1998 Saturn SL2 Constant Whine
 

Hello everyone,

I recently bought an amazing sl2 from a family friend for super cheap. It obviously needs some work with its price point (500$) but it only needs basic stuff; headliner, o2 sensor, non foggy headlights, etc. I instantly fell in love with this car and it transformed from being my "get to the next car" car to my dedicated daily that i wanted to fix up. It has practically a billion miles on it as of now (245,100) so I expect some inconsistencies/ noises, but this one really irks me if you know what i'm saying. Instantly from startup my car whines. I'm convinced its a pulley seeing as my power steering, alternator, and other utilities have been replaced and or work just fine, I just don't know which one it is. I did the water/ wd40 test and it did get quieter when i sprayed the lowest, biggest, pulley but I have no real idea of which pulley it is or if it is even a pulley that is the problem. Any help and or advice?

Regards, Matt

I suspect the tensioner for the belt, as they wear they don't run straight and make the belt squeak. First thing to do is remove the belt to make sure it has a belt noise.

I agree with Andy 100%. And do what he suggested.

Does it whine more like " I want some milk mommy " like a toddler? Or more a teenage whine, like I don't want to clean my room, your ruining my life"?

But I agree, check belt condition, and condition of pulleys and the tensioner

Thats funny man. I'd classify it as a teenager whine. Its like a high pitched low whine that gets just as loud as the engine and its like synced with the RPMs. I am working on it this weekend and ill pull the belt to see if it is that.

The tensioner on mine was going out, but the belt gave out first. The garage quoted it as a $300 job, and I was delaying it as much as I could.

Most of the time the tensioner isn't to bad to replace and fairly in expensive, especially if you order from somewhere like rockauto

moved to S Sedan section where it belongs. No tech questions in the New Member Area , please.

I'm slipping....took me 10 days to notice.....

If you are a DIY repair person, a belt tensioner is not hard to repair. It would help if you can find a repair manual for your car, generally found in the self help section of AutoZone or O'Reilys cost some where around $30.00 and worth every cent of it. Also a tensioner adjusting tool can be rented and that too is a worth while expense. Add to that the cost of a Belt along with the tensioner the cost of repair should come out some where close to $100.00. To have some one else fix it a $300.00 I think I would get a second opinion.

The $33 Napa OE V Series belt is actually the same exact Gates belt you can order from rockauto as a Gates belt for about $15. Gates Tensioner OEM design about $45 RockAuto.

I actually purchased a new belt, tensioner, and idler pulley and figured I'd switch out the tensor and idler as they have quite a few miles, and the tensioner bearings are just starting to drag a tiny bit.

I could not break the lower bolt of the tensioner loose to save my life. THe inner face of the bolt head is RIGHT FLUSH with the tensioner making PB Blaster use pointless, and we're talking steel bolt into aluminum, so didn't want to risk snapping it off (10mm).

I can find no directions on Idler pulley replacement in the 3 Chilton Manuals that exist for S series cars. Not like it isn't obvious.

Apparently, from reading up on the net, what is not obvious is that the idler pulley is mounted on a protrusion that is part of the block, and if the blot is really seized, you will snap the entire thing off, still attached to the protrusion.

NOT FUN

ALL kinds of reattachment /alignment strategies/things that should never be necessary to do