

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I'm late to the party on this but have the same intermittent chirping sound which seems to be temperature dependent and disappears once the engine bay is hot. 

I'm with au-yt above and think it's a dry idler bearing.  My car was serviced by Silverstone in November who didn't suggest changing the belt and of course the noise had gone after the drive up there.  I have a belt here waiting to be fitted once the weather picks up and plan to check the tensioner and idlers when I do.

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