I'm having trouble getting the search function to work. I'm hoping to get some clues about a noise I'm experiencing.

My 94gxe makes a squealing noise at idle. It usually goes away at higher RPM but not always. It does it more when it's cold than when it's warm. It's not the cooling fans as they often aren't even turning when it's making the noise.

Most of the time, the noise is only there at idle and in drive and goes away if the RPM goes up even a tiny bit. Sometimes it doesn't go away but during these times it doesn't seem to change pitch with RPM. It sounds like it's coming from the a/c compressor area but it's so tough to localize these type of noises.

I know this isn't a fair question but I'm hoping it's a common noise or maybe there is something other than the cooling fans that turn at a constant RPM regardless of the engine RPM.

Any ideas?

 

alternator belt??

 

Interesting thought. Thanks.

I've checked the main belt but I just looked in my service manual and see the alternator has a second belt lower down.

 

I just went and had a look. All the belts look good and relatively new (not shiny). If it's a belt, I would be surprised. Sometimes it squeals very loud (like now when the temp is about 20F). It usually goes away when the engine warms up (unless it's really cold).

When I really concentrate, it sounds like it's coming from the valve cover closest to the firewall on the belt end. It almost sounds like a bad cam bearing but it didn't get louder when I unscrewed the oil filler cap.