That's my luck...
 

Well, the morning drive today was very cold-- in the teens. The car seemed to have a little bit of extra power, maybe because it was so cold. Lots of traffic, and I drive for fuel economy mostly, so I didn't explore the extra power too much. Near the end of my drive, I was decelerating from highway speeds, when suddenly I started something like "raaaaawwwwwwrrrrrrrr". For the first second, I thought it was a fire-engine's siren that was maybe a ways away.. didn't see anything around me.. for the second second, I thought that maybe it's something on the radio, turn it off-- the sound's still there.

Sound rises and falls with engine speed, clutch in, clutch out -- no difference. Drive the last few miles to my destination, get back up to highway speeds (~3000 rpm) and the noise is not really noticeable (probably drowned out by other noises?)... Feels like there isn't as much power as usual, but I wasn't flogging it, so I am not positive. Also seemed to be idling a bit rougher.. I give it gas when I come to a stop because I don't want to risk stalling it and being stranded.

I get to my destination and pop the hood, the car will idle kinda ok without giving it extra gas... The noise is not so noticeable outside the car as it is inside.. sounds like it is right in front of the firewall. Start to smell something that might be burning (tough to tell, it's windy). I shut off the car wondering whether it's going to ever start again.

Get inside, get a couple of buddies to come out and listen for ideas... Go to start the car.. turns over, tries to fire, doesn't start. Swing a buddy's car around to give a jumpstart to the car (in case the cold means too little spark, etc.). Still doesn't start. Seem to be feeling more vibration than usual when trying to start the car.

Of course, I haven't gotten a compression test yet.

So any keyboard mechanics out there already know what it is? Advice on what to check/try?

Thanks...

At the risk of telling you what you already know, do the compression test before you waste any time with other things. Assuming the noise and the starting problem are related, and the clutch engaged or disengaged does not change the noise, my GUESS is that there is a serious engine problem. Or perhaps a problem with the CAS.

If they are not related, and it will eventually start, I would suspect an alternator bushing or failing water pump causing the noise. Have you done any work on the car recently? If so, go back over what you did to look for a problem.

Also could be anything belt driven up front.
I lost a steering pump recently. In cold mornings it sounded like a horny tomcat.

Well, as an update, it turns out that things look like it might have just been the Pep Boy's alternator.

I am relieved (that the problem was not more seious), but somewhat confused. I have no problems believing that the less than 2 year old Pep Boy's alternator has gone bad already -- that is about the same life span as the previous Pep Boy's alternator that died and was exchanged for the current one. Certainly at this point I am completely done with Pep Boy's alternators, "lifetime guarantee" or no... I just have to hope that this alternator did not manage to kill my battery like the previous one did.

The thing that has me confused is that I previous dying altenators I have experienced (I have owned several old cars) would show voltage fluctuations in my dash voltage gage... this one did not. Voltage remained normal until another test run today in which it was suddenly dropping down to about 10-ish volts..

With the exception of me never having seen the voltage gage acting up this time, the alternator failing does seem to account for my symptoms-- the howling that rose and fell with engine RPM could be explained by a bearing going out in the Pep Boy's alternator, and weak spark could explain for the poor running and difficulty starting (not sure why it didn't jump that one time, though, and why it was able to start on its own without a jump about 5 hous later).

Oh well, I will know better tomorrow when I get the new alternator in it.

Who knew an alternator could howl like that???