Winding sound under the hood now.

stanger · Dec 29, 2009

Hey guys. I have a whinning/winding sound from under the hood somewhere. At first I thought that it was the alternator going out but it seems to be lower on the block than that. It goes away if the engine speeds and returns at idle. It will do this until the engine is at running temp and then not so much but still on occasion. Any idea's what this might be? Water pump, power steering pump? All fluid levels are ok. I recently replaced the radiator and the previous owner put stop leak in it and I flushed the entire system as good as I could which is why I was thinking that it was the water pump. Any ideas or suggestions as to how to diagnose what's going on? I don't have any overheating and no loss of steering or power. Thanks guys.

GDTrumbo · Dec 30, 2009

Sounds like the idler pulley or the tensioner pulley. They run about $18 a pop. The idler bolts to the timing cover. The other requires removing the tensioner ass'y and replacing the old w/ the new. The same part number is used for both.

GT

stanger · Dec 30, 2009

Good deal, thanks. I'm having the heater box installed today and the guy doing it is going to check it out and let me know what he thinks it is. Hopefully it's one of these two things. I'll post an update later today. Thanks again.

stanger · Jan 4, 2010

Ok my mechanic is telling that it's both the idler and tensioner pulley's making the sound. I'm pretty sure that, with the help of you guys, I can do this repair job!!!!! Anyway, my question is: Is this a hard fix and will the Autozone replacement part for the tensioner work or should I find a better brand than Duralast?