Whinning noise

FERGY5244

MEMBER
PONTIAC GRAND PRIX

I have a 2001 Grand Prix GT with the 3800 engine (no supercharger) with 65,900 miles. I just purchased it about 6 weeks ago. It has a whinning noise at about 1500 rpm that gets louder with more acceleration, (doesnt matter if car is moving or not) sound like it is coming from the alternator. My belt had some cracking so I had it replaced. I had the alternator checked they said it wasnt charging enough so I had it replaced I also had the battery replaced it was the origanal factory battery. This didnt stop the noise, the repair shop found a leak in my power stering pump and I had it replaced. The noise is still there. The repair shop said the noise is coming from the power stering pump, he said some of the noise will go away after 500 miles but I may never get rid of the noise because the pump is placed so close to the fire wall on the 3800 motor. I can't imagine GM would have a car out there making this noise becasue of a design error? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Brad

1 Reply

CHEVY22

MECHANIC
1,375 POSTS

Hi
i you may want to look for a new shop, that sounds ridiculous, there are several things that could cause your problem, dirty belt (on the top side) a failing water pump, alternator ac compressor, belt tensioner or belt idler pulley, if the noise is coming into the cabin it should be fairly easy to find, I usually clean the belt and if I still have the noise I will use a stethascope to check all of the items above and do a manual check by pulling the belt off checking for tight or noisey pullleys and then running the engine without the belt

good luck

jim