Need help diagnosing a cold start problem!
 

before i smash my head with a hammer!

Ive been trying to figure this out for a long time with no luck.

on cold starts the car starts up just fine, and then a loud whine starts up. the whine is on and off, and after the car has warmed either from driving or just sitting there it completely goes away and all is well.

I have checked and re checked the tension on both alt and timing belt. I dont have PS or AC. I have replaced the alt belt with a new one. I lubed up both pulleys for the timing belt. now im all out of ideas.

could it be the alternator slowly dying?

Ill post a vid of it tomorrow morning, but for now does anyone have any ideas? Trying to get everything sorted before i slap on the turbo

this may be me showing my ass, but why did you lube the pullies? maybe thats where the whine is coming from
i was goning to suggest that your belt may be too tight, but then the lubing of the pully threw me of...am i missing something, does anyone else lube their pullies?
based on what i know, i would say thats causing your intermittent whine and it goes away with some heat...
good luck

mine started squeaking so i lubed them lol, im thinking either the belt is to loose or to tight

it was a last ditch effort to figure out what the hell was going on. i was trying to listen where the sound was coming from and swore it the tension pulley for the timing belt was causing it.

ill have to pull out the belt tensioner again and check...:vash:

Ok I know I seem like the village idiot who can't fix a sqeauling belt but I'm completely stumped...

I tried the belt dressing, expensive belts cheap belts, cleaned pulleys with acetone and got all the gunk out of there, tensioned properly...tried it loose tried it tight tried it in between all with the same results....after sitting all night start it up and I get a loud whine for about 30-45 seconds then all is well...never had a problem like this before and I'm running out of ideas..

I'm convinced its not the belt now, but not sure how to test that. I was planning to take the belt off and start the car to see if its something else squealing. But I'm not sure how I can test if its the alternator or the water pump making the noise? Any ideas?

check for small leaks here, i think this is called the waterneck? maybe
if you have a small leak here and a few drops fall on your belt while the car is sitting then there is your source of the squeal


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Get a mechanics stethescope from a local parts store and probe around with it until you can isolate where it's coming from. (touch it to the alternator, ps pump, brackets, etc.....)

They work great for this sort of thing. Just make sure you don't hit any moving parts with it (Duh).

On a side note, I have an Aeromotive FPR on my DSM that 'squeals' when it's cold sometimes. Strange, but it works fine otherwise.

Edit: I accidentally quoted myself instead of editing. Can we not delete posts?

good ideas, ill try both of those

thanks!

strange noises are a sign of character... just accept it.