I searched all over and couldnt find anything with my exact problem, so please forgive me if this has been covered before

A couple weeks ago my car started making a weird noise when starting and from 1k-2500 rpms in park and if im in gear at any speed. I really don't know what it is and i want to figure out if its something serious to prevent expensive repairs. The best way to describe this noise is a high pitched honk/squeak.. (not a belt squealing. its not continuous unless im accelerating from 1k-2500 rpms)


In the video ignore the clicking sounding noise. Thats been going on for years and im not too concerned about it, although if anyone could help me fix that thatd be great!

What im worried about is the other noise, the one that was most obvious when starting the car. It started when my battery was going dead a couple weeks ago in the 100+ degree texas heat. I replaced the battery but that didnt make it go away. Its been progressively getting worse for the past month or so.

A little more background info: car is an 03 tl-s with 201k miles. The timing belt was done around 185-188k about 2 years ago or so.

I have a feeling that this might be belt-related but honestly i really dont know

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

Sounds like your starter is hesitating...

 

that was originally my first thought, but if it was the starter wouldn't it only make the noise when starting? it still does it when the engines running and when I'm driving. it's louder when the engines warmed up. I could be wrong though.

 

didnt watch vid but ac belt tensioner is a common failure point
makes funny sounds, gets louder....mine took a long time to totally fail

a mechanics stethascope will confirm in seconds

 

When was the last time the engine mounts were replaced?

 

Soo 6 months later I'm finally following up on my posts lol. Hey better late then never right?

Anyways, I took the car by my mechanic (Gordy @ Dallas Precision Imports in Frisco, Tx) and he used his little stethoscope thing and said it was the idler arm. So about $400 in parts and labor later and the noise is gone and my car sounds great! Haven't had a problem since.

Hope this helps someone!

 

do you mean the idler arm/tensioner pulley assembly for the ac belt?
that's a common failure and first to ck when any odd noise appears
part ~$100 and labor 1 to 1.5 hours at shop

mine made noise from 40k to 85kmiles when it finally got replaced
Shops don't bother to ck this when replacing belts

 

I think it was.. but it was so long ago that I don't remember exactly. He also replaced an axle seal as well.