Noisy engine

[McLegacy]

Hey guys,

 

I have no idea how to describe this whiny engine sound so I took a video. Any ideas? Is it normal and I'm tripping out over nothing or is something wrong?

 

Its definitely my engine, it happens whether I'm moving or not. Gets louder with revs.

 

Car is a 97 Legacy L (ej22e)

 

[Brighton96]

I would look at the alternator bearings or the idler pulley for the AC Serpentine belt. It would help if you could get a mechanics stethoscope and while the engine is idling, touch it to anything in question.

[McLegacy]

I used the ghettoscope (screwdriver) and I get the feeling it's related to the alternator, it's from autozone so I didn't expect too much. Maybe this will solve my "let's-lose-power-while-driving-in-the-rain" problem I get when I draw too much current.

 

It's pretty new though, maybe a year old. Maybe I overtightened it?

[Brighton96]

It kind of sounds like a bearing, and from what I can tell it's not an internal engine noise so that limits us to timing belt pulleys or parts on the serpentine belt stuff. IF it is the alternator that doesn't mean it's bad or failing, that could just mean the bearing is fried, so it's hard to say if that's related to the rain issue. What I would do for the rain issue is go buy a large tube of dielectric grease and a can of aerosol QD electrical cleaner. Then once you have those, spend an hour or so disconnecting all the electrical plugs you can see under the hood, spray the connectors out with the QD cleaner and then fill the connectors with the grease. That should drastically help with any weather related electrical issues.

[doublechaz]

I accidentally got an alternator from Autozone once (not for my Subaru). I replaced it three times under their warranty as well as replacing a new battery it boiled to death. The fourth time I just turned it in as the core for a Napa part that has been going for 5 years so far.

 

Besides the stethescope you can try using a good length of large hose to listen to specific spots. Don't rip your arm off in there.

[McLegacy]

@Brighton96, the issue is not one of weather but rather the fact that rain requires windshield wipers, drawing current. If I have wipers, stereo, fans, headlights, and fog lights going on the highway all of a sudden my music will cut out, guages will die and come back and die again.. I always turn off music/wipers before it goes any further so I don't know what happens next. I don't know if this is alternator or battery or grounding but it feels a little dangerous.

 

@doublechaz I'll go to Napa this weekend I think. Thanks.

[Das Ninjabot]

There is a good write-up on improving the grounding of our cars. Might want to do that at the same time as the alternator. It can't hurt and will most likely help with the voltage problem.

[doublechaz]

That cut out sounds like the time I had a corroded battery cable. It would cut when I hit the brake and reboot the head unit, blink the lights, etc.

[McLegacy]

The alternator connector bit is a little blackened. Don't know what happened there.. I'll look into replacing the wire for the alternator too.

[aormsby]

There is a good write-up on improving the grounding of our cars. Might want to do that at the same time as the alternator. It can't hurt and will most likely help with the voltage problem.

 

Do you have a link to this write-up by chance? I've been having some bugs and feel like bad grounds could possibly be the culprit.

[RumbleRumble]

you can try cleaning all the ground on the fire wall.