My car has developed a strange whine whistle sound. Sounds like a slipping belt. Havent ruled out the belts yet but I'm pretty sure its not them. The whistle/whine is directly related to engine speed, whether in neutral or drive, and the sounds come on when you immediately start the engine. It seems to be coming from the power steering area but I cant be for certain. Whenever I listen out for it I poke my head all over the engine bay but cant localize it to save my life.
Any ideas?
Thanks
CD
Spray some water on the belts with the engine running. If the noisy goes away for a few seconds then it's time to replace them. Also, have you checked your P/S fluid level?
Thanks guys.
I did the water test, still whistling/whining. PS fluid was on the low side but not below the minimum. I topped it off. Still whislting/whining.
Later I remembered a suggestion someone made of using a hose to isolate sounds coming from the engine. I tried that and it seems to be the pulley next to the alternator. To verify, I drowned it in WD-40, on the back side not much happened, but on the front side where the bolt fastens it, the sound definitely decreased and even got quite muffled as I sprayed.
I gather then, that I need to remove the belts, take the pulley apart lubricate its innards and put it all back together. Is that a good move or should I do something else?
CD
The idler pulley has bearings, replace it.
I have the same problem with Nissan Maxima 96: when engine is started, there is a whistling sound, which is dependant from how strong is a belt tension: the less tension of a belt, the longer (up to 5 sec) sound. It is not pulley - I stopped it by stick it completly with loose belt without success. I found, that the belt axis ajustment is required, look at:
Willshak wrote:
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