Squeal from engine bay turning the ignition off

[bry3]

Hi guys, thank you advance for taking the time to read this.

Hoping somebody could advise on the following, over the past fortnight I’ve noticed that there’s a high pitch squeal coming from the engine bay as I’m turning the ignition/engine off, was wondering if anybody else has experienced this? First thoughts are that one of the belts might need adjustment or whether the power steering fluid is running low but surely this would illuminate on the dash? It’s probably worth mentioning that I bought it at 19k (21.7k at present) on the clock and suspect it’s ex fleet/courtesy car, service book indicates it’s not had much more than it’s oil changed. Planning to get it serviced by SEAT when it’s due or have it serviced earlier when it’s due for MOT.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, it’s probably/hopefully something minor, the squeal is just starting to wind me up.

 

[Seriously?]

Pretty sure the power steering is electro-mechanical on a Leon so not likely to be that.

 

[Rooster]

That sounds weird, any chance of recording it on your phone etc. Is it Diesel or Petrol?

 

[bry3]

That sounds weird, any chance of recording it on your phone etc. Is it Diesel or Petrol?

It’s a petrol. Nothing when the engines idle, noise is coming from the drivers side of the engine. Attached a link to a video, in hindsight should have probably popped the bonnet, sorry haha.

 

[RUM4MO]

Tricky, one, it does sound like a belt squeal maybe caused by a tensioner or any of the rollers on the auxiliary belt run is "on the way out".

So, I'd take the belt off, and try starting/stopping the engine, and I think that that noise will disappear, after doing and proving that, you need to turn or spin each of the rollers and tension - and all the other pulleys on that belt run.

One outside possibility, make sure that the AC chiller is not running when you so this, another thing, check your battery health.

 

[Mr Pig]

I wouldn't worry about that. Sounds like a belt chirping on a pulley as it comes to a stop. If a pulley was on the way out it would make a noise all the time, not when it stops.

 

[RUM4MO]

I wouldn't worry about that. Sounds like a belt chirping on a pulley as it comes to a stop. If a pulley was on the way out it would make a noise all the time, not when it stops.

Rollers and any other things rotating within a bearing can end up passing through a "squeal zone" when starting up but other noises generally drown that noise out, better to go looking for an up and coming problem than to ignore it until it is a show stopper - no?

 

[Mr Pig]

Rollers and any other things rotating within a bearing can end up passing through a "squeal zone" when starting up but other noises generally drown that noise out, better to go looking for an up and coming problem than to ignore it until it is a show stopper - no?

It doesn't sound like that. It's not unusual for a drive belt to slip on the pulley when it stops and make a chirp like that. It's not a metallic noise. If it is something else it'll get worse and be easy to identify, but it won't because I'm fairly confident about what it is.

 

[Rooster]

Difficult as it doesn't last long, but sounds like the serpentine belt "chirping", it's not adjustable though, as the tensioner is a spring loaded one and usually needs no maintenance. It would be prudent to get it looked at just to make sure though?