engine whine - any ideas?

04xuv

Original poster
Member
Dec 3, 2011
94
since i bought my envoy last october, i've noticed that it has a whining noise coming from the engine. i've
always thought i just had one of those engines that makes a weird noise. but now i'm tired of hearing it and want to find out what it is.
it increases and decreases pitch with rpms.
its not the power steering; turning has no effect.
its not the belt; just changed it this evening and the noise is still there.
could it be the tensioner assembly? i noticed a slight wobble/vibration a few weeks ago, but cranked on the bolt which stopped the wobble.

its, really not that loud. if the radio is on, i don't hear it. (its still there, but moderate volume masks it)
it can be heard best from inside the vehicle, with windows up. if i stick my head over the engine, the noise
sounds like it might be coming from the passenger side.
any help would be appreciated. i'll try and record it tomorrow and post it on here.
 

The_Roadie

Lifetime VIP Donor
Member
Nov 19, 2011
9,957
Portland, OR
Almost always the idler pulley, secondary suspect being the tensioner. Other rotating parts even less often.
 

04xuv

Original poster
Member
Dec 3, 2011
94
the roadie said:
Almost always the idler pulley, secondary suspect being the tensioner. Other rotating parts even less often.

thanks for the quick response. i'll replace tomorrow.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Easiest way to find out is take the belt off and spin each pulley by hand.

In my case, I replaced both the idler and tensioner pulleys first which didn't fix anything (though the idler was starting to feel a little rough, so it wasn't far off I'm sure).

Then I spun the pulleys and my alternator felt like gravel :lol: Replaced it and all was quiet :biggrin:

The whine is back but a tad different. This time it is the AC pulley bearing and that's a bear to get to, so I've just been living with it for now until I have time to take apart a bunch of stuff to get to it :lipsrsealed:

I hope for your sake that it is one of the easy, more common ones :crazy:
 

04xuv

Original poster
Member
Dec 3, 2011
94
Sparky said:
Easiest way to find out is take the belt off and spin each pulley by hand.

In my case, I replaced both the idler and tensioner pulleys first which didn't fix anything (though the idler was starting to feel a little rough, so it wasn't far off I'm sure).

Then I spun the pulleys and my alternator felt like gravel :lol: Replaced it and all was quiet :biggrin:

The whine is back but a tad different. This time it is the AC pulley bearing and that's a bear to get to, so I've just been living with it for now until I have time to take apart a bunch of stuff to get to it :lipsrsealed:

I hope for your sake that it is one of the easy, more common ones :crazy:

well, its not the idler. picked up a tensioner assembly on the way home from work. maybe i'll swap it in this evening. got it at advance. anybody use dayco products? should i go find an acdelco assembly?


just noticed that my oil and battery gauges move when i rev the engine. i hope its not the alternator. that's a pain. don't know how much trouble the water pump is. so i hope its not that, either.
 

Voymom

Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
04xuv said:
well, its not the idler. picked up a tensioner assembly on the way home from work. maybe i'll swap it in this evening. got it at advance. anybody use dayco products? should i go find an acdelco assembly?


just noticed that my oil and battery gauges move when i rev the engine. i hope its not the alternator. that's a pain. don't know how much trouble the water pump is. so i hope its not that, either.

My Envoy had a whine with increased RPM's, and our power steering pump went out. We replaced the pump and no more whine. Just a thought!
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
04xuv said:
well, its not the idler. picked up a tensioner assembly on the way home from work. maybe i'll swap it in this evening. got it at advance. anybody use dayco products? should i go find an acdelco assembly?


just noticed that my oil and battery gauges move when i rev the engine. i hope its not the alternator. that's a pain. don't know how much trouble the water pump is. so i hope its not that, either.

I've had no issues with Dayco stuff personally.

The water pump is annoying because of the fan clutch attached to it more than anything. However usually (but not always) if it is making noise it will have a wobble to it as well, which can be seen in the fan.
 

04xuv

Original poster
Member
Dec 3, 2011
94
not the tensioner assembly, either. guess i'm just gonna live with it until something goes crunch or a light comes on.
 

04xuv

Original poster
Member
Dec 3, 2011
94
Sparky said:
I've had no issues with Dayco stuff personally.

The water pump is annoying because of the fan clutch attached to it more than anything. However usually (but not always) if it is making noise it will have a wobble to it as well, which can be seen in the fan.

the fan definitely has some movement to it. i'll be waiting for the weekend for the water pump. not gonna do it after work. hopefully that will do the trick. would a bad water pump be the reason for my truck leaking water even though only the vent is on?

thanks, folks.
 

