Hey guys, so with all the work on my car its come time to adress this noise. It happens in drive or reverse or neutral so I know its not the trans. But its annoying and I want to find out if I can make it go away. Here is a clip of my exhaust and you can hear the whir in the noise


My first thought is the power steering pump but I'd like to see what others think.

 

David:
That sounds to me like your alternator... Which is pretty much normal.. as its charging...especially during the winter as the cold tends to stress the charging system/battery etc....

Now if its been doing it all along.... It could be a sign of age ... Which happens... If its that much of a concern..Have your charging system checked... Bench test the battery as well as bench test the alternator...which can be done at your local auto parts....

Or it could be something as simple as whiney power steering pump...
Have you checked the power steering level lately? When the last time you did a power steering pump/fluid flush? It does break down like motor oil and loose its viscosity...

Besure to keep us informed when you finally get the whirring noise resolved.
Maybe someone else will chime in with more ideas/suggestions.

 

I haven't checked the power steering fluid as of yet. I completely forgot to do it last time I had the alternator off and its been too cold to get at the the car. The level did seem fine when I glanced at it though. Might do it today if I get off early enough. I feel if the alt was having a problem I would notice it with my system pulling so much current, and yes it was making this sound before I put a 2000 watt amp on it haha. Ill have my buddy at orieleys do a charging system check and pick up some PS fluid (couldn't hurt to change it)

 

I think that's a great call David...

Despite not having a power/charging issue...
That could be the sound of the bearings giving way in the alternator.

I just put 1 in my Silverado for that very same reason, It was whining profusely and it got really loud that night we arrived home from our vacation... When I finally shut it of... It also poped a diode.. Go figure...lol
I finally purchased a new alternator also from Oreilys... I got the biggest one they made.

 

Well if I do need a new alternator iv already had my eye on a 220 amp one so... that's just an excuse to get it!

 

can getting a high amp altenator do damage to the charging system or car? im curious on how many amps is the one in my car

 

The cable going to the battery to charge the battery has a regulator, it shouldn't allow for overcharging the battery and damaging it.

 

My electronics training tells me no. I too have struggled with this concept... It has to do with no matter how much current the alternator is generating, the systems are only going to pull what they need. Its possible to over power some electornics systems but that involves throwing so much power at them that it start jumping the normal conections and the like. Basically we all think of electricity as pushing, posititive to negative. But the way it really works is devices pull electrons from an electron abundant source (the ground) the alternator simply supplies a current so its not going to overpower the system. Its kind of a strange way to wrap your head around it and I even become a little confused trying to explain it, I just know that it shouldn't cause an issue.

 

That's a much simpler way of putting it... haha

 

Just heard a strange grinding ish sound from the eight side that sounded in sync with the whirring while turning so that makes me think power steering even more. Definantly change the fluid today.