Odd sound from engine (possibly PSP)

[IronMonkeyL255]

My engine just recently started making some funny noises.....

When I start it up, it sounds like a belt rubbing and it idles a bit high. If I give it a bit of throttle, the RPMs will drop slowly once I let off.

It only seems to do this intermittently, but it seems to have been doing it more often lately.

When I first noticed it, I popped the hood ansd saw a bit of smoke come from the passenger side towards the front of the compartment. I turned the engine off then restarted it and the sound went away.


I already checked the accessory belts for any sort of interferecne, but there was nothing.

I made sure it wasn't the a/c compressor while I was in there.

[IronMonkeyL255]

Nobody?





This morning, it did it again.

I popped the hood and it seemed to be coming from around the power steering pump. I thought the accessory belt may be a bit too tight, so I backed off the tensioner 1/4 turn. That took care of the high idle problem, but the noise was still there (while driving, it sounded like my car had a supercharger).

While on my way to work after that, the steering wheel was shaking a bit. When the nois stopped, so did the shaking of the wheel.


Any ideas?

[Legacy777]

take the belt off completely and turn the psp by hand with the car off.....do the same for the alternator......and if you want.....a/c clutch.

You'll be able to hear/feel if something's not right.

[IronMonkeyL255]

I'll go try that.

[IronMonkeyL255]

That doesn't seem to be the problem.

I unhooked the acc belt and tried both the PSP and alt. The PSP made some noises from the vicinity of the reservoir, but nothing like I was hearing before.

[mikec]

With the engine running though, its spinning alot faster than you can spin it with your hand. Any chance the noises could be from there after all? Does the PSP feel like its binding at all?

[IronMonkeyL255]

Nope. It turns fine.

I started it up right after trying it with my hands, and it wasn't making any noises.

I'll check it tomorrow morning if it's doing it again.


On another note: I LOVE the exhaust note of the turbo boxer. I have the stock exhaust except for a WRX manifold.

I need a Stromung turbo-back.....

[mTk]

Have you tried starting w/o the accesory belt attached?

MK

[IronMonkeyL255]

Nope.

[evolutionmovement]

If you find the PSP is at fault, you can get a smaller belt and not run it. I recommend draining the PS fluid and fully inflating the front tires if you do this for any amount of time and aren't a body builder (if you aren't you may become one). The steering's really stiff otherwise.

Steve

[IronMonkeyL255]

Ok.

I have come to the conclusion that the PSP isn't the main culprit.

The main sound is coming from the area that the starter is in.

I already started a thread in the drivetrain forum about it.

[cbose]

An old trick for tracking down pesky engine sounds is to use a stick. Something like an old broomhandle cut to about 2 feet long is perfect. Put one end on the engine where you suspect trouble, and the other near (or on, depending how
well you want to hear) your ear. It is amazing how the individual sounds (front bearing vs rear bearing in an alternator for example) can be sorted out this way. The only difficult part is to not go overboard and suspect everything in the engine is coming apart once you hear all the sounds. A bad bearing really stands out, for example, but a good one still makes a whirriing or light rumbling noise.

There is a safety issue here to be considered. In the quest to finally locate that pesky rattle, it is all too easy to start poking around the engine bay with the engine running and one false slip there can be a disaster. With the stick, you'll get at worst a bonk on the head and a few woodchips flying around.

[IronMonkeyL255]

I was thinking of doing that already.


One of the SCCA prorally drivers I know would always use a huge screwdriver.....