My beloved 960 squeals in cold morning for about 1 minute. The duration depends on how cold it is. The noise is from the top, either the power steering pump or the intake cam. The cam seal and all the timing belt area look clean and dry. I installed a new serpentine belt yesterday and found the steering pump and everything else rotate fine. The power steering fluid stands still while engine is running. Shouldn't it be circulating? I'm out of clue. Any suggestion is appreciated.
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'96 960

I just want to thank you all and report back to you how the job went. I followed the instruction from FAQ and did both the idler and tensioner pulley. They both leaked grease, wobbled a little, and were reluctant to rotate. The water pump rotated freely and had no signs of leaking. The tensioner looked clean; but after I compressed it, I saw a little oil around the rod. I would encourage all 960 owner's replace both items asap if yours is around 120000 miles on the odometer. By the way, both parts came with the vehicle were made by INA.


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'96 960

You are one fortunate person: had these failed, your engine would have been toast.

Hi all, I have a 95 960 doing exactly the same thing - squeal in the morning. Buy I had the idler pullet, tensioners, timing belt, and serpentine belt replaced les ttwo years ago. Are we sure it is the idler pully? Could it be any other item?

When changing the timing belt (especially if it has not been done for awhile or you don't know when it was done) look at doing everything connected to it water pump, idler pulley etc.

You are smart to get it fixed right away. As my mechanic explained it to me, although my car only has 140,000 on it, at 11 years it's getting to the point where the car is worth less money than what it would cost (BIG $$$$) to repair then engine damage if the timing belt breaks. It would be a shame since the engine still runs fantastic (super smooth and powerful, the interior is still beautiful and the car should have at least another 100K left. Poor design that would rendor the car essentially worthless because of a $30.00 part!

It could be a timing belt ideler or pullie-take no chances here-get it too someone who knows as once-that timing belt goes and your looking at 3 grand to get up and running again.
Poolman

I has this same noise on my '97 965: squealing for a minute or so upon a cold start-up in the morning. It was one of the idler pulleys for the timing belt. The mechanic showed me the old one after he replaced it: it was nearly seized and took great effort to turn it at all. Don't take any chances here! If it seizes and lets go, it can take everything with it, including the timing belt.

Thanks for your advice. I thought I could wait until 14k to do the idler pulley, together with the timing belt and water pump. I'll get it done asap.
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'96 960

I concur, DO NOT WAIT.

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 077,400 and 1995 964 154,100

A silly question:
To line up the timing marks, should I rotate the crankshaft pulley clockwise or counter clockwise? Will I damage anything if it is rotated in the wrong direction?
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'96 960

You can rotate it in either direction to line up the timing marks.

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 077,400 and 1995 964 154,100