1996 850 B5204FS noisy bearing and smoke from dip stick

Teddy1975 · Post by **Teddy1975** » 28 Jan 2016, 10:27

Hi again.

I picked this car up 3 weeks ago and haven't really done much travelling in it so far due to ABS and no start problems. However, the no start has been fixed and now it's time to look at the other problems I have with it.

When idling, there is a very loud whirring noise coming from the left hand side of the engine. It seems to be louder at the front of the engine, which is where the power steering and alternator is located. My guess is that a bearing is really bad but before I start dismantling everything I'd like to ask where and how you would troubleshoot this. To give you an idea of what I mean by noise, I've recorded a video of it using my smartphone. I apologise for the loud windshear, it was quite windy today.

In the same video I have recorded the smoke coming out of the engine, both via oil filler cap and the dip stick. The engine was pretty cold, I don't know if this makes any difference or not. I tried the trick with putting a rubber glove onto the oil filler hole and it didn't inflate nor any vacuum. I'm not sure if the smoke is a problem since the engine appearently doesn't build up pressure?

At the end of the video is a shot of the dip stick close up. There's some chunky goo on it that looks to be the color of rust. Is this something to cause concern?

Here's the link for the video, please let me know what you think.
Video of noisy 850

Thanks,
Teddy

Post by **E Showell** » 28 Jan 2016, 10:34

The goo on the dipstick is likely from frequent short trips. Any chance you can take it for a half hour cruise on the highway?

Post by **erikv11** » 28 Jan 2016, 11:08

The engine does not appear to have major PCV issues, the smoke out the dipstick and cap is minimal and your glove pressure test gives good news.

That noise is loud. Alternator pulley, PS pump pulley, AC compressor, or serp belt pulleys all come to mind. Hopefully it is not related to the timing belt path. I would get some kind of mechanic's stethoscope (e.g. a piece of tubing etc.) and take it to each component, it might be very clear which one it is by that test. Another test is to take off the serp belt and start it up. If the whirring goes away then you have confirmed it is in the serp belt path. I wouldn't drive the car around with the belt off, just run it briefly.

On the dipstick, what Evan said. Rust due to condensation due to not letting the oil heat up enough to evaporate out the moisture in there.

Post by **abscate** » 28 Jan 2016, 12:14

Use the tube trick to isolate the noise to the bad component.

If its under the timing belt cover, shut it off, park it until you can get the TB job done, and be thankful you just saved 2000 USD.

Teddy1975 · Post by **Teddy1975** » 28 Jan 2016, 13:54

Thanks for calming my nerves regarding the smoke.

I'll get a stethoscope tomorrow and hope that it's not something to do with the TB. That's a job I'd much rather do in the summer time.

Teddy1975 · Post by **Teddy1975** » 03 Feb 2016, 06:44

The noise is definately coming from the serpentine belt loop.
It sounded like the alternator pulley was most noisy but the tensioner pulley was also making more noise than I would expect it to, however not as bad as the alternator.

Is there a DIY way to change the bearing(s) inside the alternator or should I be looking for a rebuilt one?

Post by **rspi** » 03 Feb 2016, 07:00

Is the oil level good? Did not see any on the stick.

Have you pulled the serpentine belt and start the car to see if the noise went away?

Is the fluid level good in the power steering pump?

Hot engine parts will cause smoke to come out of open holes, ie open oil cap hole.

Post by **erikv11** » 03 Feb 2016, 10:32

I think I would work the serp pulley first, before messing with the alt. Just to make sure. You can remove the serp tensioner very easily, just remove the belt then two 10 mm bolts and it is in your hand. Spin the wheels by hand, check the bearings for play.

You can definitely change the alternator bearing yourself, that is something that happens on an alt rebuild in the shop, but there is not a ton of information out there about where to source the bearing etc. or step by step instructions. Search for posts by cn90 he may have posted that up before, I am sure you can find relevant info in YouTube videos.

Teddy1975 · Post by **Teddy1975** » 13 Feb 2016, 14:21

A little update regarding this.

I tried to remove the serpetine belt from above, but had some problems finding something that would fit into the square hole on the tensioner. I tried using a ½" socket wrench with two coins which kind of worked, but not to my satisfaction. I've now bought a ½" to 3/4" enlargement dowel that I'll grind/file down to 11/16".

I've tried to find out what the mileage of the car is and bought what was supposed to be an ELM327 cable. It had a cheap clone chip, so I've now made that into an engine code blink out module instead. After spending a couple of hours trying to find a genuine ELM327 cable, I've abandoned that quest for now. I've instead looked at the mileage reported at the inspections done to the car while the odometer was still working and worked out that the car has done approximately 195K miles, at the very most 200K miles.

The sticker on the TB cover says that the TB was last replaced at 146K miles back in 2008. So I think it's safe to say the belt and probably all the rollers/tensioner has to be replaced as soon as possible, even without actually having done a visual inspection of the belt.

The serp belt has a lot of cracks in the raised tracks, so it's probably just as old. I'll swap that belt too, seeing it has to come out anyway when I do the timing belt.

I found a Danish web site that has TB and SB replacement kits. They offer 15% discount on all items bought in the first purchase, so I'll get everything needed for a stage 0 as well. The replacement kits are either "noname", INA or Bosch. I really don't want to go with a noname brand for anything critical, so the choice is between INA (which I've never heard of before, but seems to be a German company) and Bosch. Anyone here know of INA/Scaeffler?

Thank you for any input.

Post by **precopster** » 13 Feb 2016, 14:32

Volvo use INA parts. Some are made in Germany and some in Slovakia or other places. You won't go wrong with these

Before you go spending money on the timing set do work out where that noise is coming from as it can get expensive if it's alternator or power steering trouble.