Engine Whining after start up

[golfpromt]

Hello all,

My '03 5.4 XLT with 172K started whining after start up. When you accelerate it goes away until you quit giving it gas then it comes back. I thought replacing the serpentine belt and the idle pulley would answer it but it didn't. Anyone have any ideas? I had an old Explorer that did the same thing.

 

[Edwindo]

Fan clutch maybe? Can you locate the sound in the engine compartment when its running?

 

[Diamondtron24]

I had the exact problem that you are describing recently. It turned out to be the alternator bearing. It idle you heard a whine, when you accelerated it mostly went away.

 

[Kvou812]

I have this problem... but it only happens at idle when the truck is warmed up and in park. Reving up the motor even a little or putting it in gear and it goes away. I only hear it inside the truck...just faintly, in fact most people probably wouldn't notice it.

 

[golfpromt]

I was thinking about the alternator. This noise is DISTINCT! You can hear hit inside the truck, outside the truck, inside the house and even down the street a little. It is really weird. It is not a sound that makes you cringe mechanically, such as brake pads that are totally worn and destroying the rotor. But rather, a "what the hell was that" kind of feeling.

When I first heard it in my old Explorer, I thought it was some sort of vacuum loss but there is not a loss in engine performance. Hence, my thinking that it was a bearing of some sort. It seems to becoming from the passenger side between the battery and the idle tensioner.

I thought it was just the noise you hear when you have a bad drive belt and tensioner but both have been replaced.


I wish I could post a video of it so everyone can hear it and see my astonishment.

 

[Diamondtron24]

I would look closely at the Alternator bearing. It sounds just like what i had going on. Hope you solve the problem!

 

[Shender1042]

I had a problem some what the same but it was the belt going bad