danbrazda

Been trying to chase down what is whining under my 2001 WS6's hood. My latest suspicion is the alternator. Help me see if I'm missing something: whining sound increases volume with rpms. Whining is there most of the time (80%) but not always. All lights and gauges, especially the voltmeter, flicker and bounce most of the time. I'm guessing bad diodes in the alternator but would that explain the whining?

99ls1zam

Probably not much help but i have heard a corvette sounding like it was supercharged with all the whining goin on , turns out it was just a pulley??

WSsick

iTrader: (13)

Pop the hood and get real close to each pulley. See if the sound is coming strongest from one of them. Could also be a belt. The flickering thing is kind of strange though. If your alternator was going bad, your volts would be lower and you'd have issues with it staying charged.


If you could get a video that might help.

Nando92

hmm i kind of have the same problem
Only when im on the highway going passed 55mph and rpms above 2,500
It kind of sounds like i have a supercharger but all my gauges are perfectly fine

ls1ya

iTrader: (2)

But any chance are you smelling any coolant or overheating any. Mine waterpump went out and it sounds like a s/c at first but it gets worse but going to get it changes out today

danbrazda

VERY hard to tell exactly where it is coming from but it seems to be from the alternator area. I pulled the belts (and replaced them) and gave all the pulleys a spin but heard nothing. I checked EXHAUSTIVELY for vacuum leaks but found none. Ruled out the AC because it makes the sound even with the AC belt off. There's a possibility the whine (yes it does sound like a supercharger) and the flickering lights/voltmeter aren't related.

Auto Meter Voltmeter in car shows about 13.5-14 when driving and drops to about 13 at idle. Flickering needle is only noticeable at idle.

danbrazda

Car never gets hotter than 205 in hot temps and stop and go. Normal running temp is about 180.

danbrazda

Car will sit 5-10 days at time and start easily in freezing temps. When I do drive it it's a couple hundred miles a pop and has no problem recharging.

WSsick

iTrader: (13)

Pull the belt off and start the car for a couple seconds. It won't hurt anything as logn as the coolant is cool to begin with. If you don't hear it, you know that it is one of the accessory pulleys.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

The flickering volt meter is not normal, none of mine do that. However, alternators do fail in several different ways, and sometimes they'll still charge the battery enough to seem OK even when they're on the way out. When the alternator began to fail on my '02 car I had no battery drainage issues, but I did have minor surging of all the lights and a flickering needle, like you described. It was not whining though.

It sounds like you've done a pretty thorough inspection of the belt systems and ruled out the A/C system for sure. This leaves you with items related to the main belt only (P/S, water pump, alternator, idler & tensioner pullies). I would say the idler & tensioner pullies are least likely to be your issue, since they usually squeak rather than whine.

My '02 car has a bit of whine coming from the power steering pump when it's cold. I can sometimes hear it get a bit louder when driving. It's not really noticeable at idle unless it's very cold outside though.

Scoobysnacks

iTrader: (1)

I have the same problem and people are telling me it may be the power steering pump. My fluid was a little low so I topped it off and it got a little better. It doesnt leak or anything, just sounds like *** and I'll replace it when it lets go

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Thats not only dumb, it's dangerous......And lastly, it won't work.

Good day.

WSsick

iTrader: (13)

I didn't mean like 5 inches from each pulley. Don't want the kid to get slapped by the belt if it snapped. Just close enough to tell where it's coming from

SOMbitch

iTrader: (8)

Put it on ramps and listen to it from the bottom where the alternator is located and see if that will pinpoint it.....

00blkz28

exaclty what my 00 z is doing. ive done water pump, alternator and removed ac. also has new belt.could be power steering pump but i have my doubts. harmonic has junk paint marks on it so im leaning that way....but it needs a oil gasket soon so im waitn to make sure nothing internal before i do ps or harmonic. i hate this noise. so annoying. only does it after car is warmed up to temp and most noticable above 1000rpm. sound pretty close to what yours is doing danbrazda?

Crashz28

Check the idler pulleys by the alternator and powersteering pump I think there is 2 mine whined like a supercharger it started off intermented then got worse everybody thought I had a supercharger under the hood. Get you a screwdriver or a mechanics stethiscope and listen to every accessory and that will pinpoint your issue, but dont stop at the 1st one thats making a racket listen to all of them including the idler pulleys. The flickering guage could be a loose ground!!!

Tim94gt

iTrader: (2)

Go to the parts store and get yourself a pair of "mechanics ears" like these:



It will help pinpoint where the noise is coming from.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

And the reason I know it wont work is bc I have tried it before.

00blkz28

i have done the screwdriver trick...(do it at work all the time lol) after 5hrs of fighting finally got the oil pan off. so far havnt found anything obvioiuse. had a ? though. how much play can the timing chain have? it has 100000 miles. ive got just a hair over 1/8in before it turns the engine over both ways. anybody know?