1995 Oldsmobile 88 loud squealing and metal sounding

Tiny
MDJLT
  • MEMBER
  • 1995 OLDSMOBILE 88
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 11,700 MILES
Engine runs fine, a little rough at idle but lots of get up and go at highway speeds, engine randomly has loud squealing from engine when car not moving. If I speed up or slow down the engine, squealing will go away and may not come back for some time. Happens with car moving or totally stopped. Took to dealer, changed oil and serptine belt. When dealer backed out of shop squealed again. Dealer now thinks may be internal engine noise, said maybe oil pump? Seams to happen more when engine warms up but lately occurs much more often than before. Want to fix before car blows up. Any ideas on how to identify source?
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Monday, May 4th, 2009 AT 5:23 PM

18 Replies

Tiny
DOCFIXIT
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Hi
Not being able to hear noise and drive car it would be next to impossible to diagnose. Next time it squeals and your on the road slip into neutral noise gone? If will do at idle open hood try and pin point a source of noise.
Let me know
Thanks for donate
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Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 AT 9:16 AM
Tiny
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Putting the car in Neutral has no effect. Car can be sitting in driveway, not moving in park and make noise. Their was some noise from the belt slipping which I think confused the dealer and I had asked for a new serpentine belt so he thought that was the issue. I thought it was the belt slipping and the water pump so I took it into dealer, he said not water pump, said it was just serpentine belt, which he replaced, as he backed car out of his building, the car made noise again. He does not know any more.

I drive 4 miles to work one way ( lucky me ) noticed today the noise did not start until the engine heated up and the Thermostat opened ( could tell by temperature gage). I saw the same thing, no noise until engine hot ( about 3.5 miles and several lights) on the way home. So now I wonder if it's the water pump when the thermostat opens and the pump starts to pump liquid around.
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Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 AT 5:05 PM
Tiny
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The saga continues. Replaced the water pump yesterday, old pump when free made some small noise when spun but new pump did not solve the problem. Had to remove Power Steering Pump to replace water pump found the power steering pump was missing upper bolt. Bolt fits through a hole in the pulley Face so it could not have fallen out. Not sure how long it's only had lower bolt holding it in place. Still have squeal when engine gets up to temperature. Found the position of power steering pump ( held with one bolt ) can cause PS pulley to hit engine mount bolt and really squeal. Could not get new second bolt to engage through clearance hole into engine block. New theory is the PS pulley is being pulled into contact with engine mounting bolt and causing squeal. Don't understand why the squeal occurs only when engine at temperature but the next goal is to get upper bolt installed. Naturally the power steering pump is located at the lower back of the engine and almost impossible to get at... Sigh
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Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 AT 8:26 AM
Tiny
DOCFIXIT
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That would explain the metal sound but not sure why it only does it when warm. Good luck on getting bolt in. Let me know if that is the fix.
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Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 AT 9:18 AM
Tiny
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Good news and Bad news, I know now it's not the missing bolt on the power steering pump. We ran the engine until it was squealing, stopped the engine, took off the serpentine belt and restarted the engine. The Squeal was still present with the belt removed. This eliminates the water pump, air compressor, idler pulley, alternator and power steering pump. So my question now becomes, what do you think it could be? Something internal to the engine apparently. Any ideas? Once again it squealed in park in the driveway with the serpentine belt removed. Looking for ideas...........
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Sunday, May 24th, 2009 AT 4:34 PM
Tiny
DOCFIXIT
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Sound comming from front of engine? Like behind water pump? What is engine size 3.6L-3.8L what is 8th letter in VIN?
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Monday, May 25th, 2009 AT 11:46 AM
Tiny
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VIN._ 1G3H1V52K1S4814122. I have been looking at peoples issues with Crankshaft Pulley's and wondered if the Delta 88 pulley has the two piece design, where they have rubber sandwiched internal to the pulley, the other thought is possibly the Harmonic Balancer on the back side of the pulley.

