Picked up a 2000 B5, 1.8 quattro, auto, with 125k on ebay for 1300!!! bucks. Its alot slower then the B6 but couldn't pass up the deal

Mechanically everything is great except for an exhaust leak and this sound. It's a pretty high pitch whine and seems to be coming from the compressor or some pulley. Anyone have an idea?

 

Does it only happen on start up and go away shortly after? Sounds like the SAI pump. I just ripped mine out becausefuckthatthing

 

It's a hair louder when first starting up but can be heard even if I drive 4 hours straight. Changes a bit with engine speed so it must be something related to a pulley

 

completely agree with cca4 on the pump, but there does seem to be a pulley howling as well. with that level of noise, it should be fairly easy to figure out. pull the tensioner for the serp belt and spin the pulleys. you dont need to get to service position one to do this.


cca4, what did you do to remove the sai?// because seriouslyfuckthatthing

 

If you still hear it after driving that long, it isn't the SAI pump.

I ripped out the pump and all the associated plumbing, blocked the hole in the head with a SAI blockoff plate and got a tune with SAI check coded out. That's the only way to do it, unfortunately.

 

Sounds like its coming from the pulley on the compressor. Haven't done alot of work on a 1.8 but I remember the nightmares of 3.0 and 4.2 B6's

 

whered you get the tune?

 

The AC compressor? Could be the compressor is bad or just the clutch.

 

The first thing I would do with that noise is remove the serpentine belt and run the engine to see if the noise goes away. You don't have to pull the belt all of the way out. Restringing that thing can be a real pain. Just release the tension and slip it off one of the pulleys. If the noise stops, (engine off) reach in and spin each of the pulleys by hand. If you find one that is not buttery smooth, then you've got it. My money is on the tensioner pulley. When I still had a 2.8L, the bearing failed and made a similar noise. You can replace just the pulley if it turns out to be the culprit.