Noticed today I had a loud whirring noise coming from the engine area after starting (current temp is about 30F).

The sound changed with engine speed, but went away after the vehicle had warmed.

Could this be my power steering fluid needing a change? Or something more serious?

Thank you!

 

Might just be an old beLT. My ej1 has an old alternator belt and when i decelerate in cold or wet weather it slips on the alternator pully and screeches loudly. I watch as my volts drop from 14.2 to 13, sometimes much lower. It makes me sad.

 

My alternator brushes make a lot of noise when cold, power steering can make noise too, along with just about anything else. Short of using a stethoscope you may not be able to pinpoint it.

 

Its sounds so odd when it happens. Heck, today after 5 min of driving it went away. During that time though, I would get a super high pitched ring that went away if I let off the gas. The high pitched ring happened randomly a few times. Any ideas what that high ringing could be?

Before the sound went away, I stopped and popped the hood. For sure coming from the belt/pulley area.

The ringing is a pitch very similar to this, just that it correlates with the gas pedal and disappears/reappears randomly.

 

Loose pulley or bearing, I've head a few cars do that before. Take the belt off and see if it recurs. It sounds too high a pitch to be a diode squeal, but the alternator could have a bad bridge.

 

Cancel that, uploading a recording of the god awful noises its making.

 

Stop guessing and do this^

You can buy a stethoscope at Harbor Freight Tools for $4-5.

 

Definitely great advice. The sound is so freaking loud though that even with a stethoscope in my ears I would have trouble hearing exactly where it was coming from haha.

 

The fix starts with precisely pinpointing the noise source. The stethoscope will block out background noise and allow you to pinpoint the source.

 

Gotcha. Would you still be able to listen to the file I posted below and give your opinion? The sound seems to come from the AC Compressor area.

Warning, its pretty loud. The high pitch noise starts at 39 and very clearly at 1:10.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0s2ggTlT6lp

 

Mechanic said the belts were loose. Going to pick it up soon and keeping my fingers crossed.