hi all,
thanks to the responses a while ago helping me out with a 20v cam belt change - got it in the end (didnt change the tensioner or pulley - low miles on the car and they seemed in good condition so i thought stuff it for now)..

I didn't use a trolley jack to life the engine though - I used a static support under the sump, and raised the car up and down using the cars jack, and shoving an axle stand under there to keep it safe when i was underneath...

BUT...

now (this started about 3 weeks after the belt change), I have a weird squeek coming from the drivers side front wheel area - gets worse when the wheel is turned right, and the brakes on the front seem to be grinding lightly when braking. the pads are fine, the disc sheild looks like its well clear and i cant see any gravel in there getting in the way...

anyone have any ideas?? I was thinking maybe duff / defective pads or warped discs... the car passed an mot recently and like i say the pads and discs both seem to be in good condition at a glance.

also... the button on the right below the radio with the temp sensor symbol on - what is that for?? engine temp or oil temp? and doe sanyone know where the sensor is, and whenever i press it i get an error message followed by the dash dials dying... i remember someone saying that the dash is earthed to a temp sensor somewhere so want to check it out to see if i can sort the problem out, but any tips to where it might be would save me a looong time of staring at things...

yeah its the aux belt that drives the power steering pump, probably needs replacing along with the tensioner

Jamied said:

also... the button on the right below the radio with the temp sensor symbol on - what is that for?? engine temp or oil temp? and doe sanyone know where the sensor is, and whenever i press it i get an error message followed by the dash dials dying... i remember someone saying that the dash is earthed to a temp sensor somewhere so want to check it out to see if i can sort the problem out, but any tips to where it might be would save me a looong time of staring at things...

Click to expand...

External air temp, shows on your dash if you push it and flashes if its below 2oC when you start the car, to warn of chance of ice etc.

thanks for the responses...

Hi Buldog - I dont think its a belt, as its not that sort of noise - def. seems suspension or possibly wheel / brake related - its like a sharp squeak, intermittent when going right (almost like the disc shield is rubbing on something, but its not...) and it does give a little noise going over bumps now and again... and there's the light grinding that seems to be related... not a normal wheel bearing going type noise either...

ohh my car has an external air temp sensor! get me... shame it must be knackered... anyone know where its located, or if there are any common fuse / wiring problems with this unit?

spent most of the morning changing the oil & filter... filter was easy enough - sump plug was stuck... sheared off my sump plug trying to get the bugger out - ended up with an allen key and a loooong pipe to use as a breaker bar... sounds much happier starting now - the filter was rusted to poop...

External temp' sensor is in the drivers wing mirror, its a little black nipple like thing on the underside.

The reason the aux belt was suggested is because the power steering will load it up when you are manouvering at low speed. It's possible that you have a sticky caliper, my 1.8 has single pot calipers and when I change the pads I clean the piston and wire brush and copperslip all the moving surfaces on the caliper. This lets the discs knock the pads back preventing drag and any noises plus saves you fuel. It's easy to do, see the pics in my album. The O.A.T. only shows for about 4 seconds after pressing the button. If the dsplay does not change i would vote for duff button/wire off before the sensor.

I had this on mine - squeaking when turning right - sounded like a horde of mice living in the wheel arch. It got so bad as I hadn't had time to sort it that it was squeaking going in normal forwards motion with out any directional load applied (ie steering!).

I sorted it by stripping brakes down, cleaning and applying a lot of copper ease. Since then as quiet as a church mouse.

well, i've worked out the squeek - it seems that i didnt line up the top engine mount up properly, and the bottom mount was subsequently rubbing the metal edge around the rubber to the support part - have re-positioned the top mount and its all fine now - no more weird noises...

I still cant find the temp sensor though - had a look at both mirrors and they seem identical - no nipples that i can see... did some models have the sensor in any different places? its driving me mad as the sensor and the speedo and other dials all seem to be related - like they use the same earth, or are connected at the same place or something??

Maybe the mirror has been replaced at some point and the replacement doesn't have the sensor?