Hi, I have a chirping noise coming from the engine bay area. This is present on start and even after prolonged driving. It seems quite loud and can be heard clearly from inside the cabin.
I have read about the clutch release fork greasing as a fix. How much effort would this be for a garage to fix?
Front OS wheel off and grease it yourself presumably if it’s the slave cylinder rod end that needs a little lube.
Apart from that maybe an auxiliary belt pulley/tensioner making the noise? Not sure or remember the set up on the Mk2.
Use a length of rubber pipe to pinpoint where the noise is coming from
It could be an auxiliary belt misaligned or an alternator or water pump bearing.
The clutch would only make a noise when operating the clutch.
If you push the clutch down and there is a constant nasty noise until you release the clutch pedal again,
that would be the clutch release bearing.
Grease would only be any use if operating the clutch pedal produces a noise with engine off
I had a chirp exactly like you describe on my 2001 1.8 which turned out to be from the clutch slave cylinder - fork joint.
You should be able to confirm it’s this by pressing the clutch and the chirp going away. As mentioned it will just need greasing, the heavier the better. I used motorcycle chain grease which is almost like a wax when cold. I don’t remember it being hard at all to get to.
That was nearly three years ago and the chirp hasn’t come back since.
Thanks guys. I have had the clutch done not many months ago so I know it’s fine. Is this something that the garage didn’t do properly or is it not a part of that job? Thanks!
This one is a little of topic but does anyone an idea of what this blue wire is for (see image) ? On my car it’s cut with the metal wire showing (taped it up)
nbwindow-06.jpg (600×400) (revlimiter.net)
Felt like a bit of a waste starting a whole new topic for it. Thanks
If it is the chirp that goes away/changes when pressing and releasing the clutch, this wouldn’t be part of the job. I gather it’s just a quirk of an MX-5, and the mechanic wouldn’t necessarily know about this specific quirk. A quick, albeit short lived, fix is looking into the engine bay from the drivers side (from the wing), getting some to press and release the clutch, and spraying a squirt of WD40 on the part you can see moving. But as above, a blob of grease on this part is much more effective, and easy to do yourself.
Thanks. Since the noise does not disappear when depressing or releasing clutch, I am almost convinced its a belt. I changed the timing belt and water pump less than a year ago so I don’t think its any of those, although I did have to have the timing belt adjusted as it started squeaking - its been fine since. It could be aux belt related in this case. I’ve have a look cheers.
I found out the blue wire is for the Emergency Brake switch which explains why I’ve never had the handbrake light illuminate on my dash haha
Someone on here recently had a noisy belt because they put the washers etc back in the wrong order, so the belt was misaligned
