Hello to all of you. I've looked & looked thread after thread, and can't find the particular noise I have. I have a 2002 x type 2.5L. Its hard to find the right words to describe without hearing it in person. Let's go with whining, growling, spinning noise?! Really sounds like its coming from water pump area? It happens on start up, continues as it gets warm and gets much louder upon acceleration. It'll silence for a moment now & then but won't truly go away. I assumed it was the belt tensioner, ordered a new one & replaced it. Still there. Please help. Don't want to replace good parts. Thanks in advance!

 

backrow pupil, stop by your local auto parts store. They should have something that will cost you about $15 which is called an "engine stethoscope". It is going to look like a stethoscope like a doctor would use to listen to your chest, but instead of the round piece like the doc uses, this will have a metal bar sticking out the end that is going to be about 12 inches long. What you are going to do is start up the engine, get the noise to be present and then you are going to touch the metal bar to various parts of the engine that are not moving. As you move the stethoscope around the engine, you will find that you can hear this noise much better and it will get louder and softer depending on where on the engine you are. Keep probing till you find the loudest spot on the engine with the suspect sound. Something right in that area is your point of concern.

Based on what you are describing, it may very well be that you have a water pump that is starting to go. But, this is where the stethoscope is going to be money well spent to prevent random parts replacement.

 

Something additional to listen for. One of my radiator fans,(Driver side on mine, but that doesn't really matter) evidently has a bearing getting dry as it growls and howls with varying intensity, depending on the cooling needs of the car. It gets almost deafening at the drive thru window on a warm day. The one truly distinguishing feature of my noise is when I shut the car off, long after the engine and everything has come to rest(as much as 12 to 15 seconds) this fan, if it was whining really good, will come to a squeak, squeak, squeaking halt. Then if you turn the key immediately back to run, but do not start the engine, the fan will grrrowl back to life, with that spinning almost rattling sound. Something to eliminate in your diagnostic process.

 

Thank you! I'll check it out!

 

Thank You! I'll head to the store right after work! Really appreciate you spending the time to write all that out!

 

You can run the engine for a few minutes without the belts which will answer the question if it is an accessory or the engine itself. Pete.

 

Wow! That's Genius! Never heard of that. Super idea. Thanks for your advice!