Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Hi there:

Not sure why, but when first driving away when starting from cold (at least a couple of hours of not running), my Delica is making a squealing noise. It sounds like what I would have thought to be a belt slipping, but when i put the clutch in, sound goes away. Squeals more with the more im accelerating and continues for a maybe the first km or so, then goes away completely. But its getting worse (keeps squealing for longer, 1km as opposed to 500m when it first started).

As it only squeals when the clutch is engaged and driving, I cant really say where its coming from (front or back), but it sounds like from around the engine somewhere (right underneath me when the windows are open), but impossible to say for sure.

Anyone have any ideas on what it could be? Some sort of clutch bearing?

Any help would be awesome. Thanks in advance.

Mark

Sounds like the throw out bearing of the clutch. Not sure how much of an issue it is to replace but it will involve pulling the gear box and taking the bell housing off the back of the motor.
Rod

Not to panick you but mine had the same thing. I have a 1992 automatic and I thought the squealing was a fan belt. I looked at it and it seemed tight but I was to lazy to figure out how to adjust. After 3-4 months I turned over the motor and a timing belt bearing of some sort exploded. It kind of ran but it was obvious something bad happened. I found a ball bearing lodged in my timing belt cover. Basically it was as if the belt broke. Conclusion. New motor required after only 120k

Most L300 squeals are belt related and most common one to go is the Alternator belt, it can be retentioned easily enough (or belt replaced if old) but its a real pig to get too to adjust. Sometimes the alternator itself becomes loose from the mounting bolts and they need retightening.

Both myself and another L300 owner (his squeal was worse) had this problem and both were fixed by tightening the belt.

You can just check how loose the belts are with the engine off to see if one seams more loose than the other.

Might be worth checking

My Alternator Belt kept squealing when cold too!! Even after I put brand spanky new ones in!Since it has two belts the inner belt seemed too have more tension then the outer.Re-Adjusted and problem Disappeared.If its only doing it when the Clutch is engaged then I doubt its the belts...I agree with most likley the pilot Bearing.Easy Soulution turn up the Stereo.Changing it is a big job!I would confirm where its coming from..Carefully use a Stethoscope,Princess Auto sells them for cheap and in my opinion its the best way to locate anoying noises,Good luck and keep us posted!
Cheers!

Wait, Occams razor, if it's squealing it's likely the belts, probably alternator as there are 2 and they are seldom the same size, so 1 is always a bit looser, pressing the clutch in changes the load on things, so could account for it.

Bearings tend to whine, not squeal.

Occam and his razor! I love that guy!

I had exactly as you describe, squealing under load for the first while after a cold start. Adjusted the alternator today to tighten the belts, and looks like that was it. Was pesky to adjust, but manageable. I posted the procedure I used here:

http://www.delica.ca/forum/alternator-b ... -5849.html

...right after the mod to make it easier. I don't know that I'll mod mine...it was easy enough with the right tool.