whats that noise?!?!?!?

[Johnyd2]

Alright im driving my 97 camaro today V6 5 speed with 103000 miles, and i noticed that its starting to sounds a little whiny, almost like a whistle as i am accelerating. I didnt think anything of it until something underneath the hood sounded like it was scraping against metal, almost a high pitched squeal. The car sounds like that in all gears. The squeal starts around 30 mph, but the whistle is pretty constant at all speeds getting louder with the load. This sound and where its coming from is pretty hard to explain.. so if anyone has any ideas please send em out.

Ps- the whine isnt the PS pump as i changed it out 3 weeks go.
THank you very much

[Dave M]

altenator?

[Christopherrr]

3.8 are known to whine quite a bit. There is a thread one the forum about it. Quite a few of the regulars here are 3.8 owners. I heard it's belt whine is the usual culprit.

[Johnyd2]

yeah ive read that the 3.8's are whiny.. but this is unmistakenly a noise that is not ordinary. I was thinking the alternator, but does it make a "metal on metal" shrill and somewhat of a grind that i am hearing, because the niose seems to be coming from the passenger side of the engine bay.

I really think that it could be the A/C or the alternator because my accesories have been going out one by one since july. So it seems logical that these were next. I'm just not familiar with the symptoms i am having right now.

[Injuneer]

Is there a tensioner pulley on the V6 serpentine belt? That's the first place I would check.

[Christopherrr]

that reminds me...when we working a 3.8 camaro, we noticed a whine and sqweaking coming from one of the pulleys...pulled and cleaned it and no more whine or sqweaking.

I recommend what injuneer said...check the tensioner...I believe its right under the altenator. make sure it's still loading the belt and check the pulley for dirt that might be causing it to whine and sqweaking.

[Johnyd2]

alright heres the run down... i spent some time under the hood and driving the car around today since it was nice out... heres a list if things that seem to be troubling me.

1. constant ticking noise, possibly one of the fuel injectors, its seems louder than normal, maybe a disconnected plug wire (ill wait for night to hit and see if i am catching a ground from someplace).

2. the metallic squeal i hear seems to be contducting itself from either a heating vent or the trans shifter inside the car... it seems impssible to tell since its faint most of the time but gets louder.

2a. The metallic noise ( sounds like friction) is apparent between 35 and around 60ish mph, in any gear.
2b. The noise is louder as i accelrate, gets softer a i let off the throttle, and appears to be gone ( to the ear) when i press in the clutch.
2c. The driveshaft doesnt jump at all so the u-joints are most likely fine.
2d. The car shifts fine, and stays in gear at varying degrees of accelration.
2e. the trans mount is broken for a while as my shifter vibrates and shakes a bit (but this has been a old problem).
2f. i went under to clean the gunk off the trans and whatnot, things are leaking slightly, but nothing horribly... i didnt find some fresh oil coming from someplace?!?!?

3. The alternator does sounds whinyer than usual, but i dont think it is the cause of this mess.

4. The serpine belt is in good condition and the noises arent constant, so i dont think its a ideler pulley issue....

I'm so sorry for all this, this must be confusing to comprehend, as it is confusing to me and im here first hand. Any input is awesome, considering i dont have the cash to take it somewhere unless completely nessicary. I am a broke college student living on student loans.

[Johnyd2]

well i took the car to a shop. So for all of those intrested the diagnoises is the tranny mount was getting worse and needed to be changed. Hopefully the noise will go away... if anyone is really intrested ill post up later and give you an update.

[Johnyd2]

Once again for all those whom may be intrested i got my car back from the shop and the new tranny mount made a huge difference. Besides my manual shift hold in firm place now, my car handles thrust a whole lot better, and the car itself sounds meaner. Everything feels very firm and solid. Its like a whole new car, the shop said that the trans aligment was getting pretty bad and i was running the risk of snapping the back end of the tranny under a heavy load. Im real happy with the results.
As for the whinning, before i change anythig out im gonna take your guy's advice. Ill clean out the pulleys and give the S-belt a good examaination, just have to wait until it gets somewhat warm out.

[TraceZ]

Remove the S-belt and start the engine. Dont let it run too long without the water pump running.

Listen for the noise.

If it is gone, you now know it is related to the belt and accessories.

shut off the engine

Turn the accessories/pulleys by hand and see if you can tell which one is causing it. Clean all the pulleys with a solution of hot water and dishwashing soap or simple green.