Eurovan front end noise

JOEJR

MEMBER
2001 VOLKSWAGEN EUROVAN
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
140,000 MILES

2001 eurovan GL V6 has a whining noise coming from the right front passenger side alternator area. The sound gets louder and changes pitch with higher RPM's. Any Ideas what it might be? The sound has gotten louder over the last couple of months.

Saturday, June 4th, 2011 AT 9:18 PM

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,873 POSTS

Most common cause is an idler pulley for the serpentine belt. One method for finding the offending pulley is to listen with a stethoscope touching the bolt that the pulley spins on. You can also remove the belt and feel for looseness or roughness in one of the pulleys although that won't always identify it. Generators and water pumps can make that noise too. Power steering pumps rarely make noise from the bearings, but they can make a lower-pitched buzzing noise if the fluid is low or there is air in the system.