Whitey won't stop whining!!!

[TwistedCU]

NEED Help on 2 part problems.

I'm not sure what's causing it, but I'm getting a pretty loud whine from under the hood. It is definately not the transmission ot transfer case, because it does it idling and increases speed/pitch when I give her a little gas. At first my thoughts were that I screwed up a main bearing, but I'm pretty sure now that it's toward the front, like the clutch fan or water pump. I just canged the oil and it looked pretty clean. I'm not sure what I got here...???

 

[TwistedCU]

Oh, yeah. No loss of power and the Jeep runs great.

 

[Jeepr89]

T-case question???

ck the alt, ac, anything that is an accessory that spins. Could be a bearing in the alt going out or something along those lines.

 

[TwistedCU]

No AC. No power steering. It's either the fan, the alt, water pump, or something expensive. I just wouldn't know how to isolate them to find out where it is coming from.

 

[far_right]

No power steering

i kinda thought that was a myth that YJs could come w/o PS.... i think TJs can come w/o it too,but ive never heard of one.... ok back to the topic.... im rambling

 

[Jeepr89]

try to get your hands on a stethiscope like the doctors use and move it around until the sound is the loudest this will help you narrow down your problem. Your local autoparts store should have something along these lines.

 

[brian4.2]

Fan hitting the shroud? Been out thrashing it lately? We did some motor mounts recently when the fan was scraping the plastic.

 

[Snitty]

just by guessing.. i'm gonna go with the alternator... mine has been whining for 2 years now

 

[Craig]

Could it be the fan belt? I remember when mine first went I was almost positive it wasn't the fan belt because it sounded like a metal to metal sort of screeching sound but sure enough, it was the belt. I thought for sure I had a bad bearing somewhere. It seems like I go through a new fan belt every 6 months or so.

 

[TwistedCU]

Yes, I went wheeling Saturday and I played hard! Lots of water, mud, and bumps. The serpentine belt is new. The fan is centered and not hitting anything. Listening to it last night, I'm pretty confident it is not inside the engine. I guess I'm living with it till something gives.

 

[jay89]

They sell a spray called belt dressing. Spray it on the belts. If the sound goes away thats it .

 

[hi_c]

I agree. It's probably the belts. I spray belt dressing on my belts once a month. It quiets things down a bit. *whining* is a pretty generic noise... can you better describe it? Is it high pitched?

C

 

[jps4jeep]

Belt dressing is so messy! and should be applied with the belt off the vehicle!

 

[stacker46]

Just had the same thing on my 98 Dadge... Turned out to be a bearing in the Water pump... changed it out, good as new. I didn't realize how load it was until I got it changed out and all was quite.

Try taking the belt off, and turning the water pump alone to see if it makes any noise. This way you can try to isolate it without going to the trouble of pulling the pump off.

Good luck...

 

[MOngo1970]

If you cant find belt dressing...I keep an old bar of soap in my tool box and apply it liberaly to the belt (carefully) when it's running. It kills the whine for a few days. Also take a peek at your pulleys to make sure they are all straight. I had a annoying whine after a "fun session" and noticed that the pulley on top of the motor had turned just a little and bade the belt whine.

Mongo

 

[Craig]

If you went wheeling where there's lots of mud and water, you might have spun your belt and glazed it over. That could be why you're now getting the noise. A much cleaner way of seeing if it's your belt is to take a piece of chalk and while it's running, very carefully put chalk on the belt. It'll stop it from slipping long enough to tell if it's the belt.

 

[TwistedCU]

If I remove the belt, and started the engine for a brief period, that wouldn't screw anything up, would it? Other than getting hot fast, I wouldn't think it would damage anything if I turned it off after a few seconds. That would at least isolate the problem to be external or internal. Anybody see a reason to not do this?

 

[redrooster]

Take the belt off and start the engine. Let it run for just a minute. It won't overheat. If the whining stops with the belt off then it is the belt or somehing driven by the belt. With the belt off (and the engine) reach down there and spin all of your pulleys. If a bearing is bad then it will turn rough or feel loose. Especially check the belt tensioner (idler) if it has one.
To test the fan clutch, you can use a rolled up newspaper with the engine running (and the belt on) stick it in there and see if it will stop the fan. If so then it is bad.

 

[TwistedCU]

No power steering

i kinda thought that was a myth that YJs could come w/o PS.... i think TJs can come w/o it too,but ive never heard of one.... ok back to the topic.... im rambling

I think it gives the 4cly a little more pep, but it will work you when 4wheelin!!! I don't miss power steering.

 

[TwistedCU]

I finally had both the time and dry weather to pull the belt off! Well, with the belt removed, my motor sounds fine . I spun the pulleys, fan and alternator, and everything but the water pump was quiet. Sounds like I have a bad bearing in it. Good call to a couple of you! Unless it goes up I'm going to just deal with the noise, but I am relieved to know the motor is okay!!!