GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Ok, so now that the weather has broke and I'm running around town with all the windows open... I caught wind of a "rattle". Oh joy. I hear it most at idle and it gets faster as I accelerate through the gears, until I can't hear it due to road noise. The sound I hear is close to what another poster said sounds like "marbles in a tin can".

I'm not sure how long it has been going on... my guess is 3-5 weeks(500miles? ). I searched the other threads and can't seem to get anything that fits. I initially thought it was a rattle b/c a cover or pan was loose. To me it sounded like the rattles my old Civic had. Hubby said no. He primarily diagnosed it as a bad bearing in the alternator. (He even used a stethescope to listen to it)

He did an R&R (ripout and replace)... still made the noise. Boy was he peeved! So he put the old alt back on and returned the part. His buddy and the auto parts guy seem to think it's the tensioner on the serpentine belt. Is this possible? My hubby has jumped to the conclusion that it's the water pump but I'm not convinced!

Thought I'd come here to get an idea from my genvibe crowd

Oh, she's just under 80,000 miles and 5.5 years old! This is the first problem we've had to deal with other than standard maitenence!

"Marbles in a tin can" as I recall is the telltale sign of a bad tensioner.

Thanks! I think I'll see if I can't get the hubby to try that first

Ha. Open mouth, insert foot...
Hubby recruited his buddy wednesday and together, they ruled out everything EXCPET... the water pump. Of course. Although, it barely showed any signs of leakage, the bearing was very obviously blown. Glad "we" caught it early!

So, my vibe has a new serpentine belt, a new tensior pulley, a new waterpump, and in the process she got a radiator flush and an oil change!

I had th eexact same issue. Using stethoscope found loudest at water pump. Yes, the water pump. 88k on mine