Belt screeching, car smelling / smoking...im lost :(

[KimberlyS13]

I'd like to thank anyone before hand that took the time to read this post and offer advice/suggestions/help!

-Car Specs-1990 240sx KA24DE motor

Symptoms:

1.) Sometimes when starting the car, or when shifting/downshifting, the car would make a loud squeeling/screeching sound. This sound lasts about 2-4 seconds. It doesnt feel like a grinding of gears when shifting or sound like it, but I'm not certain.

2.) The screeching noise explained above is slowly happening more frequently. Maybe 1-2 times a drive.

3.) My first thought was a lose belt, but it happens sometimes on a shift/downshift.

4.) Here is todays big problem: It made the slight squeel for 1-2 seconds, so I started to shift, slowly accelerate and try to analyze what was causing this. During this time I noticed a power loss, a feeling like a fuel cut off and the motor was choking to continue to accelerate. I also noticed an odd faint noise; I would say it was a noise created by a repeated motion.

5.) I pulled the car over, and thought maybe the motor was jerking around so rough that the radiator fan was nicking something inside and burning the plastic fan because at thiss time i smelled a horrible rubber/plastic burning.

6.) The noise stopped, the smell went away, and I needed to get home fast. 1/2 away home the same thing happened again where i lost power, heard a repeated soft sound, and smelled the horrible smell. The idle slightly more rough than normal.

7.) Finally when I got home, I popped the hood again and tried to find the burning smell. The radiator fan looked ok. There was a light smoke coming off of the throttle body. This smoke lasted maybe 30-60 seconds. I cant say it came right off the throttle body, or something around/under it.

SO! If you bothered to read all this I want to say thanks again:) And this is a shot in the dark, but my wild guess is:

A belt is lose/weak/worn. Maybe the pulley is spinning inside the belt, causing the power loss, followed by the burning smell of the belt. I dunno, i'm lost

Thanks for advice guys!

[AZhitman]

OK guys - Time to fix Kim's car!

Well-done - Great description!!!!

p.s. Welcome home.

[AZhitman]

A couple quick questions:

How's your coolant? Full? Temp gauge position?

Reason: Bad water pump could do this, OR leaking coolant on a belt could cause squeal / smoke.

Also, how does the inside of each belt feel? Glossy or rough?

[KimberlyS13]

The coolant resivoir* is damn near empty!!

Temp gauge was just under 1/2 way.

As for belt texture, when I felt it earlier it did feel rough I believe. Like there was slits/lines/or something but I would have to double check here in a few minutes.

thx so much for the quick response lol

Only other thing I was wondering is, could the clutch not be engaging on these rare occasions causing this screech? The discs are organic correct? Could they produce this plastic/rubber smell? The only reason this confuses me is because this screech can happen at engine start in nuetral, or when shifting in gear.

[onosqv]

Check the defelections on your belt - i.e. car is off, press down on the center of each belt, if it has any play at all (i.e. you can easily push it down), then change the belts first. Of course, at this point, you could have toasted one of your pulley belt tensioners, which will also cause a squeaky noise. You can check these when you remove the offending belt - remove the pulley also and see how the bearing looks - when my car was doing this the pulley was actually separated from the bearing/bushing, which caused a nasty noise.

The smoking could a result of this or completely unrelated. If it's the belt connected to the water pump, that could be causing your burnt smell. Again, it could also be a completely different issue. One @ a time .

The reason it is making the sound in neutral and/or when shifting is your engine speed is lower -> loose belts aren't as tight. If you notice, ppl w/ loose belts usually only have the issue when at idle or accelerating from a stop.

[KimberlyS13]

Now my 240 wont start. You can hear the battery engage when I turn the car on but the car makes no attempt to turn over. All my lights and everything work it just wont start. The foul smell is still very apparent and my entire garage smells of it. I believe the belt that is loose is around my alternator, but would this cause my car to just not start now?

[480sx]

Yes, a loose belt on the alternator will cause your battery to die, then your car to not start back up.

It sounds like you need to start by changing all your belts and then adjusting the tensioners correctly. Then, we can go from there. Its possible that your AC compressor has seized up, or an idler pulley isnt spinning freely causing the belt wear and smoke. While your changing your belts, verify that all your pulleys turn freely. O/C the crank pulley wont, but the rest should all spin with little effort. If you find a pulley that doesnt want to turn, then you need to replace that part.

[onosqv]

belt loose around alternator = 240 doesn't charge, since this issue has been happening, that last trip home may have done enough draining on the battery for it to be too low to start.

Just because your lights work, doesn't mean your car has enough juice to start - take a voltimeter & see if you are @ 12v... I'm guessing you aren't.

[KimberlyS13]

Just because your lights work, doesn't mean your car has enough juice to start.

Would I get any other indication of it trying to start? Like a tick tick tick tick? Heres some pictures I've taken to see if they provide any insight.Again, thanks for all the help guys.

Engine Bay:

Circled area is around where i saw the smoke emit from, like i said it could have been from under this area, around, etc.

Can see the underside of a belt

Belt with some pressure applied

^_^;;**more coming in a sec, testing**

[onosqv]

depends on how dead the battery is... best bet is to just take a voltimeter & check the battery. If you don't know how to do that, you can remove that battery & bring it to a Kragen/AutoZone/PepBoys/whatever you have in your area & they will check for u.

And is that how you always run ur car (from the pic)? I notice no radiator shroud & an intake pipe that is just hanging there... that's not good.

I think we've all given you enough info to work from - you should fix those belts, check those pulley tensioners, check the battery. then report back after that. We can only diagnose so much over the internet - and only more if you actually try some of the things we initially suggest first.

[KimberlyS13]

And is that how you always run ur car (from the pic)? I notice no radiator shroud & an intake pipe that is just hanging there... that's not good.

Its original owners setup, car has been in storage all winter and just brought out to start the project

I will start working on the things suggested right away, thank you.

[KimberlyS13]

As if my issue couldnt get any worse. My buddy goes down into my garage to make a phone call and flames are coming out of my hood and underneath. My car set on fire. We got the fire out and disconnected the battery but I am just sitting here ****ing shocked with what just happened. My car sat in the garage for about 2 hours smelling bad then BOOM up in flames.

The fire was caused by 2-3 wires that connected at a bolt it looks like. The bolt and piece melted and caught fire. This is located directly below the 2nd part fromm the top of throttle body.

If anyone knows how this could of happened, what this piece is, or estimated cost to fix, it will bring a great piece of mind....





I think its a little cylinder just beyond the oil filter?

Modified by KimberlyS13 at 7:08 PM 5/1/2008
Modified by KimberlyS13 at 7:16 PM 5/1/2008

[Rucca]

That is your starter, looks like the wires shorted out and caused a fire - like $150 for a starter and then replace all the burnt up wires.

[ChuckNC]

That would explain the squealing noise. It sounds like the shorted wires made the starter engage while the car was already running.

[KimberlyS13]

That would explain the squealing noise. It sounds like the shorted wires made the starter engage while the car was already running.

eeek, really?