Ok, here's a strange one.

When the rpms are above about 4000 and I give my Max ('98 SE 5sp) 3/4-to-full throttle, I get a loud chirping/squealing from under the hood. It happenes whether the clutch is engaged or not, and seems to be independent of speed and A/C status.

I can take the pedal just under the lower limit of the squealing point, then blip it ever so slightly and the engine makes the sound. But if I'm driving along at a nice pace, I can accelerate slowly and pass the 4000rpm line without the squealing (although if I keep accelerating, it will eventually start making the sound). It's a very bizarre problem.

Could it be a bearing on the tensioner pulley? I recently changed my alternator and noticed the tensioner pulley wandering very, very slightly. Logic tells me, though, that I wouldn't hear the sound ONLY above a certain rpm ONLY while the throttle is beyond a certain point. And while the sound gets more urgent and higher-pitched with higher rpms, there isn't a "low end". It doesn't build up -- it just STARTS. "No squeal" immediately changes over to "squeal" with very little warning. But once the squealing starts, its pitch changes with the rpms (and not with the amount of gas I'm giving it).

Any ideas?

 

Bump.