03envoy

Member
Dec 25, 2011
537
Got Money on the Power steering pump. My Sisters just went out and it had a loud whine. But, it didnt start making any louder noise when turning until just a couple days ago... I wouldnt put it out of the question....


I only know if your AC is on you will get a small water puddle under your truck...
 

Voymom

Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
03envoy said:
Got Money on the Power steering pump. My Sisters just went out and it had a loud whine. But, it didnt start making any louder noise when turning until just a couple days ago... I wouldnt put it out of the question....


I only know if your AC is on you will get a small water puddle under your truck...

The fan makes more of a ticking noise, and so does the idler when it is bad or going bad, at least from my experience. When the fan goes out it will sound like a whoosh(Jet engine) noise, plus I do believe the temp will start running on the warm side.

I just changed out my Power steering pump, and I still get a HUGE puddle of water with the AC on, not sure what that is about, but I dont want to hijack lol

I would def guess the power steering pump, as that is the only thing that has caused a whine in my truck.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
I still say the best thing to do is pull the belt and spin everything by hand to find what feels wrong.

Voymom, the puddle of water from the AC is normal, especially on humid days. It's from condensation. As long as the puddle is underneath the truck and not IN the truck!
 

04xuv

Original poster
Member
Dec 3, 2011
94
its been making the same noise since i bought it in october. no changes. if it was the power steering pump, i'm pretty sure the noise would have changed by now or started happening at different times while i drive. i'm working on a video so you can hear it.
 

04xuv

Original poster
Member
Dec 3, 2011
94
Sparky said:
I still say the best thing to do is pull the belt and spin everything by hand to find what feels wrong.

Voymom, the puddle of water from the AC is normal, especially on humid days. It's from condensation. As long as the puddle is underneath the truck and not IN the truck!

spun all the pulleys. the one that felt the worst was on the tensioner. but like i said, switched it and still the same noise. i'll try again tomorrow. what's the pulley at the bottom? that one may have been stiff, but couldn't really tell 'cause i could barely get my arms to it.
 

04xuv

Original poster
Member
Dec 3, 2011
94
you'll have to listen closely. you hear it best right as the rpm's fall.

[video]https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=14969b7002976166&Bsrc=Share&Bpub=SDX.SkyDrive&resid=14969B7002976166!5603&id=14969B7002976166!5603#cid=14969B7002976166&id=14969B7002976166!5603[/video]

if you have to download silverlight, don't bother. i hate it when other people's links make me intall stuff.
 

04xuv

Original poster
Member
Dec 3, 2011
94
04xuv said:
the fan definitely has some movement to it. i'll be waiting for the weekend for the water pump. not gonna do it after work. hopefully that will do the trick. would a bad water pump be the reason for my truck leaking water even though only the vent is on?

thanks, folks.

i'll be replacing the water pump this week. should i go ahead and replace the fan clutch as well? hate to spend $200 when i don't have to, but i'll be working around it anyway. thanks for any thoughts.

i'm at 94,000 miles right now; anything else i should be replacing?
 

04Trailblazer

Member
Feb 27, 2012
53
04xuv said:
i'll be replacing the water pump this week. should i go ahead and replace the fan clutch as well? hate to spend $200 when i don't have to, but i'll be working around it anyway. thanks for any thoughts.

i'm at 94,000 miles right now; anything else i should be replacing?

Sorry to hear about all this yikes!, I would also go ahead and replace the Thermostat those are usually common to fail, I just replaced my thermostat kinda sucked but runs better now that it runs at right temp. Good luck with your water pump. I hope i wont have to change a water pump anytime soon. I'm up to 155,000 miles and still a good water pump on mine ( knock on wood) lol
 

04xuv

Original poster
Member
Dec 3, 2011
94
04Trailblazer said:
Sorry to hear about all this yikes!, I would also go ahead and replace the Thermostat those are usually common to fail, I just replaced my thermostat kinda sucked but runs better now that it runs at right temp. Good luck with your water pump. I hope i wont have to change a water pump anytime soon. I'm up to 155,000 miles and still a good water pump on mine ( knock on wood) lol

yeah, the thermostat wasn't fun. especially after only having the truck for a month. replaced the coolant temp. sensor at the same time. everything runs great; just can't figure out this noise.
 

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