soul.justice

I've been out of the game for a while since my fiancee has had several (expensive) surgeries but the worst is past us now and its high time I start turning a wrench on the ol bird again. Its sat for about three months and has developed a terrible noise- a very high-pitched squealing sound that only happens once the motor has been warmed up. I have it narrowed down that its not an accessory- I took her for a spin, got it to make the noise and took the drive belts off and started it back up... Still makes the noise when the only thing turning is the crank pulley. It makes the noise regardless of transmission gear too- park, reverse, neutral, and drive all produce the same noise and it does not change in tone or pitch. It does seem to speed up with relevance to engine rpm from 1000-2000 but after you crack 2 grand it either passes beyond my hearing ability or it goes away. This noise is loudest under the car. Any ideas?

90camaro355rs

if you want to make sure it isn't in the trans unhook the converter and restart the car, if noise is still there, its not trans, Have you checked the oil? Have you drained the oil to see if you have metal flakes in the oil, is the oil a golden color, black, or a milky color?

sailtexas186548

iTrader: (2)

does it only make the noise when rolling?

soul.justice

funny you mention the oil. I had it changed about a month before I parked it with a mobil 1 part synthetic,and drove it once before it sat. I did happen to check it, and it's black as sin.

soul.justice

the noise is present whether im parked at idle or driving. Its there in all gears as well and doesn't seem to change with a different gear. i.e. If im in third and cruising, it sounds like it does when at idle, except a little more highly pitched and "faster". It seems to correspond to engine speed.

soul.justice

I'm gonna see if I can capture it on audio so you guys can help me diagnose it. Check this post in about ten minutes for an audio file. Thanks for the help guys.

edit: I rev the motor one time, the last roughly ten seconds of the recording was taken underneath the car, you can tell where the break is from how it gets quiet then loud again.

sailtexas186548

iTrader: (2)

sonds like a metal on metal squeel to me. check near your banacer to see if something it running, check by the Tq converter, check your oil for beairng material, check for full oil/trans fluid, if you dont find anything after that I would take the trans off and fire it up.

90camaro355rs

That sounds like a bearing, imo, if you want to make sure it isn't in the trans unbolt converter that will tell you for sure.

soul.justice

When I had the belts off I tried to wiggle or move the balancer around to see if it had any play in it, and it didn't. Saying it's not the trans/torque converter and it is indeed the crank (main bearing?), would it be a better option to rebuild this motor or drop a different one in? A friend of mine has a 70s 350 block bored over but another member on here suggested back when I was considering it for a swap that it wouldn't be worth my time, especially since the motor has ONLY been bored over and has stock heads/crank/etc. I will take the trans out next weekend and see if it still does it, it's about to rain here

Dakota W.

Notice any excessive vibration?

90camaro355rs

Do not pull the trans out, this is not nec. all you need to do is pull flex plate cover off and remove the 3 torque converter bolts push converter back a little the start the engine. removal of the trans is NOT NEC that's a lot of un nec work.

as for rebuild or replace depends on your budget and what you want it to run like lots of hp or just what you have now

soul.justice

Yes, a lot of vibration. Like I've got a cylinder or two missing

soul.justice

Ah, okay. All my trans knowledge is on manuals, I've never taken an auto out. I always figured it was set up similar to a manual. I'll dig my service manual out tonight so I know what to look for when I do it.

I dont want anything wild but seeing as the 305 can barely get out of its own way I'll probably drop something else in if it turns out to be something wrong with the motor. I just dont know if itd be worth my time to get this 350 or a vortec 5.3 from the jy, which ended up being the conclusion I came to last time before I parked it. I have a lot of options, but I also like getting my moneys worth and not buying junk. Seeing as I've got the money but only enough to do it the right way once, I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from. I even considered getting a GM crate motor...but I think that's a little overboard.

90camaro355rs

well its like you said, you only have enough money to do it the right way once. First everyone likes the 5.3 6.0, personally, I am old school, I prefer 350, 400. Much easier and cheaper to build, besides everyone knows everyone wants the 5.3 and the 6.0 so they want a small fortune for the blocks heads, unless you go to a u pull it type place. a good 350 block can be bought everywhere.

Some will tell you to by an aftermarket block, if your building a race engine maybe a good idea, if your going to build a mild street engine, a good ol fashion 350 4 bolt is a good start with a decent set of heads. Now a crate engine isn't a bad choice . you can get one from scoggie dickens for around 1800. either way you will spend some money.

soul.justice

Well, my main reasoning behind finding a 5.3 was for the low miles/age aspect anyway, as I was going to put a carb intake on it. I was initially steered away from this 350 as it was referred to as a "smogger turd", it has the crap 882 heads, and its been bored .060 over with no other mods. I just talked to him and he's said that the block had a crack in it but was professionally rewelded and he has the paperwork to prove it- while I feel he's being honest, it's obvious this motor has had the **** beat out of it and probably isn't worth the $400 he's asking for it, but at the same time a jy motor is gonna be a crapshoot as well, and the people running the registers won't know the history behind the motor, and any block i pick might have a crack, I'd have to get it mic'd, if it is cracked I'll have to take it back and pull another, ad nauseum... If I buy a new motor it'll be sitting on the crate in the garage for four months while I build up funds again to actually buy shorty headers and a cherry picker to put it in, but I'd have peace of mind that it's got a warranty. There's craigslist, but I don't trust anyone from there- people aren't against you, they're just for themselves.

If you were in my shoes, would you take a chance on a junkyard block or try to negotiate a price for my friend's block? Of course this will all be a moot point if it's the trans, but I need to have some sort of plan together.

90camaro355rs

first off, I would not buy your friends .060 over block, you can buy a good 350 block from any machine shop, if you have a good machine shop they will not sell you junk, for they would like to keep your business.

A good aftermarket cylinder head like procomp or dart would do just fine, you can even get the dart in a cast head.

I would jack your car up in the air, put jack stands under it, take the 4 bolts that hold the flex plate cover on out, then take a large screw driver or buy a flywheel turner, remove the 3 torque converter bolts push torque converter back from the flex plate, then start the engine, if noise is still there, I would almost say that engine has an internal probpem, ie time to pull and replace or fix.

I have a brand new set of shorty headers that are for a 3rd gen never had an exhaust bolted up to them, They have been run on a 355 with a blower on a start stand that is it. I am asking 100.00 plus shipping. If you would like to see pics I will take pics tomorrow in day light then post them for you.

First make sure the noise is not in the trans before you make any kind of major decision. Your local library could have a manual as well, just an FYI!

90camaro355rs

I buy all my heads from KMJ out of Ames Iowa, you can find them on ebay as well. They are a very good company to deal with. Great prices.

soul.justice

I've got a factory service manual for my car. I don't know how I ever got by with a haynes manual in the past. It's gonna be colder than a welldigger's a$$ tomorrow so I won't get to crack a bolt until Tuesday but I will definitely do as you suggest. No matter how badly I want a new motor it won't do me any good if I can't get power to the ground.

Regardless of the issue, those headers sound like an awesome deal. PM me some pics and paypal info tomorrow or whenever you get the chance.

90camaro355rs

I will take pics tomorrow and post them

Dakota W.

Check your motor mounts.