Whining noise, from ~600-1800rpms (1 Viewer)

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J

Jackson Sanders

Joined
Jan 26, 2015
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11
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138
Location
CA/TX
2000 LX470, 134k

I few weeks back, at the end of a 4 hour road trip going home for the holidays, my truck started making a whining sound from idle (600rpm-ish) up to around 1800rpm-ish. I'm not sure if it goes away after 1800rpms, or if the engine noise covers it up. Definitely goes 'up and down' with the rpms of the motor. I've been driving with the noise for the past few weeks daily.

I've searched all over, and I can't for the life of me figure out what it is. I've ran a stethoscope all over it and I can't pin point it. I went ahead and replaced the serpentine belt, idler pulley, and tensioner pulley as I notice they were showing signs of wear, but replacing those parts made no difference.

Anybody else ever have this issue or have any ideas what it could be? I don't like listening to the noise, and I travel a lot for work and don't want to wait for whatever it is to break at an inopportune time. I found one thread where the PO had what sounds like the exact same issue, but a resolution was never posted and he couldn't recall what fixed the issue when I reached out to him.

If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears!

--
Jackson
 
Ohh, I thunk I have the same thing. When you say high pitch you mean like my wife's supercharger, like, super high pitched, right?
 
Does it make the noise when in park or only moving or both. If it is only when moving, I would suspect transfer case or differential.
 
Yeah, now that you mention it, the noise is very comparable to that of a supercharger whine at lower rpms
 
Alternators tend to whine a little when they're about to crap out. Take your stethoscope and put it on the alternator casing.
 
In park, turn the wheel in both directions. If noise increases, change the power steering fluid. Take hoses off of reservoir, drain and refill. Worked for me. I found that gem on here but cannot remember who to give the credit to.
 
My WAG is the fan bracket pulley. That can get whiney and I think that was the source of engine rpm related noise in mine. It's no fun to replace because of the bottom bolt, but it may be worth it. T-belt/waterpump done? And do the PS flush suggested above first.
 
I've examined the alternator with the stethoscope and can't find any indications that the noise is coming from the alternator... The whine doesn't get better or worse as I turn the wheels, and it doesn't sound like the typical power steering groan. This noise is a little higher pitched. Power steering fluid appears to be in good shape, at the proper level with no discoloration.

Sand, can you elaborate on the fan pulley bracket? Also, when I had the belt off changing out the serpentine belt a few weeks ago, I spun all the accessory pulleys as hard as I could looking for any sign of what could be making this noise, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No bearings seemed dry or loose other than the idler and tensioner pulley, which were both replaced (both sounded dry).

The timing belt and water pump was replaced by PO at 86k in 2011.
 
maybe the alternator.

Or, silly as it sounds, maybe turn your stereo off and see if it goes away?
I had this and it was a ground loop in my stereo system.

i guess it's my transfer case that whines like you describe between idle-2000 rpms, but that only happens moving when it's cold out, before the truck warms up, which they say is normal.
 
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Power steering flush is good PM. If never been flushed with synthetic it will quiet down, and a little more with subsequent flushes. It may not solve your issue, but reducing engine sounds one by one as you've been doing can certainly help.

For fan clutch try spindling the fan by hand just after turning off a warmed up engine. You should fell some back pressure/resistance, that will reduce the more you spin. It will also wobble a bit, but should be tight with resistance. While doing this watch fan bracket for lateral movement, none should be observed. You're stethoscope can be useful here as well.

Double check that alternator with stethoscope.

How's your transmission fluid, I like flushing every 20k to 30K miles with M1 AFT.

Are the brake & AHC pumps shutting down as normal.

Check all vacuum lines including PCV valve, grommet and hoses. You may also like to do a smoke test looking for leaks in intake and exhaust. Air leaks are not usually associated with a whine but if you've exhausted all else..

Make sure the sound is not coming from cabin. As pointed out above make sure radio is off as well as both cabin fan, and that sound is not coming from under the seat(s) Isolate the area of sound is very useful. I had one 01 LX that had whine that seem to come from passage side that was more noticeable the long I drove. Never really look for it, so don't no what it was.

With all you've done, all that this thread has suggested and assume it's a well maintained rig, sometimes you just have to wait.
 
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I did the power steering flush today, man there was a surprising amount of junk that came out of the reservoir, but it didn't seem to make any difference under the hood. I'm going to do another flush in a month or two just to try and work more junk out of the system, but I don't think the power steering fluid is responsible for the noise I'm trying to hunt down.

The noise is definitely coming from under the hood. There is no way this is a vacuum leak. AHC and brakes are acting normal. I did notice that the noise seems like it is ever so slightly louder on the passenger side.

There was no play in the fan clutch, I inspected it closely just a few weeks ago while changing the serpentine belt.

Hopefully I can get this figured out soon, it's driving me crazy driving around with this noise everyday.
 
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See if pitch changes with electrical draws (headlights H & L, radio, front, rear cabin fans , etc..) off then on. If so it would point to generator (aka alternator)

You're on right path full flushing PS a few time. It's really helps to get that noise out of the way.
 
I had this exact situation happen to our LX in early December. I was convinced it was the power steering system and gave it a very thorough flush, but to no avail. After 2 weeks having the whine, I got a call from my wife that she could not start the truck. Well I managed to get it started and drove to the parts store and had the battery, starter, and alternator tested and the alternator was in fact bad. I replaced it and the whine was gone.

I would recommend that you have alternator tested.
 
94SRUNNER said:
I had this exact situation happen to our LX in early December. I was convinced it was the power steering system and gave it a very thorough flush, but to no avail. After 2 weeks having the whine, I got a call from my wife that she could not start the truck. Well I managed to get it started and drove to the parts store and had the battery, starter, and alternator tested and the alternator was in fact bad. I replaced it and the whine was gone.

I would recommend that you have alternator tested.
Click to expand...

Do you have any tips on alternator replacement? Did you find any write-ups? I need to do this to my wife's car this weekend.
 
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