jbod

figured maybe it would be better to start my own thread on this.
so i bought it about 10 days ago. the kid wanted $7500, but said he would take $7000 cause he wouldn't be needing it when he transfers to a college further away. very impressed, but have one question just one thing i'm a little worried about. rather than make a new topic i figured i would ask here. found things on chirping while doing a search, but i'm still torn.


i usually let the car warm up until the blue lights goes off at least if it's the first time i drive it all day. for the first few minutes after i get going only when in gear i hear a slight chirp. i also hear it for the first few minutes when accelerating. after 2 or 3 minutes it stops. i can't pinpoint if it's coming from the belt or if it's slightly behind that, and underneath the car. i've heard similar noises with exhaust leaks. i was just hoping this isn't a transmission problem? think my corolla may have done this, but i forgot. like i said it's a slight, and quiet chirp. it's not a very loud squeal. should i be worried or not? is this common with these cars? it's in gear when idling, and accelerating for the first few minutes. it's also not loud enough to hear if the stereo is on. this is for an 04 xb! automatic transmission!


other than that very satisfied with this car. getting at least 30 mpg on the highway, and with only 71k miles on this thing i'm hoping to keep it for 4 years, and by that time it should be to 200k miles! thanks in advance! sorry for the dumb newbie questions!

it runs great though. shifts very smoothly. the suspension is real stiff, and not the best ride quality, but i was told this before i got it so no surprise to me. very comfortable though. maybe this week i'll get a chance to sit in an hour of stop and go traffic, and i'll be glued to the seat for 3 hours! i'm very happy though. this is a damn good car for $7000. just gonna take a little getting use to it, and adapting to it. even has the 6 disc cd changer which is a plus.

SierraRomeoAlpha

Im pretty sure you just hearing the noise from the throttle body. I know that all if not most tC owners have a whistling noise that comes from the throttle body, i know i have it and apparently its just the way its made. I think the xB has the same engine as the tC so you having this "chirping" is most likely what i said. But i mean more details are needed, this is purely a speculation..

jbod

only does it in reverse or drive. even with my foot on the brake, and when the car is cold. i can't tell if it's coming from under the car or not or up in front. i don't really have anyone to help me do that aside from my 7 year old son, and he wouldn't know! it won't do it when it's in park, and i get out. i think it's normal, but i'm just having a hard time adapting it's like a new transition, but thanks for bearing with me.


this is the newest car i have owned. technically it isn't because i leased a 2006 dodge pickup which was my wife's when we were together. didn't drive it too often. took it to work once a week for 2 or 3 years. after the lease was up we got a 2009 corolla. i drove that to work 2 or 3 times a week for almost 6 months before we split. it didn't make many noises, but it has been in the dealership at least 4 times, and it's got around 23k miles now! so the newest i know was my 99 corolla, and my 2000 f350 which is a diesel, and the diesel engine drowns out any other noise! again thanks for bearing with me. i'm 45, and while i'd like to say i still live like i'm young i can't say the same for knowing newer cars all that well!

ajayaitch

No need to wait for the light to go out before driving. 15-20 seconds (and that's pushing it) and go. Take it easy the first couple miles though, but you're just wasting fuel otherwise.
It isn't the same engine as a TC, at least not in a 1st gen xB.
If it were mine, I would have no problem with putting the car in drive with the parking brake set and get out to check under the hood. But that's me. I probably wouldn't get under the car though. I'm gonna guess it's a belt.

jbod

haha i wouldn't get under it either! judging by searches i've done i wanna say it's the belts too. i hope so at least. after asking my best friend who is not around this week why it only does it in drive or reverse he says because it's got more load on it when in drive, and reverse. i also wanna stress again the noise isn't a really loud noise just a slight one. audible, but barely, and only with the music down. i can't think of a good one to type what the noise sounds like. it almost sounds like a little squeaking actually. hopefully it's normal cause my savings are now drained, but it was worth it! i'm hoping to get 200k highly reliable, and heavy commuting miles out of it!

ajcadoo

The tC is not the same engine. xB's share engines with xA's.

As for the chirping: it is completely normal and has been found to be caused by the belts. I have slight chirping whenever i idle at stops or whatnot. Once I am up to speed, I cant notice the sound.

However, starting a cold engine and blasting the heater causes some significant squealing. It is extremely loud within the first seconds of driving off, but eventually dissipates once the car is warm.

Our xBs do some crazy stuff when the blue light is on. You will notice that the car will not shift past gear 3 when the light is on (Dont worry, that is normal). So you may experience some extremely high RPMs on the freeway if your engine is still cold. The blue light turns off once the engine reaches 140 degrees F.

Don't worry about idling in the morning, youre just wasting fuel. Cold engines consume more fuel (approx. .50gal/hour) compared to a warm engine (approx .20gal/hour). And a cold engine with full blast heat: you could see up to .70gal/hour just by idling!

Since you are a new owner, I thought this info might help you. Good luck!

dgenem

You did not mention mileage. But I agree it is likely belts. Try a can of belt dressing and see if that helps (did for me). In the end, mine was not happy until I changed them at 90k miles. Then it was a pain getting the tension right on these.

I am guessing the engine was too small to use a belt tensioner pulley to make it easier.

jbod

72337 as of this afternoon. yes i did put over a thousand on it in a week!