Whoowing Noise - from engine bay

redevil01 · Post by **redevil01** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:18 pm

Hey all,

Over the weekend i started my car and drove it to a local shopping centre in melbourne at midday - no issued with the vehicle, on return to vehicle, 30 minutes later when leaving i started my car and there was a contant Whooowing noise.

The noise was in sync with the revo meter, so if i increased the Whoowing noise would speed up (similar to a belt speeding up i guess) however over about 3k revs the noise wold be smothered by the actual engine noise.

Today i didnt have the issue but it got me thinking..any ideas anyone?

Grue · Post by **Grue** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:28 pm

Think you're right on the money with it being a belt. Or a ghost

payaya · Post by **payaya** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:37 pm

Alternator?

Valandis91 · Post by **Valandis91** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:51 pm

how could it be the alternator??

payaya · Post by **payaya** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 12:08 am

Valandis91 wrote:how could it be the alternator??

Why cant it????

redevil01 · Post by **redevil01** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 4:13 pm

Interesting, so no potential 'major' issues identified by anyone?

umm · Post by **umm** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 5:01 pm

could it be noise feedback in your stereo?

when i have the stereo volume really low my car sounds like an electric car inside. lol it sounds like a whoowing noise.

koolio1234 · Post by **koolio1234** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 11:19 pm

Sounds like a belt,

wheres the noise coming from exactly?? try and get someone to rev it a bit and try to pinpoint the sound in the engine bay.

Could be alternator whine but I doubt it is.

redevil01 · Post by **redevil01** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 11:55 pm

Its definitely not comming from the speakers or inside the cabin, its definitely from under the hook but becuase the whoowing stopped a day or so ago its hard to pin point now.

Another development though, this morning there was no whoowing when driving to work however on the way back i noticed that the battery warrning indicator turned on lightly. On acceleration it would light up lightly, on idle it turned off...

...however oddly on idle the battery gauge indicator would fall to 11v and then on acceleration again it would move back to the right toward 14v, but the light would then turn off.. and no whoowing noises.

...Alternator??

DaveO · Post by **DaveO** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:18 am

I would bet my first born on Alternator belt.

Post by **I8A4RE** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:20 am

Yes mate your alternator is screwed.

Umm, mate you need to get a suppressor on your stereo power wire

Cassf88 · Post by **Cassf88** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 10:18 am

you know whats funny...
one person says 'alternator' , one person says a 'belt'

put the two together

alternator + belt = alternator belt!

DaveO · Post by **DaveO** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 11:44 am

Maybe not alternator. As when you rev up your voltage goes up. To me thats pointing to the belt only.

Post by **I8A4RE** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 3:00 pm

DaveO wrote:Maybe not alternator. As when you rev up your voltage goes up. To me thats pointing to the belt only.

That doesnt mean sh*t, just means that the alternator is not fully screwed but getting close. All my alternator's (which i have had 4 fail on me) have charged properly when reving, its at idle the signs become noticable.......

But hey for 30 odd bucks just change the belt and i gaurantee you wil still have the same battery light problem. A belt would not cause that unless it was majorily lose in which case it would be squeeling its tits off.

Dras · Post by **Dras** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 3:15 pm

I'm with I8A4RE on this one. A fully or partially lit battery warning indicator is an alternator regulator issue.

DaveO · Post by **DaveO** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 6:32 pm

Remember he was having winning noises coming from the engin bay.
That's sounds like a belt problem to me.
Then it stopped and he noticed the low voltage.
Just open the lid and have a look because we can't tell for sure just from talking about it.
All i know is a bad belt is the prefered problem,, it's cheaper than a bad alternator.

justbecause · Post by **justbecause** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 1:21 pm

could be power steering pump..... or the A/C Clutch..... alternators dont really make noises well i never heard it... they just go dead......

check P/S fluid level.... turn the wheel see if the noise increases..... check to make sure the P/S Pump lines are not squeezed....

Nacho · Post by **Nacho** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:23 pm

My alternator made that sound also when it was on the way out. When I had it reconditioned the guy said the brushes and voltage regulator. Either way didn't like that sound!

Post by **I8A4RE** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:05 am

justbecause wrote:could be power steering pump..... or the A/C Clutch..... alternators dont really make noises well i never heard it... they just go dead......

check P/S fluid level.... turn the wheel see if the noise increases..... check to make sure the P/S Pump lines are not squeezed....

Nacho wrote:My alternator made that sound also when it was on the way out. When I had it reconditioned the guy said the brushes and voltage regulator. Either way didn't like that sound!

Absolutly alternators make that noise

redevil01 · Post by **redevil01** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 10:49 am

Some more info for you all.

Multimeter readings come out with the following:

12.33 reading on idle, warm engine, gauge shows 11.

13.00~ reading on 2k revs, warm engine, gauge shows 13.00