The noise occurs in several forms, you can hear it on a revolution basis, repetitive chirp or slight squeal that you can't really locate except it appears to be on the front of the engine, or so loud you can't tell where it's coming from.
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Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 AT 8:47 AM
Tiny
DOCFIXIT
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Hi
Your right Olds has a balancer problem on the 3.8L.
Take the oullies off harmonic and ckeck for rubber gone or protruding out. If so get balancer pully and replace. Take care of the crankshaft sensor right side damper
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Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 AT 11:34 AM
Tiny
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I Replaced the Harmonic Balancer, and no change. Sigh still squeals no idea what it is now.
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Saturday, May 30th, 2009 AT 3:20 PM
Tiny
DOCFIXIT
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Your engine uses a balance shaft and it might be a beaging fault. Get a real long scew driver or similar metal object. With engine running place one end on the timing cover other end next to ear. Noise will travel up metal. Probe around hear the noise?
Let me know
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Monday, June 1st, 2009 AT 2:13 PM
Tiny
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Once the engine is warmed up and the noise happens, you literally can hear my son coming home from  a block away. Other times it's just a slight chirp, but once the engine is hot it almost never stops. I have absolutely no problem with the transmission, I can work through all the gears and have no issues, car shifts nicely even in the middle of all the screeching. So I don't think it's the transmission. What about the torque converter? The part that drives me nuts is why there is absolutely no noise until the engine warms up. I will try to listen as you suggested and let you know. The saga continues !
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Monday, June 1st, 2009 AT 11:15 PM
Tiny
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I read where the TCC locks up the transmission to the torque converter to improve gas mileage only engages after the car gets up to temperature, and a bad TCC gives you poor gas mileage. I unplugged the TCC connection at the Trany to see if having the Torque Converter not lock up would eliminate the squeal. No change other than the car didn't really shift and the squeal returned right on cue when the engine got up to temp.
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Thursday, June 4th, 2009 AT 11:09 AM
Tiny
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I'm now going to look under the car to see if I can find any interference between the engine and a cover or guard, maybe something near the flywheel is rubbing when it gets hot. Car still runs fine just squeals. Any additional ideas would be great but I understand if you have run out of ideas too. One mechanic said it might be the timing chain pulley or timing chain tensioner but could not explain why it occurs only when hot. As that is a major tear down I'm passing on that idea at the moment.
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Friday, June 12th, 2009 AT 11:45 AM
Tiny
DOCFIXIT
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Good idea to check flywheel/totque convertor. Have suspected timing gears and balance shaft but only way to know is tear it down.
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Friday, June 12th, 2009 AT 3:53 PM
Tiny
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Status: It's been too hot to get under the car and look for possible interferences, but I did want to provide a few more tidbits of information. The car stops squealing when you accelerate, squeals when you slow down or at a constant speed. Since the car does not squeal until the engine gets hot I disconnected two of the three wires on the Temperature Coolant Sensor, so the computer would not know when the engine was " œHot'. Still thinking the squeal had something to do with the Torque Converter Clutch or the Transmission. I left the analog temperature gauge connected so I could monitor the engine. That's how I discovered the TCS actually has a resistive range and by disconnecting the TCS I told the computer the car was " œHot' and both fans came on and stayed on while I drove. The interesting item here is the car Did Not Squeal until I had driven several miles and the gauge showed the engine was actually " œHot' ( Normal Operating Temperature ) and the thermostat opened. Still confused sigh.......
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Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 AT 9:42 AM
Tiny
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Think what maybe the problem is the stator. When you accelerate it deflects trans fluid back into turbine multipling torque. At constant speed it spins on its bearing. That might be the noise.
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Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 AT 10:37 AM
Tiny
CJNORTHROP
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Oh, my friend, I truly feel your pain! I have suffered over a year with the same **exact** problem on the exact same car! 1995 Olds 88. This weekend, I finally found the answer! It's a problem with your CRANKCASE VENTILATION! Which could either be a crack in your intake, or replace the PCV valve itself. Listen to this! When I took the cap off of the PCV valve housing, (located to the top left of the intake manifold underneath the circular cap) and THERE WAS NO VALVE IN THERE AT ALL! So, some garage must have removed it and never put a new one in there! I cannot believe I have struggled with this for over a year (replacing all the same part you mentioned, serpentine belt, etc. ---- Because it really DOES sound like a belt ---- and it was just a lousy $3.00 PCV Valve. NO NOISE NOW AT ALL! Not even when the engine heats up! So check yours out, maybe some garage did the same thing to you!
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Monday, August 17th, 2009 AT 7:58 PM
Tiny
WATERBOY300
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Hello everyone, it is not the crankcase ventilation! I also own a 1995 Olds 88. I am still facing the same issue with my car. I think it might be either the alternator or power steering pump. This weekend I am going to take off my alternator and have Auto-zone test for any failures. If alternator passes than I will go ahead and replace the power steering pump. If any body thinks this is not a good idea or has any suggestion I would really appreciate.
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Friday, December 14th, 2012 AT 1:57 AM

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