[Che]

The last couple of weeks i've noticed a squeak developing from the engine bay that I thought was the fan belt. I've popped the bonnet today to sort it out but to my surprise it seems to be loudest around the back of the engine on the passenger side - somewhere around cylinder #4, the distributor or maybe even down from the clutch bell housing. It's not squeaking like impending doom, but it's a new mechanical noise and i'm not sure of the cause. I'm only noticing it upon startup and in neutral.

It's not the squeal of a dry bearing rolling around - it sounds more like metal dry rubbing. But i'm not seeing anything of concern (no missing paint, no strange smells, no fine dust buildups), and the passenger side engine mount is nice and tight.


Any ideas what it could be?

[JrZook]

Any change in the noise when the clutch is in/out?

[henno]

JrZook wrote:

Any change in the noise when the clutch is in/out?

I was about to suggest that: throwout bearing.