Howdy. Appreciate your help.

I have a 2006 Scion xA with 186,000 mile in perfect condition. Great car!

But I have a odd, loud chirping sound coming from the engine accessory area that I can only define as the belt area. No more specific.

I have run a stethoscope over the engine and no one accessory or internal area can be pinpointed.

The frequency of the chirp seems to be a chirp-chirp-chirp every 1 second of engine rotation. It is not every engine rpm. More like every 4-5 engine rpms.

Does go up with engine speed and is louder when driving and under load.

Engine runs perfectly, belts are 5000 miles. Average 38mpg highway, 34 overall.

I'm thinking its a call for a new timing chain/tensioner etc.

What do you think??? And thanks!

 

About 8 months ago when I still lived in California (moved to jacksonville Florida in November) my belt broke on my 04 XB. It was really loud and just an awful noise. I should have fixed it much sooner.

Now about 6k miles later, I have a slight chirping. It's nowhere near what it was with the old belt. In fact, my old belt chirped quietly right when I bought it. The belt didn't break until 30k miles approximately later. It got way noisier for the last few months before I broke. Some of the belts just chirp a little. If it's minor, I wouldn't really worry about it. Just keep listening to see if it gets louder. Trust me, you'll KNOW when it needs to be fixed. It will screech more than chirp. Just a godawful scary sound.