Randy Wildebrandt Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 I have a '94 Camry XLE V6. It has recently developed a 'whine'. The whine seems to be coming from the engine compartment on the passenger side. I'm having trouble isolating where the whine is coming from. I hope someone can give me some advice. Here are the details: 94 Camry XLE V6 Automatic 192,000 miles Car is in excellent condition. very well maintained The whine is intermittent. Here are the conditions that cause the whine. The car must be thoroughly warmed up. The car is stopped for a fairly long time. Like at a very long stop light. When I pull away the whine can be heard. The whine seems to be in sync with engine speed. The whine will go away fairly quickly. Perhaps in a block or two. Turning the wheel left or right does not affect the whine. Turning the A/C off or the entire HVAC off does not change the whine. Putting the car in Neutral or Park does not change the whine. I believe that the hotter the day the quicker the whine will appear and the longer it will last. The car does not use any oil - engine or transmission. There are no fluid leaks. The power steering pump was replaced about 7 years ago. The last significant maintenance was replacing the timing belt and water pump. The whine started after that. But not immediately after. The whine is not subtle. My wife, who is pretty insensitive to this sort of thing, even mentioned it. She said it sounded like a siren. By the time I stop the car, open the hood and start to look around the whine has stopped. The whine does seem to be getting worse. If anyone has some ideas of what this could be and how I could confirm it that would be great. Or if someone has some ideas on how I can try to rule some things out or in that would help too. This has been a great car for us. But it is basically my wife's car. And I'm starting to get uncomfortable with her driving it with this unexplained issue. Thanks for any help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighcm Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 I have a '94 Camry XLE V6.It has recently developed a 'whine'. The whine seems to be coming from the engine compartment on the passenger side. I'm having trouble isolating where the whine is coming from. I hope someone can give me some advice. Here are the details: 94 Camry XLE V6 Automatic 192,000 miles Car is in excellent condition. very well maintained The whine is intermittent. Here are the conditions that cause the whine. The car must be thoroughly warmed up. The car is stopped for a fairly long time. Like at a very long stop light. When I pull away the whine can be heard. The whine seems to be in sync with engine speed. The whine will go away fairly quickly. Perhaps in a block or two. Turning the wheel left or right does not affect the whine. Turning the A/C off or the entire HVAC off does not change the whine. Putting the car in Neutral or Park does not change the whine. I believe that the hotter the day the quicker the whine will appear and the longer it will last. The car does not use any oil - engine or transmission. There are no fluid leaks. The power steering pump was replaced about 7 years ago. The last significant maintenance was replacing the timing belt and water pump. The whine started after that. But not immediately after. The whine is not subtle. My wife, who is pretty insensitive to this sort of thing, even mentioned it. She said it sounded like a siren. By the time I stop the car, open the hood and start to look around the whine has stopped. The whine does seem to be getting worse. If anyone has some ideas of what this could be and how I could confirm it that would be great. Or if someone has some ideas on how I can try to rule some things out or in that would help too. This has been a great car for us. But it is basically my wife's car. And I'm starting to get uncomfortable with her driving it with this unexplained issue. Thanks for any help! Did you check all the belts? Is there any possibility that it's coming from a wheel? Does the transmission feel like it's shifting differently? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Wildebrandt Posted July 28, 2007 Author Share Posted July 28, 2007 Did you check all the belts? Is there any possibility that it's coming from a wheel? Does the transmission feel like it's shifting differently? The belts all seem to be fine. I don't think it is a wheel because the whine occurs if the car is stopped as well as if the car is moving. And the whine increases/decreases with the engine speed. The transmission seems to be shifting the same to me. Plus, like I said above, the whine continues regardless of if the car is moving, stopped, in Drive, Park, Neutral or Reverse. Thanks for the thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighcm Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 I really think it's a belt...can you pop the hood while it's running, and try to isolate the problem a little more precisely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naz Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 I really think it's a belt...can you pop the hood while it's running, and try to isolate the problem a little more precisely? I agree it is most likely a belt. My pops had almost the same issue with his RX300. Whenever it was turned on on a cold day it would make a slight hiss/whine that would stay in sync with the engine but within a block or two of driving or after it was warmed up the sound would go away. I never found out exactly what was causing the sound but after we got the timing belt replaced the sound went away completly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Wildebrandt Posted August 11, 2007 Author Share Posted August 11, 2007 I agree it is most likely a belt. My pops had almost the same issue with his RX300. Whenever it was turned on on a cold day it would make a slight hiss/whine that would stay in sync with the engine but within a block or two of driving or after it was warmed up the sound would go away. I never found out exactly what was causing the sound but after we got the timing belt replaced the sound went away completly. Hmmm. I didn't realize y'all meant the timing belt. I thought it was the auxiliary belt that drives the A/C, alternator, etc. The timing belt and water pump were just replaced less than 5,000 miles ago. I didn't have the whine before that. But then again it was replaced in the winter. The problem definitely gets worse with higher outside temperatures. I wonder if something like a stethoscope might be of use to diagnose a timing belt problem? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighcm Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Could also be the tensioner...maybe there was a problem when the belt was replaced and the new belt wasn't perfectly adjusted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Wildebrandt Posted August 11, 2007 Author Share Posted August 11, 2007 Could also be the tensioner...maybe there was a problem when the belt was replaced and the new belt wasn't perfectly adjusted... Yep, well we are in the middle of a big heat wave here so it is easier to duplicate the problem. Maybe what I should try is to get the noise started. Then loosen up the accessory belt. If it goes away then it seems likely it is deeper in the motor or transmission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighcm Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 It could easily be too tight. If it goes away when you loosen it slightly, it was probably never installed quite right from the beginning. I think there's also some sort of belt dressing you can buy that helps get rid of squeaks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Wildebrandt Posted August 23, 2007 Author Share Posted August 23, 2007 It could easily be too tight. If it goes away when you loosen it slightly, it was probably never installed quite right from the beginning. I think there's also some sort of belt dressing you can buy that helps get rid of squeaks... The consensus is that the whine is coming from the radiator fan. My regular car repair place believes the noise is just the air going through the radiator and fan. The Toyota dealer believes the noise is normal. I'm a little skeptical of both positions. I believe the whine is coming from the hydraulic fan motor itself. If the noise was 'normal' we would have heard it long ago. And my wife, who has never commented on any car noise in 30 years, has commented about this one multiple times. So it is definitely a noise that was not there before this year. And I don't think it is just the wind noise. Primarily because the noise is very dependent on temperature. The sound is worse when the outside temperature is higher. Well, I'd be interested in any thoughts about this hydraulic fan motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighcm Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Maybe...I don't any experience in fan motors... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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