Whining noise (engine? Steering? alternator?)

[Dave]

HI all

over the last month or so, i get this weird whining noise and it sounds as though its coming from the engine. it goes up and gets louder when you rev the engine. at first i thought it was power steering, but i checked the fluid and it was fine. did a search on google and some people are saying it could be the alternator pully???

have any of you heard this noise before?
E36 318is

same as this one in the video

 

[Leon]

Mine made almost the exact same noise!
Also a 318IS E36

My fluidlevels were also fine!
But i flushed the whole powersteeringsystem and give it some new oil and the noise was gone!
The oil was real nasty that came out of the system!

 

[Dave]

Interesting. Did it have any effect on your steering or was it just making a noise?

 

[andrewbuch]

Dude that noise is your hidden Turbo spooling up

---

Try flushing the steering fluid, had mine in the E36 done, & also made a difference to the feel of the steering, made it lighter

 

[Dave]

damn, someone noticed :facepalm:

gona try the flush this weekend.

 

[ClassicB]

Alternator bearing

 

[Dave]

Alternator bearing

have you had any experience with that?

 

[Leon]

No,i didn't feel anything on my steering
But after the flush it felt more smooth!

 

[ClassicB]

Not with a BM, but My previous Polo. When you rev it the whining increases, or when you drive faster it increases as well. Listen in your engine compartment and rev it a bit to hear if it is coming from the alternator. Steering would not cause an increase in the whining if you revved it.

 

[Leon]

Mine whining increased as the revs got higher!
They also thought is was my alternator bearing at first

 

[ClassicB]

try the flush, it wont do any harm. If it is still there most likely the alternator bearing.

Keep us posted after you have done it.

 

[Dave]

yeah i guess so. will let youll know after the weekend,

 

[JpRoux]

Hey bud, you can also look at your belts. Mine made a similar noise and found out that one of the pulley belts had a hole in it.

 

[DonovanPorter]

replaced my e46's tensioner pully below the altinator , all sorted

 

[Matt Q]

Do you have a wife and was she in the car at the time?

Try asking her to step out of the car... that generally removes all the whining from my car!!

 

[XMAX]

Do you have a wife and was she in the car at the time?

Try asking her to step out of the car... that generally removes all the whining from my car!!

Dude, youre psychic.... I just about to tell this guy the very same thing. :clap: