2004 Corolla 1.6L 5-speed squeal at low rev (related to A/C?)

[henri]

Hi All,

I have a European model of a 2004 1.6L 5-speed manual transmission Corolla. I can hear a very clear squeal when accelerating from very low revs with first or second gear, sounds like a belt squeal but the accessories belts have been replaced maybe 20000km ago.

Squeal is heard when the clutch is up and revs are low and first or second gear is engaged and car is accelerated a bit harder. It can also be heard if I start moving from stand still with second gear and lift the clutch too early. It's not heard if I slip the clutch a bit longer than normally.

The strangest thing is that the squeal can't be heard every time, it seems that if the A/C is on, the squeal is more likely to happen.

Where should I start looking at?

I also have a second question related to starting the car with the A/C on. When the car has sat in the hot sun for eight hours and is started with the A/C on, the compressor makes a loud clunk. Not the usual click when the compressor is turned on but a very distinct clunk. The noise is not heard if I drive around with the car for a while and then turn on the A/C or the car is turned on with the A/C on cold air. I read somewhere that this is related to the A/C gases?

Thanks.

 

[Floridapizzaman]

Hi All,

I have a European model of a 2004 1.6L 5-speed manual transmission Corolla. I can hear a very clear squeal when accelerating from very low revs with first or second gear, sounds like a belt squeal but the accessories belts have been replaced maybe 20000km ago.

Squeal is heard when the clutch is up and revs are low and first or second gear is engaged and car is accelerated a bit harder. It can also be heard if I start moving from stand still with second gear and lift the clutch too early. It's not heard if I slip the clutch a bit longer than normally.

The strangest thing is that the squeal can't be heard every time, it seems that if the A/C is on, the squeal is more likely to happen.

Where should I start looking at?

I also have a second question related to starting the car with the A/C on. When the car has sat in the hot sun for eight hours and is started with the A/C on, the compressor makes a loud clunk. Not the usual click when the compressor is turned on but a very distinct clunk. The noise is not heard if I drive around with the car for a while and then turn on the A/C or the car is turned on with the A/C on cold air. I read somewhere that this is related to the A/C gases?

Thanks.

Hi Henri, I just went though process of solving a Serp belt noise. I had a genuine toyo belt with 2 yrs /30k miles
and it was quiet. Then I changed out the oem alternator with an aftermarket alternator. Belt was quiet at first,
but after 200-300 miles, it became chirpy and would rattle during cold start up and then go away.

I researched and found on the Dayco belt website that there are 2 types of noise: chirp and squeal. Each is caused by a separate issue. Chirp is what I had and it is due to pulley misalignment (new alternator). Squeal is a tension issue. I replaced the toyo belt with a Dayco ultra rib W design which is aramid formulated to reduce or eliminate noise. It fixed my noise from the moment I started the car up and has worked flawless 1k miles ever since. Check out daycoproducts.com.

 

[JackBNimble]

It's also worth noting that the belt could be new, but the belt itself moves on pulleys, which have bearings that can seize up with wear. A mechanic should be able to take your belt off and check each spin each pulley by hand, checking for wobbles or roughness; a pulley should spin freely and smoothly but they do go bad over time.