Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Loud whirring from accessories?

I went away for a few days last weekend and left my car parked in our driveway, which has a pretty steep incline. Got in Tuesday to go to work and when I started it there were no problems. When I started it up to go home at the end of the day, this hideous whirring sound came from the engine. I immediately stopped it and opened the hood. Nothing seemed amiss, so I started it back up again; no sounds. Drove it home and parked it. Wednesday going to and from work I didn't notice any sounds. Then this morning I started it up and the sound was there. I popped the hood and I could pinpoint the sound to the left side of the engine before it went away. Right before I shut off the car at the end of my commute I could faintly hear the noise once again.

My first guess would be the power steering pump, since that's where the noise seemed like it was coming from. I should also point out that the water pump went a few weeks ago and the car overheated for a short time, but there supposedly was no damage according to the shop. Any ideas?

I have a whirring noise too - quite loud I must say. Started two weeks ago when the car didn't move for two days while it was raining. I had a loud whine and then it went silent. Then the whirring sound appeared a couple of days later. I thought it was the alternator bearings going south, but it's more than that..

A coworker and I checked the alternator closely a few days ago, and it's actually cracked in three pieces... A new alternator is going in on monday...

The noise was alot louder when we checked from under the car, near the wheel. It's not east to determine which part is making the noise - it could be the tensioner, the power steering pump, alternator....

If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay? Don't worry about the exchange, I can do the $ conversion myself. I've heard the alternator is a sonofa... to swap out, but I may still do it myself. I can drive the SVT in the meantime, and I really can't afford another $300+ bill to fix something I can potentially do myself.

My engine bay used to make a lot of noise..so much so that when I popped the hood for Terry Haines...he commented on how loud the valvetrain was. Well..after a lot of noise finally led to my water pump going out (the bearing/seal on the pulley wore out...hence the noise) and being replaced..my engine bay is quiet again...

Just a thought...

It sounds like you may be hearing the infamous MOOSE.

You might be hearing some noise from the drive belt idler pulley, belt tensioner pulley, or even the alternator, but those noises don't usually come and go. Also these items are on the right side of the engine.

If it is the moose, it will seem to come from the air filter box or from the idle air control. These items are on the left side as well. Sometimes cleaning the idle air control will eliminate or at least decrease the noise. The moose seems to come out when there is weather changes, either hot or cold, but more often in cold weather.

Thanks for the help, Jim, but I get moosing from time to time since I added an open-element filter, and I'm pretty sure this is not it. Also, when I say the sound is coming from the left side of the engine, this is when I'm facing the vehicle. Its really seems like it's coming from something very close to the serpentine belt, as the few times I've heard it I hunted around with my ear. Now, its possible that the noise is so loud that I'm not pinpointing it accurately with all the other noises in the engine bay, but it definitely got louder the closer I got to the p/s pump. The noise did pop up somewhat faintly a couple times after driving (16 mile one-way commute), but no matter whether it appears at startup or after driving around it disappears after about 15 seconds of idling. Is that something that's characteristic of moosing?

I got another new noise today, too. In passing an idiot who cut me off to turn into a gas station I got on it to get around them. At about 5000 rpms, I got a loud whine/squeal from the engine. Subsequent visits to 5k+ produce nothing abnormal. I've had a couple people under the hood, and I can't reproduce it. This is probably one of those things that I'll fix when the damn thing (whatever it is) breaks since I don't see how else I can pinpoint it.

OK, first thing. In a car, always refer to right or left as though you are sitting in the driver's seat ready to drive the car. Any other way is confusing. Alternately you can pretend that you are standing on your head on the hood facing the windshield. Picture that if you can. Right and left would still be the same as if you were a driver.

I would guess that you are starting to lose an idler pulley bearing or the bearing on the belt tensioner.

Thanks, Jim, for setting me straight on that The idler pulley was replaced last year on the Sport, so I don't think its that, unless I got a defective part. I also replaced the same pulley on the SVT last month because the original was starting to go. The noise it made was a scraping or rattling sound, so I was ruling that out on the Sport because the noise is so much different. However, the pulley is cheap and really easy to swap out, so I may try that first just to rule it out. The tensioner is not much more expensive, so maybe I'll try that one, too. IIRC, there's a torx bolt holding that on, correct?

And once again, I haven't heard an abnormal peep from my car for a few days. Always the most quiet before the storm, right?