Remove the belt and variator and run it. If the noise persists then it's not related to the belt/CVT. If the noise goes away, then I would start looking at the clutch. It has two bearings.
IMPORTANT WARNING: Running the engine with the cover off is okay as long as you apply pressure to the kicker shaft so it doesn't vibrate out. If it does, the intermediate gear can vibrate out as well and it will shear off the variator guide rails rendering the variator useless. I learned that lesson the hard way.
__________________
Dave
'03 Qianjiang T&G LS 49 Bone Stock
|