David Stroud IM Roadster D posted:Alan Merklin posted:At back side of the crank pulley, there is a tin that has " tabs" at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. In the warmer ambient air temps the tin or crank pulley may be expanding few thousands and just enough for the tin to touch the back side of the pulley. The fix is to wiggle a screw driver between the two surfaces creating gap. If that doesn't resolve the issue then you are on track to remove the belt to locate the source which may be the fan lightly touching the shroud that involves a light shale and twist of the fan shroud and that may resolve it , but the correct way is to add or delete one or more of the round fan shim washers which I don't think you want to get involved with while you are in Fl.
Alan, I took a look behind the crank pulley and there's no sign of any scraping against any tin. Further research shows that there may be a chance that the cooling fan may be rubbing against the cooling housing and my test there will be to drive the car in hot conditions till the chirping starts, stop the engine, remove the fan belt as quickly as possible and turn the alt / fan by hand listening for any scraping. I probably should check that big nut at the back first to see if it has loosened in any way allowing a minor wobble.
If I do find chirping by turning by hand, info shows that the fan can be shimmed back a bit which looks like a simple but tedious task. Any idea where to get such a shim ? Would they be a common hardware store item or a dedicated VW part?
Again, there is no chirping when the engine runs on startup. Just very pronounced when the engine is completely warmed up in warm to hot ambient temps. Thanks.