Hi I have a three year old Doblo, done about 20k so far and I have a strange sound that sounds for all the world like an emergency vehicle siren going on on it. I have been looking in my mirror for a week or more now trying to see where the ambulance or police car is approaching me from! It is a sound that comes and goes with the engine revs, getting higher pitched as the revs/speed increases. I took it to our mechanic, because I assumed it was the fan belt, he fitted a new one but soon found that that didn't cure it. He has also had the alternator belt off too and even with that disconnected he said the noise was still there. I have looked at the problems with squeaks etc that others have had and shown the answers to the mechanic but he says none of them cure my problem which is driving me mad, has anyone any ideas?
Sandra

what engine is in it? sounds like bent turbo fins.

Hello, thanks for your interest, it is a 1.9 Family and I have no idea if it has turbo or not, my husband is having a look for me later. Can't find the word 'Turbo' anywhere, only multijet and family (it is the Family 7 seater), Sounds feasible though, I'd never have thought of that and I'll ask the mechanic tomorrow if he has checked it out. When it is just ticking over there is no noise at all, but as soon as you hit the accelerator/revs, the siren begins, all I need is a blue flashing light on the darned thing. It makes no difference whether the engine is hot or cold either.

Thanks again
Sandra

A 1.9 Multijet has a turbo. So the diagnosis of bent fins would seem to make sense...

Hi yes it does definately have a turbo, now I know where it is all I can say is that the noise is definately not coming from there. The noise seems to be coming from the back of the engine, between the engine and the dash. The mechanic says that the only time he has ever heard a similar noise is when the timing belt needed replacing on a car, but he can't see that that would need doing, it has done so few miles. He had thought of the Turbo when he was looking at it before he said but he said that my turbo is a very good make and he didn't think it could possibly be that either for the same reasons.

One thing which has been suggested to us is to check if there are any possible 'air' leaks, air escaping a hose or the pollen filter, or even maybe the exhaust could have a minute hole or something. My husband says that when you cut the revs, the whine continues for a little while after the accelerator has been released too, don't know what anyone thinks of that one.

What I am worried about really is that it could be something that could damage my engine, would anyone think it would be a good idea to have the timing belt replaced, just in case it is that?

Thanks for your help

Sandra

Sandra replacing the timing belt (and water pump) i quite expensive, surely it's worth taking to a dealer for correct diagnose...will save time/money in long run.

(if it's not turbo, then something seems to be running dry or metal on metal...alternator/drive shafts ok? guessing again!

It doesn't sound anything like metal against metal, it is for all the world like a siren, that's all I can say. The Fiat dealer said that they would do a diagnostic test which would involve putting it onto their computer, but our mechanic has already done that with his computer ( much against his judgement) because he said the fault was mechanical and not electrical and so he couldn't see it showing up. Do you think that it would show up such a fault? Also they are an hours drive away from us and I would prefer not to have to put it onto a trailer or whatever. I am very jumpy about using it it, just in case something nasty could happen.

I know the timing belt would be expensive to replace, but I would prefer to pay for one of those and make damned sure that that isn't one thing that could poll axe my engine, although none of us can see that it should be the timing belt with a car of this age and 20k mileage.

Thanks everyone for your input.

Sandra

A mechanic friend of mine once showed me a trick with a long screwdriver where if you located the tip against a component (e.g. alternator) and pressed the handle against your ear you could tell if bearings etc. were rumbling (a sort of stethoscope principle) - and we are talking about a long screwdriver here.

Obviously extreme caution is needed so clothing or hair etc. can't get caught in any moving parts and steer clear of any electrical connections - but if you can reproduce the noise when the car is stationary with someone inside bring up the revs then maybe this could help you locate the noise.

Hope it helps

Peter

Thanks very much Peter, I'll pass that on but I can't see me doing it personally you understand.

Someone suggested that it could be a 'leak' ( if that's the right word for it) from the manifold but Geraint the mechanic, says he listened and searched all over it and could hear nothing, untoward anywhere, including hoses, exhaust etc. We are stumped really and I am getting very concerned.

Sandra

Well T14086 was right apparently. We seem to have got a diagnosis at last today. I made my husband ring the main dealer and ask to be put through to the Service Department, (they wouldn't put me though when I asked last week) The bloke there thought it was the diesel filter on the exhaust system and suggested that we took the car out and gave it a really good high revs run for at least 20 minutes because it sounded as though the filter was blocked. (?) I didn't fancy that one bit just in case it wasn't correct so we took it to Bangor Exhausts which we usually use. They had it (and me) up on the lift thing and they could find nothing wrong with it. He said that if it was the PDF the car would lose power which it certainly doesn't and kick out black smoke which it never has.

He advise me to take it to a diesel specialist Bridges on Anglesey and ask to speak to Reg. Reg took one look and even less of a listen and said ' it's your Turbo' and pointed to the place where the noise was coming from, ie the back of the engine which he said was where the turbo was. The part that my husband had thought was the Turbo turned out to be the Air intake. He said that some of them did make this sort of noise as they aged - 2008? seems a bit previous doesn't it? - and sometimes the fins 'bent' so you got it dead right T14086 Thank you very much for your help and I know where I will be taking it if I have any further problems now. He said I had no reason to worry about running it and I shan't now that I know what it is.

I have just bought a spares catalogue and most important a Workshop Manual for it, we won't be caught out like that again, what a fool I felt and still do!

Thank you all for your help and advice, I very much appreciate it.

Sandra

Had the overrun clutch on alternator go is sounded like bird song