[erelaphant]

Hey Guys,
so recently my 2012 fiesta has been squealing every once in and while on start. I just had the timing belt and serpentine belt changed maybe 10,000km ago so I have a hard time thinking it is any of the belts. I think it might have to do with the ac pump as the squealing stops when I turn the ac off if it's on when I start the car.
does anyone have any thoughts on what might be the cause? maybe the serpentine belt needs to be tightened? any info would help

Cheers

 

[Kingdeleted]

Hey Guys,
so recently my 2012 fiesta has been squealing every once in and while on start. I just had the timing belt and serpentine belt changed maybe 10,000km ago so I have a hard time thinking it is any of the belts. I think it might have to do with the ac pump as the squealing stops when I turn the ac off if it's on when I start the car.
does anyone have any thoughts on what might be the cause? maybe the serpentine belt needs to be tightened? any info would help

Cheers

the only way to tighten that belt is to replace the idler pulley, which won’t guarantee anything .like you said it’s most likely your A/C compressor or possibly what I think, the alternator. How many miles on the car?Are the pump and alternator original?

 

[erelaphant]

the pump and alternator are original. I have about 125000 miles on it. When changing the timing belt I got a shop to do it cause I didn't want to mess it up and ruin my engine. I asked them to change out the pump as well since it will be easily accessed and buddy said it didn't need to be changed yet.

 

[Kingdeleted]

the pump and alternator are original. I have about 125000 miles on it. When changing the timing belt I got a shop to do it cause I didn't want to mess it up and ruin my engine. I asked them to change out the pump as well since it will be easily accessed and buddy said it didn't need to be changed yet.

With 125k my money is on the alt. I had to swap mine out at 95k for the same symptoms you describe. It started by squeaking on startup and progress to doing it all the time. After changing it out I inspected the old alternator and the contacts were so far ground down that it would have grounded out soon enough.
I would have a buddy start it up a few times while you stand over the engine and see if you can locate the source. Changing the alt on this is also a big PITA but please note we have different engines

 

[erelaphant]

Other than hearing the high pitch squeal, was there any other tells that it was the alt ? Everything seems pretty normal right now and its hit and miss when the squeal starts

 

[Kingdeleted]

Other than hearing the high pitch squeal, was there any other tells that it was the alt ? Everything seems pretty normal right now and its hit and miss when the squeal starts

I noticed my ignition cranks were slower than normal. Battery was newer and alt was not charging efficiently usually only ever getting to 12.51 before a start. 12.8 is full charge. Then a small red battery indicator lit up on my dash and then I got around to it a few weeks later

 

[erelaphant]

I will take a look and see what my charge is at. I don't have any issues with the start cranks at the moment

 

[erelaphant]

Ive located the noise and confirmed its the ac compressor clutch. I will replace the whole thing just to be safe. With the serp belt off should I replace the alternator? Its been in the car for 205,000km?

 

[Kingdeleted]

Ive located the noise and confirmed its the ac compressor clutch. I will replace the whole thing just to be safe. With the serp belt off should I replace the alternator? Its been in the car for 205,000km?

there’s no way to know the condition of your particular alternator but I’m from the school of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” . You could get another 5 years out of the thing, there’s just no telling