There is an annoying whining sound coming from the serpentine belt area.
I changed the alternator and waterpump but still getting that sound.
It gets louder when I rev the engine. To eliminate most possiblities, I removed the serpentine belt and the noise is still there. What the heck can it be? Harmonic Balancer??

 

I have a 91 RS, 305 TBI, Automatic

 

timming chain ? oil pressure ok?

 

Your wife's not in the car is she?

 

how does the belt look? is it shinney - and slipping a little?
try using some belt squeek stop - dont remember the exact name.

maybe you just need a new belt?

 

I took the belt off completely and it's still making the sound. Tomorrow I will look into the Harmonic Balancer see if it's touching the timing cover.

 

check for air in your power steering system. even with the belt off the pump will whine if there is air. run the engine up to about 1500-2000rpm(with the belt on) and turn your steering wheel from lock to lock holding it for about 10-15 seconds each side. Do this for about 5 or ten minutes and see if that helps. one way you can tell if it is air is look for bubbles in your power steering fluid after you try the above.

 

That makes sense. I will try that when I get out of work.

 

with the belt off the pump will not spin thus no pressure. i would be looking to find exactly where the noise is coming from. if it does it without a belt-then it has nothing to do with accessories. it will have to be in the engine. a timing chain or oil pressure is where i would start. buy a stethiscope and locate the noise area down pretty close. then let us know. also did you check the pcv valve. i have had one of them whistle and was hard to find. is the smog still on? make sure alll the hoses are connected tightly.

 

just throwing this out there but do u have an electric fuel pump up front that u could be hearing? Not sure if you have had this car long or just bought it but a fuel pump can produce a whining noise. Does it disappear at higher rpms or is it all the time?

 

I had a whining sound coming from my car a few years ago and I replaced the alternator, air pump and tensioner with no luck. It turned out to be a cracked vacuum hose that connects to the pumpkin ball accumulator for the cruise control under the left front fenderwell, in front of the tire.

 

if you haven't even touch the power steering i would start with that like cherrybombZ28 mentioned, you could just be low on ps fluid also.

 

not sure why people are pointing to the power steering. if the belt is off then the pump is not turning. that means there is no pressure. at that point it could be empty or removed from the car and it would not make a difference. the accessories are out of the picture without a belt. it makes the noise still without the belt.

 

lol your i guess this is what i get for post late at night sorry about that

 

Originally Posted by cherrybombZ28
check for air in your power steering system. even with the belt off the pump will whine if there is air. run the engine up to about 1500-2000rpm(with the belt on) and turn your steering wheel from lock to lock holding it for about 10-15 seconds each side. Do this for about 5 or ten minutes and see if that helps. one way you can tell if it is air is look for bubbles in your power steering fluid after you try the above.


I tried that and the power steering pressure hose started leaking. I only turned the wheel left to right for about 3 minutes. I am thinking it was getting old.

 

There is no electric fuel pump and the car is still making the noise. My father in law keeps suggesting is in the damper/pulley (crankshaft) area.
I will check the pcv valve and the cruise control accumulator. The cruise control accumulator, is it on the right side of the car (if you are looking under the hood)? I think I can get a stethescope from my bro to pinpoint the problem. Thanks for your help.

 

Maybe the timing tab is rubbing on the balancer. Had that happen before and it is an annnoying sound. Like fingernails on a chalk board.

 

If you are sitting in the driver's seat, it is just in front of the left front tire. You will not see it from above. You have to look from underneath.

 

Did the crack OD accumalator hose affect your overdrive? Cause mine takes its time to catch the overdrive. I still gotta look to see if it's cracked though.

 

No, but I did have a speedometer sensor gear go out and before it got to the point where I noticed it on the speedometer (were the needle was erratic), the torque converter lock-up was cycling in and out. The gear was only about $20 from the dealer and it took a few minutes to change on the left side of the transmission tail housing.

The leak on my cruise control accumulator was right where the hose connected to the bottom and it was fairly obvious once I got under there and listened for it. I don't know why I just started throwing parts at it presuming that it was something belt-driven. I'll just chalk that up as preventative maintenance.

 

Oh Sh&t, I have no cruise control accumulator!! There is nothing there but a hose coming down. That hose is connected to a "T" connector and is going down where the accumulator is suppose to be and just dangling there. I did put a screw in the hose so no air would escape. I am still getting the noise though.

 

Maybe you have a vacuum leak somewhere else. Have you tried idling the engine and spraying a can of starting fluid around in the engine compartment to see if the rpm fluctuates anywhere around the intake or vacuum lines? I have found that this will usually locate the vacuum leak. Are you low on transmission fluid? Maybe that's what's causing the noise.

 

I also have a whining sound at the front of the engine, but now that cherrybombZ28 pointed the power steering fluid problem that makes more sense. The whining happens when I'm manouvering the car at low rpms or when the wheel is fully turned. It happens sometimes when I'm on a straight line.

 

Is it a whine or a whistle? Some aftermarket air cleaners can make the whistle of air passing through the throttle body bores quite loud. Its not too bad with a stock air cleaner because they dampen the noise quite a bit, but some aftermarket open element filters can be pretty bad. Does the sound get louder if you take the air cleaner off while the engine is running?