My Monte has been acting up with this damn whine for about a year now. In the winter it got really bad, so we took it to a shop...they said it needed power steering fluid and since then the steering has been perfectly fine. However, the whine must be something else as well, because it happens every time I press the gas. When I drive on the highway it gets a lot worse, then goes back to normal once the engine cools down a bit. Any opinions on what the issue might be? I got it checked out at a Chevy dealer and they said nothing was wrong, but any video I've listened to of a 2001 SS hasn't had that noise.

 

not supercharged right?

sounds to me like there could be a problem in the exhaust, with one of the gaskets possibly being bad, once it heats up it seperates and then is letting air out making this noise.

either that or the intake, do you have the stock intake? could be something there also.

does the sound seem to come from the engine bay?

 

Not supercharged.

How could I check on the gaskets myself? I'm really trying to avoid going to the shop as often as possible...gotta pay for college, ya know :P

And though I've never checked, I do believe that it is the stock intake.

Finally, yes it seems like that's where it's coming from (the engine bay). If you're sitting in the driver's seat, and the gauges are the "north" direction, then it sounds like it's coming from slightly "northeast" haha

 

it either sounds like something thats gonna be with a gasket like intake manifold, or exhaust manifold. or it could be something in the electric fans, because they kick in after the engine warms up, which would make sense why you dont hear it once it cools down, i would pop the trunk when its warm and running and just listen for it, and let us know what i looks like its coming from or take a pic and then im sure someone around here will be able to help you out even further.

 

Oh I still hear it when it cools down, it's just not as loud and annoying. So I guess that rules out the fans.

I don't know how a picture would help with a sound... I could try and get a sound clip of it though.

 

When alternators start to go bad, they whine. This could be your issue.

 

I do remember reading that somewhere. But I made a special point to have Chevy check what they thought the whine was when the car went in for some sensor replacements the other day, and they said on their receipt that it wasn't a problem and there weren't any issues.

That said, I don't want to rule out the possibility...is there any way I can visually check the alternator on my own? What signs am I looking for that it's going bad?

 

check your tranny fluid, when my tranny gets low, it sounds like a supercharger. and i just have 3400, so no charger.

 

Sounds to me like your power steering pump. Sometimes they just get noisy, even when the fluid is full. I can hear mine sometimes. Its nothing to worry about if it is a noisy pump. Can you possibly get a sound clip of it?

 

I've experienced a bad whine in two cars that sounded the same. In one case (my Monte) it was the power steering pump making all the noise.

The other car (2000 Bonneville) was making a loud whine, and it was the transmission fluid being over full.