Kyle72

I have a whining noise in the front. It constantly does it. I don't know if it's a belt or pulley or what ever. It whines louder when I give it gas. Its driving me nuts. Need to find out what it is so I can fix it. Thanks

Noah911

Could the whining noise be coming from the alternator? A alternator can make these types of sounds when parts of it begin to go bad. The alternator going bad in my WJ is loud, and I would describe the noise as something like a mixture of whining and squealing sounds which increase with RPM.

Bearstream

Pull your serpentine belt and check the idler and the tensioner for excess play, wobble, and gritty spin. If you suspect impending failure, replace them, it’s easy and relatively inexpensive. You don’t want them to fail on you when far from home, the cost goes way up when that happens.

97grand4.0

Spray WATER ONLY on the belt, see if it goes away.

Bearstream

I recently replaced the alternator in my ‘03 WJ, it was producing more of a hissing/ scraping noise, on the bench the bearings had a gritty feel when spinning the pulley, Inspect the belt for cracks, fraying, abnormal wear, as it can be an indicator of a driven component placing excess drag on the belt causing it to squeal, just need to determine where the drag is occurring. I think 97grands idea could be the best way to pin point the component that’s causing the noise before you start tearing things down.

dave1123

Open the door and kick her out! LOL! They did that to me so I just wanted to share.

97grand4.0

That whining noise is my ex. Just sharing a similar experience not trying to hijack.

Bearstream

Major LOL!!!

Kyle72

I'm not sure. I can't pin it down between the alternator the belt or pulley or what ever it could be

Kyle72

I tried it. And did absolutely nothing. I was hoping

Noah911

You should get a new belt and a new pulley for it. Then, an alternator if the noise is still there after replacing those first two. I think this is what I would do..?

(edited)
While removing the parts you can mess around with them to see if you are able to narrow it down some too. You can move and turn the different parts, pulleys, and bearing laden alternator and water pump, etc...

Kyle72

That's what I'm going to do. Thanks.

Noah911

Cool, I think that sounds like a good plan of action.

A new belt and a new pulley would be nice to have, and they are both relatively inexpensive replacement items. They may possibly need it at this point anyway?

The belt and pulley are easy to remove. It is easy to inspect everything...

BlueRidgeMark

Don't buy parts. Buy tools. THIS tool.