I have an intermittent bearing noise from the wife's 1997 V90 with 223k miles. The noise often starts immediately after starting the car, and sometimes stops when the car warms up, or ignition is switched off and restarted. It sounds like a bearing squealing or scraping sound. Definitely rotational, varies with engine speed. Tried to pinpoint the sound under the hood, but it is intermittent and noise could not be isolated to one specific area or component. I can't get the car to reliably reproduce the noise.

Timing belt and allegedly tensioner, water pump, and idler pulleys were done by reputable indie shop at 205k miles. I pulled the cover a few weekends ago and everything looked new. T-belt did not show glazing or any sign of slipping that might be expected with bad tensioner or idler pulley. However, I did not slacken the belt tension to check the idler pulley or tensioner for free rotation. Listened to the t-belt area with a stethoscope (hose) and everything sounded smooth and normal. Would intermittent noise be typical of tensioner or idler pulley failure?

I replaced the serpentine belt, tensioner, and idler pulley about 500 miles ago (did not solve problem). At that time, I noticed some detectable play in the power steering pump pulley. Could this be the source of the noise? PS pulley and all other components driven off serpentine belt appeared to spin freely with no noise.

Any opinions are welcome. Wondering if I should just replace the timing belt tensioner and idler as a precaution. If it was a 240, I would not worry quite as much, but as any t-belt issue with this car can be catastrophic, it concerns me greatly.

Thanks in advance.

-Andy R.