i have a 2004 5.4l and its making and annoying whine which sounds like a supercharger and varies with rpms.. it sounds like its coming from the belt but its not that high pitched squel its more of a hum whine. it started when the temp started droping to around -10c. i gotta haul a load tommorow morning. should i be worried if my truck might break down... if there anything i could check or try...

i dont want to be stuck in the middle of the highway while the chevs and dodges r laughing at me

thanks

 

I have been suprised at the odd noises some belts can make. Hit the belt with a quick shot of wd-40 and see if it quiets down. If so its the belt, if not look elsewhere

 

just reading around... could it be the water pump?

 

probably an idler pulley.

 

I doubt it, from my experience they leak long before they ever make noise. Now power steering pump might be a possibility

 

should i be worried? i just dont want to be hand bombing my load off the truck if something happens and they need to tow it

 

i have the same whine, seems to lessen as the truck warms up but is still there. mine can be heard more inside the cab cold or warm, which makes me think tranny. but ive only got 56k on the truck and the tranny fluid is very clean.

i do however hear some light grinding when rotating the steering wheel. i syphoned out the flyid in the resivor and added a bottle of lucas power steering treatment and it did quiet the noise greatly, though as the bottle worked its way through the sound slowly returned. I will be adding another bottle of lucas tomorrow ill let ya know how it turns out.

 

Is this happening only while driving? If so, my feeling by reading similar posts is a windshield rubber or another rubber seal that shrinks and allows wind to whistle. Otherwise, it may be the a/c compressor, alternator, p/s pump or an idler or tensioner pulley. I had a whistle/whine then it went away earlier this year. Since, I've replaced the compressor, the alternator so maybe one of them. It's hard to pin point but things should be fine especially if it just started. I had the whistle for years, now nothing, can't say what if anything fixed it.

 

Now its starting to grind so i said "screw this im not gonna be Found On Road Dead" so i took it to a shop and they said its the tensioner pulley so thier fixing it now.... we'll see what happens

 

My Club Wagon made a similar sound after I replaced the alternater with one from Autozone. Was worse when it was cold. Everyone knew I was coming on cold winter mornings.

 

Ive got the howling whining problem too, funny thing is i just bought an alternator from autozone about 3 weeks ago around the time the noise started. What did you do, take yours back and buy a diff one?

 

Cool, hope that fixes it. My uncle's 99 Merc Grand Marquis did make terrible noises, screetching and if it quieted down, it was after it was hot. We sold the car and finally it went kaput, my buddy's dad had it fixed, I did mention to be aware that noise most likely is the tensioner pulley. We replaced the idler and there was no change. Good luck there.

 

I too have a new alternator, the howl or whine is slight now but was very loud in the beginning. It may need a break in time, probably a rebuilt alternator so see if it improves.

 

Mine does that too, a barely audible, rapid "squeaksqueaksqueak" that varies with RPM. If I spray the tensioner with WD40 it stops for a couple minutes, then comes back. I can barely hear it, and it hasn't gotten worse for months so it's not a pressing problem. Though my motor is getting on 15 years old.

 

I have a 05 Its what makes me love those powerful amps I paid all that money for