Cold Start Squeak/Chirp

Car ( 2007 Cayman S ) has 35k miles on it. Recently I had the drive belt changed, and started hearing a chirp on cold starts. It would go away when the car warmed up. So I brought it into the shop, and they diagnosed it as...wait for it...ALL 3 Idler Pulleys!. How the heck do all 3 idler pulleys go, simultaneously, on a car with 35k miles? Seriously, some of these things are total head shakes. Anyway, I saw a bunch of other threads with similar noises, so I figured I'd share that the fix may be to replaced all of them, instead of guess and check.

My '99 Boxster with 114K just started the same thing last month and it goes in tomorrow for probably the same thing. How much did they charge you?

Would have been 700. 100 each for the pulleys plus 4 hours labor. But I had the extended warranty. So it was just my deductible plus diag fee.

Ouch! I wonder if it is necessary to replace all of them or just the squeaky one?

Well, the shop said that at least 2 and possibly the 3rd were definitely going. Figured at that point I was paying my deductible anyway, so might as well replace all of them.

It is not that hard to replace them your self. 1.Remove the passage seat and the 4 torx bolts and two the two wiring harness sanp right out. 2. Remove the carpeting from behind the seat. 3 Remove the torx bolts from the cover I think there is about 8 of them and then remove the belt from the tensioner. {YOUTUBE} 4. You must have a torx set of wrenches and sockets .EBAY 5 Remove the tensioner You must hold the bolt with a wrench in front and in the back of the tensioner The back bolt is 15mm 6. Remove the other pulleys with a torx socket. 7. The pullies are about $80.00 and the tensioner is about $125.00 EBAY 8. Now put the belt back on and the seat or your air bag light will come on but do not put the cover on until all looks good.

Turns out mine was a screw that was rubbing on the header. It's nice to know that some people have garages and tools to work on their cars for DIY projects but some of us are not so lucky and have to rely on a dealer or indie for our work.

Well, you can just call me the king of wishful thinking, because the chirp is back. At this point considering it fades as the car warms up, I'm thinking water pump.

Did they use the correct belt? If they used one just a bit longer than stock, you won't have enough tension on the belt and could get a little slip at startup, which could account for your chirp. Check your receipt and see if its the correct belt. And, if you're comfortable opening up the front access panel, check the belt and see how much tension is on it -- should be quite a bit. If the tensioner is almost at the end of its travel, the belt is too long.

I got the belt from suncoast .

The chirp is back on my '99 as well and now there is a sound like a loose pulley that goes away after a short while. The noise does not increase when it is revved. If it is the water pump this will be the second one in 5K miles, I can't imagine I'd get two defective OEM one's in a row. Taking mine back to the shop today.

My shop is now speculating the alternator clutch. Which would explain why it goes away when warming up. Unfortunately, unless they admit they didn't find it the first time to the warranty company, I'll have to pay my deductible again. http://www.amazon.com/Boxster-Alternator-2007-08-F-556234-1-INA/dp/B008O0AM3I

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While I normally agree with this, the fact that these cars (the Cayman in particular) are so time consuming to work on (for even simple things) is probably more dissuading than the lack of know how. This is the first car I've owned that I haven't maintained in my own garage. It's a troubling feeling though.

Alternator Clutch Pulley replaced...and the noise remains. The problem is it has become intermittent, so the shop listens, hears nothing and buttons everything back up.

Before I left for the Parade in Monterey my shop took the V belt off and hand turned each pulley listening with a stethoscope and found nothing. Although it still makes the noise I drove it there and back, did an AX and several long tours and it has run like a champ. At this point it can make all the noises it wants as long as it keeps driving like it does I'll put up with it.

How are the water pumps on these chirping cars? Another thought: has the battery been replaced with an AGM battery, they draw heavy current at start up.

Every time I think about attempting something, I do an honest appraisal of my abilities and resources I have at my disposal:

They checked the water pump, said it was OK. They said the pulleys they did replace were not in tip top shape, but at this point they're running out of ideas as well... I'm starting to think it's the belt itself.

I had something like this going on, tried replacing the AOS and it ended up being the starter. mmmv, -PM.

There's an old trick to see if its the belt. while its running take a dry bar of soap and rub it on the belt. Be very careful not to louse a finger!! But it works! If it is the belt to noise will stop immediately. I guess a less danger-es way is to spray some belt dressing on it while its running. carl

My noise remains... Here's a vid. You can hear it almost sounds like a cricket in the engine compartment.

Another, a little bit clearer. I'm thinking perhaps the alternator bearing. It would make sense that it would only chirp after sitting a while, as the alternator would immediately be under load.

Yep, same exact noise in my '99. I've driven it over 1K miles since my shop checked it out and nothing has come of it. I'm almost thinking it is one of the spark plug coils as crazy as that sounds.

Hmm, I had the plugs changed a year or so ago, you'd think they would have noticed a bad coil.

Anyone else ever get this resolved, because I have not. The cold start chirp remains.

Have you considered removing the belt and running the engine and see if the noise is gone - one way to be sure? I think this has been suggested before on here. Could it be the oil pressure spring? Supposedly a TSB on it. http://www.planet-9.com/987-cayman-boxster-problems-complaints/25799-2000-rpm.html 2200 rpm rattle - 987-1 Series (Boxster, Boxster S) - RennTech.org Community

I had that tsb done. The shop i brought it to, could not get it to make the chirping with the covers off. I will have to do that myself i guess. I was hoping to get it fixed by them before the warranty ran out.

I went through a similar problem to you, but the noise was more of a constant grating. The OPC changed the pulleys first, then the steering pump and finally, after me saying I'd read on forums that water pumps wear out ("oh we don't take any notice of forums sir"), the water pump. And that fixed the problem, it was the water pump. At one point they took me into the workshop and took off the drive belt and spun every pulley in there, but no noise could be heard, even from the water pump. It was when the water pump was under load from the belt that it made the noise. For your noise I would say that the water pump bearings are on the way out and through heat expansion or some other reason are making less noise as the coolant warms up. Just a theory.

Well, they did the spin/pull test on the water pump and said it was ok. Unfortunately last time i brought it there, this week, no noise at all.

Mentioned this before ... Check the starter. As intermittent as it is you may just need to live with it until something breaks; even if you replace the easy to reach suspect parts that's no guarantee of success. If you're inclined, suggest you just remove and lubricate whatever you can reach on the starter ... And reinstall it. If the chirp is killing you, then R&R the usual suspects but that will cost. It doesn't sound dire - my 0.0002 is to live with it until it gets bad enough to find. http://www.planet-9.com/987-cayman-boxster-problems-complaints/97404-cold-start-squeak-chirp-post860487.html#post860487