Can I remove my auxilliary belt to help identify a noise?

[auf_wiedersehen_pet]

Can I remove my auxilliary belt to help identify a noise - just for 30 seconds?

I've just had my water pump removed to eliminate a whinning noise - only thing is the noise is still there. The water pump did have lots of movement in the bearing though so not totally wasted!

I'm hoping to drop the belt of for a few seconds - if the noise stops it's either the alternator or PAS pump.

What do you think?

[Tel]

Yes you can but only like you say for a short time

[Range Rover Blues]

A couple of minutes, better if you do it with the engine cold.  The water will feed round slaowly due to the "gravity" feed. but not fast enough to leave it like that.

[auf_wiedersehen_pet]

Cheers guys.

I'll try this afternoon.

[auf_wiedersehen_pet]

No noise with the belt off!

The belt attaches to five pullies, the big one at the bottom is the crank(??), one is the water pump (changed this week), one is the alternator, what are the other two?

[Tel]

Power steering and aircon by the sounds of it spin each pulley by hand and see if you can hear one making a noise of feel one with movement you also have a tensioner pulley below the water pump 

[Nick4X4]

try changing the belt  ;)
if you look at your one i bet you got tiny little stones in the belt :)

[Trax99]

Could be the belt tensioner bearing - get replacements on ebay.
or like me it could be the alternator back bearing - squeals like a squeally thing. :'(

[Range Rover Blues]

5 pulleys, you havn't said but I'm thinking this is a TDi, or am I wrong?

Squeeking is as siad often caused by the tensioner pulley, they are often a tiny bit out of line and some folks true them up by jamming a penny undeer one side of the tesnioner block as they fit it.

TDI has a separate belt for the air conn, if we are talking V8 then the belt set-up is differnet for with and without airconn, without the tensioner runs on the multi-vee side, is plastic and doesn't cause squeeks, the belt is noticably shorter.

[auf_wiedersehen_pet]

5 pulleys, you havn't said but I'm thinking this is a TDi, or am I wrong?

Sorry - I'm expecting people to read my mind again - it's a Tdi.

The tensioner squeaks from cold and then stops when warm. The mystery whine starts about one minute after starting and then won't go away.

I'm going to buy a belt/bearing but I'm reasonably sure it's not those which are causing the noise.