I've got a whine coming from the front passenger's side of my '01 I30 that I can't pin down. It occurs only under the following conditions:

Accessories/AC on or off
Moving, any gear, around 2000RPM (not present above or below though slight indications of it at idle)
First 15-30 seconds of driving

The noise is a whine, not the scream of a bad belt. After the first 15-30 seconds of driving, the noise disappears and does not reappear. The pitch changes slightly as the revs pass through 2000 and to about 2100RPMs, almost like there's some kind of harmonic vibration. Other than this noise the car is in good shape. All fluids have been changed within the last 30K, no leaks, no rust, engine revs freely to redline and transmission shifts smoothly even at high RPMs. The vehicle recently had a 90K maintenance done and no problems were noted. Any ideas where the noise might be coming from?

 

I would say that it could be belt even though the noise does not sound like belt. Check and see if your belt is tight enough and look at the marks to see if its old or not (alternator belt). I could also be alternator itself, although it works perfectly now, it might go bad soon.

 

The whine is from the power steering. Search the 5th gen forum and you can read all you can stand about it.

 

Dont rule out that it could be whining due to lack of lubrication. In some cases, it can take 20+ seconds for an engine or transmission to become fully lubricated upon initial startup. Of course the tranny on these cars is on the drivers side, but still....in general.

 

take your car to a shop and have it put on an alternator load test. i am a master certified tech and have an a33 with the same noise. it was charging with a multimeter or guage. but when you put it on a tester, it comes up with a bad diode and sometimes a bad resistor pack. replaced and. Boom, noise gone.

 

It could be power steering. I had the same whine but whenever I started the engine. I too thought it was the alternator but Auto Zone and Advance Auto Parts tested it and they said it was good. I checked my fluids and then.... it was there... no fluid. Put some in and no more whine.

 

I have what I believe is the same whine on my '02 I35. It's going to eventually need a steering rack, just don't have the $$$ right now for it.