Engine noise

[PeteK]

Hi guys, hope you can help. I'm just on my way to the South of France and my engine has started making a growling type noise at idle. When you rev the engine above approx 1300rpm the noise goes away - below this the alternator belt appears very slack but then appears to tension correctly when the revs are above 1300rpm.

I think this may be an issue with the alternator clutch - the problem is I have to drive another 300 miles tomorrow and then my return journey is approx 1000 miles. Once it starts making this noise, is it likely to fail completely? The car is running and sounding fine once moving - it's just this loud noise at idle that is making me concerned. Any help appreciated on this please, is it safe to continue the rest of my journey.

[Crasher]

It could very easily lead to sudden tensioner failure, I advise you to get is repaired before you do a 1300 mile journey.

[PeteK]

Just a quick update to this thread, I continued the journey of approx 400 miles to Carcassone the following day. The car ran perfectly but was still making this loud noise at idle which also caused the belt to slip when the steering was turned, above 1200rpm it was fine. Whenever I was sat in traffic I tried to keep the revs a bit higher to prevent it occurring. During the holiday a local mechanic took a look at it and advised he thought it was the auxiliary belt tensioner. He advised that this was quite a big job and that the front end would need to be moved forward to access the part, he also doubted that he would be able to get the part in time but that it should be safe to drive as long as it was not left idling for too long. Anyway, I started the long drive home last weekend and arrived back in the early hours yesterday with no issues. I've just taken the car into my mechanic who confirms it is the alternator pulley that has failed and is quite a simple fix. Hopefully I should get it back later today!

Crasher, thanks for your very prompt reply to this thread. It was much appreciated although not the answer I was hoping to hear! Unfortunately I was unable to reply due to having no access to a computer for the rest of the holiday. Despite this slight hiccup, the car otherwise ran perfectly and averaged 52mpg over the whole 2000 mile trip at speeds of 80 / 85mph on the French toll roads.

[PeteK]

Just got the car back and it was the alternator clutch pulley, total cost was £130 incl vat and fitting (the part alone was £62.38 + vat).