engine whine
Thu Feb 7 18:42:37 2002

i recently purchased a 1970 fj40 and hv finally got it street legal and hv driven it around town a few times.
today i hear a whine (like a squeaky belt) sound coming from the engine. when i open the hood to investigate, i hear it on the left side of the motor (passanger side) but when go to the right side of the motor (driver's side) it is not as noticiable. also my exahust does not sound right and the car kinda lacked a lil power ? kinda sputtery exahust and light smoke. any ideas from the info given ? prob a long shot, but any ideas would help !arent=1:confused:

Make sure you check all of the vacuume line connections...this could be where your 'whine' is coming from. Im not quite sure about the exhaust......

Hard to say could be a multitude of things. Fan belt, vacuum leak, worn dist, alternator bearings.......
What color is the smoke coming out of the tail pipe, black or blue? If its blue your burning oil, could be worn rings, or vavle stem seals. If its black your running to rich on the fuel mixture. This could also lead to a mulitude of problems to sort through....

well i started the engine cold yesterday and there was no whine, but as the motor warmed up and it started whining (sp?) the sounds is coming from inside the engine as much as i can tell, appears its coming from just inside the valve cover. can i pop the cover and take a look. i am pretty virgin about inside engine repairs. i can handle componants but opening her up is another story. any advice is appreciated ! :flipoff2:

I can't think of anything inside the engine that would whine.
I use a mechanic's stethescope (without the "probe extension)and move the open end of the tube around to fint the source of noises from my vehicle. You could do the same with a vacuum hose or heater hose. Hold one end next to your ear, and move the other end around the engine (Best to avoid moving parts :) )
The noise will be loudest when you are next to the source.

David :usa:

i hv heard that bad/foul plugs make strange scary noises.
could that be the possiable noise maker ?
:rolleyes:

No, plugs don't whine........
Sometimes its very difficult to located a noise. The best way to elimanate is to isolate. The hose trick, and the stethescope work good in pin-pointing the area that the noise is coming from.
Did you remove belts to isolate moving components....like your alternator, or smog pump. These will cause a whining noise if the bearings are going out!!!!:skull:

i hope you don't have a blown head gasket. That is how it started for me both times. started with a little white smoke and loss of power and 10 miles later a lot of white smoke and no power (had to use 2 lo to make it home). It is a bitch to change the head gasket by yourself to. After the second time i went for teh easy fix of droping in a 350

Ranger, technically, you're right. What i think sadler meant was that plugs create an electrical interference as does an alternator. Something you'd notice in you're stereo, etc... In our van we had to get a filter to fix it (conversion van, tv, blah...) So he's right and hes wrong. :D

My .02

I just installed new belts in my cruiser after replacing my blown (literally) water pump and noticed a distinct whine after I fired it back up. After further investigation, it appears that the last time I removed my smog pump, I had put pivot bolt on the bottom in backwards... It was fine with the old stretched out belt, but it actually was barely rubbing on the new belt creating the whine.

Check to make sure there is nothing touching the belts, and that they are properly tensioned... Just be sure to not ignore the grumbling sound a water pump makes as it breathes its last, or you'll end up like me! ;-)