Tungsten Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4rQI2sxTok I have this ridiculous whining noise from the engine that has been getting worse. No idea what it is but I did try some diagnostics. Removing the power steering belt and the A/C belt made no difference. Removing all 3 made the noise go away. Does this sound like a fan clutch? I checked the pulleys for play and none had any play. They all currently spin like brand new. No grinding or crunching anywhere! The water pump does not weep out of the weep hole either. I had this noise before with the old 70A alternator and after I did the 90A conversion it seemed to have got even louder. That is weird too because the old alternator makes all kinds of squeaking noises turning over and the new rebuild spins like brand new. I have no idea what is going on here. Should I try to just change the fan clutch and see what happens? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1994SEV6 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 that wind whistling noise when you rev it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismothunder Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Loose belt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 (edited) nope belts have nothing to do with it the noise goes away after removing the fan/alty belt and comes back after installing it back on Edited December 2, 2011 by Tungsten Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 That's odd. Seems like trying a new fan clutch would be a good idea, it's easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 I am going to pull the fan tomorrow and see if it goes away. I never heard a fun clutch sound like this before but then in Nissan land it may as well be that. At least I really hope it is that because I am going to go break the re-builder's knee caps if I have to yank this alternator out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clkindred Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I have a similar noise in my engine, I did the same test by removing the belts one by one, the noise stopped after the fan alty belt came off. I put em back on and fired the engine up and probed around with a mechanic's stethoscope to find the noise is coming from the water pump. It's not leaking at all, and it's a aftermarket replacement with only about 15,000 miles on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Id pull the fan and try again, just remember to put the nuts back on to hold the pully on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Sounds like the alternator to me. Mine used to sound like that when I had some white box reman replacement in there. Fan clutch doesn't make that sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 I have a similar noise in my engine, I did the same test by removing the belts one by one, the noise stopped after the fan alty belt came off. I put em back on and fired the engine up and probed around with a mechanic's stethoscope to find the noise is coming from the water pump. It's not leaking at all, and it's a aftermarket replacement with only about 15,000 miles on it. I am using a genuine Nissan water pump and it started making noise then? So much for parts quality... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaredfrompcola Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I am using a genuine Nissan water pump and it started making noise then? So much for parts quality... I replaced my fan clutch twice from autozone. i thought first was bad so i installed another new one. same noise just not as loud. But when outside temp is warm i do not hear anything at all. now that is strange to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 (edited) Id pull the fan and try again, just remember to put the nuts back on to hold the pully on. Did that today... The same whine was still there so it's not a fan clutch. Now I am left to choose between the alternator and the water pump. The new 90A alternator spins around very nice though (at least compared to my old one which made noises turning over) and I just put it in 2 days ago. I think if the alternator was bad it would get loud over at least a few hundred miles and not right away. So most likely this is a water pump noise. I guess it's time for a 20k timing belt then. Should I buy a new timing belt or just take it off and install a new water pump? Bro-tip: To remove the fan without removing the shroud take off the bottom skid pan and pull the fan out from underneath the drivers side while pushing the rubber transmission cooler line on the passenger side out of the way. Edited December 2, 2011 by Tungsten Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I still think it's the alternator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Could be the timing belt itself. I have always just wiggled my fan out the top between the engine and shroud without much difficulty. Maybe it only works with no body lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 I removed the fan without even touching the shroud or the radiator and I have no lifts. It's not the timing belt because there is no sound when the truck runs with all 3 belts removed. I am going to look into the alternator a bit more but I think it's the water pump because the sound is closer to the water pump when probed with a stethoscope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clkindred Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Also, my alty died a couple months back, I replaced it with a reman, the noise was present before the alty swap, as well as afterwards, no change. I'm prolly going to just wait till my water pump shows signs of leaking then I'll replace it. Good luck man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaredfrompcola Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4rQI2sxTok I have this ridiculous whining noise from the engine that has been getting worse. No idea what it is but I did try some diagnostics. Removing the power steering belt and the A/C belt made no difference. Removing all 3 made the noise go away. Does this sound like a fan clutch? I checked the pulleys for play and none had any play. They all currently spin like brand new. No grinding or crunching anywhere! The water pump does not weep out of the weep hole either. I had this noise before with the old 70A alternator and after I did the 90A conversion it seemed to have got even louder. That is weird too because the old alternator makes all kinds of squeaking noises turning over and the new rebuild spins like brand new. I have no idea what is going on here. Should I try to just change the fan clutch and see what happens? I have the same whining noise. I got my waterpump and ect. changed about year ago. I hope its not going out. I am going to take fan off sunday when I am off and see if its that. if not I will try and see if it maybe my alt. I hope it is the alt that is easy and cheaper to change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 Also, my alty died a couple months back, I replaced it with a reman, the noise was present before the alty swap, as well as afterwards, no change. I'm prolly going to just wait till my water pump shows signs of leaking then I'll replace it. Good luck man. Yeah but when anything whines I take it as an early warning sign. I'm going to try and replace the water pump as soon as possible even if it's not leaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 If the fan belt for the ALT is sitting too low in the pulley it can make noise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 The noise has been getting louder so I don't know. I can try a different belt but since the problem actually started with new v-belts I think the bearings on the water pump got squished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vagabond Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 If you don't have a stethoscope try using a length of heater hose to pinpoint the whine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) Update: Water pump started to weep a little so I limped my truck to a shop and had them do the whole timing belt job there. Going to see tomorrow if this problem was resolved. It is a bit ridiculous that a real Nissan part has failed so soon. The old water pump that was in there when I got the truck lasted forever and had no play. So I said screw you Nissan, listened to adamzan this time and got a Gates pump. Going to see how well that performs and report back. I haven't read any horror stories on Gates water pumps yet so they should be good. Edited January 13, 2012 by Tungsten Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwd5021 Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 I hope that fixes it, that sounded nasty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 Nasty is the repair bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 Update: Alright well that has all been taken care of now and the truck runs really smooth. No leaks anywhere and everything else seems nice. The old pump bearing seemed fine as well and the impeller wasn't missing. I guess Nissan can still be trusted. No idea on the leak but it's not there anymore with the new gasket and pump. Might have been something dumb I did earlier. However that noise came back again when the truck warmed up. Now I am thinking it is either the alternator bearings or the belt itself making that noise. Just a heads up: Gates timing belt stuff (belt & tensioner) works great and so does their pump. The instructions are clear and they even give you a nifty sticker. Thanks to adamzan for the tip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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