QuestionYou are correct. I have a 2001 Saturn L200 2.2L with about 80K miles. Reading your previous answers to questions has led me to the conclusion (as well as discussion with several mechanics) that it is the serpentine belt/tension pulley. My question now is how does one change that? I have someone willing to do it for me but he needs instructions as well as location for this mechanism. Do you have to replace the belt and tensioner pully to make the whining go away?
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Followup To
Question -
My waterpump went out which caused the car to overheat cracking the exhaust manifold. We went to the Saturn dealership and had the waterpump fixed and the exhast manifold welded. After the car was fixed, there is a whining noise coming from the front of the engine. Saturn looked at it and could not decipher what is wrong with it. I also noticed that my fuel economy is not that good anymore. Any ideas would be helpful. Thank you.
Answer -
Renee,
I need to know which engine you have, or what type of Saturn it is. That would enable me to help you out some more. I hope that you have an L-Series with a 2.2L 4-cyl. Let me know what you have and I'll let you know what I know.
Chris
AnswerRenee,
You are correct about one thing: TENSION! However, you just had your water pump replaced, it is most likely not the serpentine belt, it is the Balance Shaft Chain.
Your waterpump is powered by the by the "Balance Shaft Chain" under your timing cover. It looks like a timing chain, however, it is connected to two balance shafts, one on each side of the engine. This keeps your little 4-cylinder from rattling itself to death. Anyway, when replacing a waterpump on your type of vehicle, if the technician does not use the correct tool, or uses the correct tool incorrectly, the balance shaft chain tensioner will expand when the water pump is removed. This tensioner won't contract when you put everything back together. So, you now have a chain that is running too tight against all of it's guides which produces your whining noise. You need to get your vehicle back to wherever it was worked on, QUICKLY! They need to take the timing cover off, remove the timing chain, remove the balance shaft chain tensioner, reset it, and put everything back together. All the while keeping the engine in time. If you wait too long to take the car back to them, the guides can wear out. This could cause massive engine failure. Anyway, don't let them charge you for the parts or labor to do this. This condition could have been avoided if a technician would have been paying attention! Anyway, I bet this will have your problem fixed right away. Good luck, and let me know how this all turns out!
Chris
