Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Zetec Maintenance I'm not sure what to call this

Ok so my 2k mystique is up to 116k now. Doesn't get driven that much anymore. Last night coming home from a friends house I noticed this hi pitch almost like a rocket engine sounds like when the car accelerates it gets higher and higher. It's not that loud yet but it almost reminds me of my wifes 84 corolla. I had to replace the rear differential because the wheels turned oppisite of eachother when tested and it made a terrible loud grinding scraping sound combo with the high pitch noise that grew louder as the car accelerated. I just had the cv boot done on the front left wheel about a year ago. Also today on our way to church i had the heater on and it made a really awful noise. I turned it off an on again and it sounded fine but then it started producing this burning smell. Smelled like burning plastic or electrical almost. I do know that the sound outside increases with speed, does not change with the gears and gets lower as I slow down. The smell seems to come stronger with the heater on full and im wondering if it's the heater or possibly from something grinding is making that noise? Please offer any comments on this guys. Thanks

114k for a 00 is not as bad as my 99 with 130k then again i seen higher mileage than mine on this site.

Check out your wheels and see if they have any grease or stuff on them. Something with the CV boot may be bad. Could also be a wheel bearing.

hows the condition of ur sepertine belt?

It was changed at 90 something k miles. I'm now at 116k. About a year and a half a go it was changed. I did have the hood up for a 5 minutes saturday and it was sprinkling a bit. I just added some oil but It wasn't up long enough to get wet so I think the belt is ok.

Serpentine belt or tensioner. The smell is probably rubber rather than plastic or metal. Sometimes the squeeling could be that the alternator pulley is shot and or the a/c pulley is shot causing the the belt to slip.

Ok I didn't think about that. My serpentine belt has alwasy made a bit of a noise since it was changed, like a race car kinda. I will have the guy who fixes the major problems on my car check that stuff out. Wish this stuff had happended three months ago when I had the money to fix the car. I don't mind fixing little things but to have to have two or more things repaired at once sucks. Last time I took the car to him I found out that I had been driving around with one of my motor mounts broken. He got the new part and changed it out for $230 so he's reasobale, I just hate haveing to pay to have thigns fixed.

could it be a wheel bearing? Is the sound coming from only one side of the car?

Turns out the mechanic says it's the differential in the tranny. I was like um that's not good. He said it'll still run for awhile and that it's not really a big deal at this point. Asked him if I could still drive to Utah and he said he would so I guess i'll just have to turn the stereo up a little louder when I drive.