I've got a whining, like a PS pump, but...

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Oct 27, 2003
Threads
482
Messages
9,873
Location
North Cadillac
I have a little video clip of the noise and will try to put it up on youtube with a link shortly.

Short story is got ready to leave for a long trip to the outer banks of NC two weekends ago, jumped in the cruiser and when i started it up, it sounded like the PS pump was whining. Checked the fluid and it was fine, so i decided to just go. Noise went away and never heard it again for the entire 4 day trip. Several times while we were camped on the beach i started the truck to charge the battery and never heard the whine noise.

Left the beach and started home, no noise. About halfway home i stopped for gas and when i pulled into the gas station i heard it again, pretty loud. I immediately thought i had a leak and was low on PS fluid, so i ran to the auto zone which was next door and purchased a bottle of ATF fluid.... opened the reservoir and it was full! No bubbles or froth.

Over the holiday i replaced the PS pump thinking that was the cause. I had a brand new one sitting on the shelf so i put it in. Absolutely no change in noise. WTF!! :o:bang:

So then i thought maybe it's the AC or the AC idler pulley, so i removed the belt from the AC and spun the AC pulley and the idle pulley by hand and they were smooth as silk. WTF! :bang:

Next i thought, maybe the nose cone on the supercharger is going bad for some reason and maybe one of the supercharger pulleys has a bad bearing.... so i pulled the SC belt off and spun everything. Everything was smooth as silk!

So now i'm confused. WTH is causing this noise?!! When i rebuilt my motor i put in a new water pump... so the water pump probably has 15,000 miles on it. The only thing i didn't pull was the alternator, but i did spray some penetrating lube on the pulley to see if it would quiet down and it didn't.

The whine increases and decreases with throttle. So either it's belt or crank driven and i'm low on options. To me, it sounds just like a noisy PS pump.
:popcorn:
 
Did you start/idle the truck as you pulled the belts? Sounds like a pulley like you said, I would remove the idler pulley and start it up see if it goes away. Then move on pulling one belt at a time until it stops. Then repair/replace the offending pulley/bearing.
 
Belts themselves have been known to make a whining noise, especially cog style belts.
 
I really appreciate all the responses!

Here is a link to the youtube video i just put up. This is AFTER the new PS pump install and it sounds just like it did before the new pump. http://youtu.be/IGztq-I1hic

To answer a few questions, i did not run the motor with the belts off the supercharger. I did run it with the belt off the AC and it still had the same sound. The belts are all OEM and they are not very old at all... 15,000 miles max and about 1.5 years old.

I have to add.... i have a stethoscope and held it up to the PS pump, block, valve cover, alternator housing, AC compressor housing.... and then it seemed to really get loud when i put it on the rear bolt on the AC idle pulley. According to the stethoscope, either the AC or the AC idle pulley seem to make the most noise. But then again, why would they be smooth and quiet to spin by hand and, if the belt is off those and they are not spinning with the motor running and the whining still persists, then it can't be them.
 
Last edited:
Did you stethoscope the SC near the belt pulley, could be SC bearing or water pump possibly. I hate to guess but one bad bearing can resonate throughout the engine block.
 
Did you stethoscope the SC near the belt pulley, could be SC bearing or water pump possibly. I hate to guess but one bad bearing can resonate throughout the engine block.

I did and it was pretty quiet.
 
With the change of the PS pump did you use all new fluid when you replaced it? Mine has been making a similar noise and in the process of changing the fluid using the turkey baster method and it has helped the noise
 
When you take the pump out you have to drain all the fluid from the reservoir down to the low pressure line and all of the fluid out of the pump. All that is left is what is in the lines to the cooler. The fluid looked brand new.

Anyone watch the video and hear the noise? Doesn't it sound like a PS pump?
 
When mine made that noise it was the power steering gear box.

Dan
 
Remove S/C belt and RUN the engine just to remove the s/c and idler from the candidate list.

Alternator is a possible suspect. Just had one fail on my heep and it was whining like a banshee above idle speed. Felt pretty smooth spinning it by hand on the bench. New one is nice and quiet.

Just because you can spin a puller/idler by hand and it seems smooth and quiet - it's a totally different situation to having a side load on the bearings due to the belt tension...

cheers,
george.
 
Watched video

I would suspect PS pump as well. Nice video BTW. does the noise change when the steering wheel is turned? When you installed the new one, did you work the steering wheel back and forth before starting to work the fluid down to the pump? If not dry starting it could burn up the new pump. Also, where is your "new pump" from? Was it actually new or re-man?
 
Poor a little water on your belts or some belt conditioner? Mine made that same annoying noise seemed temp related because it was worse when cold. Got a new OEM belt and it was super quiet for about a month. And now it is intermittent. Actually now it only does it if I am around a bunch of people and they all stare at me.

Not sure if it is the same but very easy to check. I just rebuilt and changed the pulley on my P/S pump and it seems better. Have not tried a new belt yet. Old pulley had a slight wobble which ate up the out side edges of belt and caused it to sit to far into groove?

Good luck regardless. I know how annoying it can be.

HEFE
 
Think I am on track. Took the belt off the ac and this time ran the truck. Sound was gone.

So I took off the outer pulley off and found that the shaft had cracked! Also noticed that there is some grinding in the bearings on the pulley.

Now I need find a used compressor.

image-52554625.jpg
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom