Whining noise

[B192734]

I have a 2000 cherokee w/ I-6. Lately there has been a slight whining when started up. I figured maybe a belt was slightly loose or something. But when I started up this morning to head out to work, it was louder than normal and didn't go away. Normally it whines for about 10-15 seconds. It whined the entire way to work. I have no idea what this is, and am slightly worried about it (standard worry about odd noises...). It's somehow connected to the speed of the jeep because I can hear it raise and lower in volume and pitch depending on the speed. Any ideas? I suspect that my power steering may be going, but could that be the cause? It makes the noise even when going straight. I have no idea here. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

How many miles on the jeep?

Sounds like either the idler pulley or PS pump, for starters.

Does it make the sound while idling, in P?

 

[B192734]

It has about 60K miles on it. I'm not totally sure about it making the noise when just sitting, but when it's out on the road and I come to a stop sign orsomething it does stop. Then as soon as I start moving again it's there.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Since it's only when moving, it's likely the centering ball in the CV joint (really a double-cardan joint) in the front driveshaft. Remove the front driveshaft and see if the noise goes away.

A temporary fix is to get some grease into that centering ball with a needle fitting. The best fix is to rebuild the CV joint, preferably with a yoke that has a grease fitting for the centering cup.

 

[B192734]

So it's definitely only when I am moving. I was going to stop at the mechanic's yesterday and see what they thought, but as I was getting ready to take the exit, it stopped. I didn't hear the whining on the way to work today. I talked to the mechanic on the phone, and he thought that it may be the brakes. They put new ones on about a month ago, and he said that sometimes they get something in them and they make noise.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

The front driveshaft can destroy the transfer case if this problem goes unchecked, I've replaced many transfer cases because of it.

 

[jakbob]

it shouldnt be the brakes because it squeaks when it starts up...brakes would only squeak when you are moving..

 

[B192734]

That's kind of what I figured. I took it out with the mechanic, and he couldn't really tell anything. He said that he could hear something every once in a while, but nothing definite. He also said possibly a wheel bearing, but not for sure. So he said to wait on it and see if it gets more pronounced. I grabbed a needle fitting for my grease gun and I'm going to tackle that today. So we'll see if that makes it go away or not.

 

[xjpioneer]

check your belt for any cracks or fray and if so replace it.