Topic

I'm pretty sure it is but just need a little confirmation from my fellow Tbar members.

The car makes a screech when I start it up for a couple of seconds, though not every time. I have just had the belts changed on my car at the local MG Rover garage and the noise was present before the change so I am guessing my alternator is the culprit.It sounds very much like the winter noise from a loose alternator belt.

Is there anything else it could be ?

Ta Bob.

Hi Bob,

If you had an issue with the alternator making the belt slip if a bearing was starting to fail the the noise would be there all the time, if you only get the noise just after startup then the belt may not be tight enough.

When you first start the car it takes a large amount of energy from the battery, as soon as the engine is started the alternator will try to replace the lost energy as quickly as possible putting a big load on the belt. At 80 amps the surface charge of the battery rapidly rises and the alternator output drops off taking the load off the belt.

I suspect the belt needs to be checked for the correct tension as the belt on the TF is only small in diameter (non AC version) A small amount of adjustment makes a big difference.

First step is check the tension as below and adjust if required.

Brian.

May also be the battery on the way out.

Thank you for the replies.

That makes sense Brian but it's strange that the noise was present before I had the new belt on.I'll probably take a look today and see what the tension is like,handy link.

I have a new battery sat in the garage so I'll pop that on and see if it helps.

I had to pop back to the garage the other day so I got them to check the belt and after a tighten all is well.

Good call Brian I love a free fix.