Ok, so i get out of work today, get into my car and fire it up. I rev it a bit as i always do and notice that when i do, i get the whistling sound you get from a supercharger. So i stick my head out the window and rev it louder and sure enough, the sound increases and i think that by some act of ***, a supercharger is under the hood (of course its not sadly). I got home and popped the hood and had my mom rev the engine while i listened...it doesnt really sound like a belt or anything like that although one of my friends said it might be a pulley. It almost sounded like it is coming from the tbi itself, i'm not sure till i look at it when its daytime out...so...any ideas on what the cause may be?

Note: it doesnt whistle while idling, only while giving it gas
Note2: The car, while i didnt really get on it coming home, ran fine w/ no noticeable problems....OH, and my check engine light has been coming on a lot more as of late (gotta pull the codes tomorrow)

 

check your alternator, mine whined like crazy before it went out.

 

Could be a nice vacuum leak, my friend's TBI car did that the other day. The noise was so loud it hurt my ears.

 

Have you done anything to the intake tract? Last summer I installed a homemade ram air setup on my TPI intake, and if you listen closely you can hear rushing air. In fact, this morning when I started up my car I got out to get something from the garage. Since it was idling a little higher than normal (not in closed loop yet), the rushing of air was very pronounced -- even caught me off guard at first, until I realized what it was!

My point being, maybe it was there all along and you just noticed it now.

 

If you're Auto trans fluid is really low it can whine like that.

 

Havent touched the intake at all...and...tranny fluid, will have to check that before i leave for work..i'll keep you informed

 

You say it doesn't whistle at idle, only when you rev it up? Thats no supercharger, you have a turbo...

 

Hahaha, yes, no supercharger, a turbo indeed...i was just relating it to the supercharger "sound"

 

possibly power steering?

 

Air cleaner come loose maybe? i know when i take mine off, the whistle from my carb gets alot louder because the air cleaner muffles it.

 

My immediate reaction was the alternator also. Mine too started to whine when it was going. Do you have a voltmeter or idiot lights? If you have a voltmeter, you will see the voltage has dropped, and in a short while ....

 

Turbocharged cars wont produced boost when just revved up. Well, myne doesnt anyways.

 

Ok, I'm thinking power steering pump. Check the fluid level, My friends Iroc made a supercharger-like noise when he had a leaking PS hose and the fluid was low.

 

I'd check ALL the vacuum lines going to the TBI, I had a whisle in my engine, AND I ALMOST KILLED MYSELF TRYING TO FIND IT... I checked everything, it turned out that it was a vacuum leak by the EGR valve..
good luck

 

Gets my vote!

 

my escort has been doing that but only when i get up to like 4000 rpms. sounds like a wistle from a vacuum but people think its a turbo. i dont mind them thinking that either.

 

but you can check the power-steering ALL THE TIME... put the car in park, and turn the wheel from side to side, if the whining gets louder when you turn the wheel, THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, but it will also get louder as you accelerate if you're going in a straight line.
one other thing you should check... look at the water pump after the car warms up... if there is ANY anti-freeze on it or coming out of it THAT's YOUR PROBLEM... if the bearings in a water-pump go out,,, trust me, you WILL hear it (sounds like a super-charger, hmmm) keep an eye on the temp gauge and check your power-steering and all your manifold vacuums, either that or just put a SUPERCHARGER on your car so you don't notice the other sound..

 

It's a whistle hes describing, not a whine.

A whistle sounds much different than a whine. A whine sounds like a ***** who just got beat by my moms Caddy.

It's a vacuum leak. I went through the same thing last year. Took forever to chase it down, I just replaced 90% of my vacuum lines and it vanished.

 

Must be a turbo charged escort then....later guys!

 

my vote is altentaotor. I had this problem on mylast z. it whistled so loud that guys whouldnt race me cuz they though I had a charger. It ended up being the altenator. check yours and see if it looks real dirty around it. Please let us know when you find the culprit

 

My vote is, stick a heater hose in your ear and probe around with the other end, and actually find the source of the noise.

 

Shut off the engine and disconnect the plug in connector to the alternator, start the engine and see it the noise go's away. If 1 or more diodes go out it will make the superchager noise your talking about, the volts will also be down some and the alternator will get very hot to the touch very quickly after it's started.

 

Before you shut the engine off, just put your hand on the alternator housing. If its a bearing just starting to act up you will feel the vibration coming right through your hand.

Steve

 

I had the same whistling noise last night. My voltmeter was also low. This mean my alternator is dying? After a couple hours it went away. Now it seems to be fine and the voltmeter is at its normal spot. The battery is charging normal now. So is it the alternator?

Matt

 

Two tools can be really helpful finding out where sounds are coming from. A length of hose held to your ear acts like a stethoscope to help pinpoint vacuum leaks and such. When trying to isolate mechanical whines, etc, any type of solid metal bar works well. Hold one end against a suspect area and listen to the other end. I use a 12" screwdriver.

MikeS

p.s. since we're voting, I vote alternator...can we make a poll?