i have a fd, which currently has 43,000 miles on it. but lately there has been this loud whine sound being produced between 2300 and 2500 rpm. as long as i am in that range this whine continues. any other rpm no noise. any ideas?

on a possibly (un)related note my clutch has been slipping more. its not too bad yet. the only reason i bring up my clutch is that i dont know if it has any relevance and want the info available.

 

anyone have any ideas?

 

Power steering pump maybe? Does the whinning change in pitch or volumn when your turning the wheel.
Possibly small boost leak that can't be heard at higher or lower rpm?

 

possible pilot bearing going bad?

 

I hear that whine too, except mine is at about 1600-2000 rpm. I always thought this was because one of the tubes going into my airbox was disconnected. The one that brings air to the cat i think?

 

it doesnt change pitch, however if i let off the accelerator it dies down. now if i have my foot on the gas whether i am accelerating or maintaining my speed it keeps whining. its between 2k-2.5k before and after that nothing. and it does it in all gears. Im Stumped

 

would that be at a certain rpm range or throughout the band?

 

Airpump? I seem to recall my airpump making a similar sound at the same rpm range when it was going bad.

 

You could have someone hold the car at the said rpm's, and listen with the hood open. If it only happens under load then I guess you can't do my suggestion.

 

good idea ill check, i didnt really think about that.

 

what is an air pump/what does it do (im not familiar with it)?
where is it?
how much did it cost u to replace?

 

i figured out what the air pump is. however i still need to know where it is located on the fd. also is there any way to tell for sure without replacing it whether it is the air pump?

 

The airpump is located between your airbox and your alternator. It's on the same bet as your alternator, water pump and the main pulley. You'll know if it's the airpump by starting your car, opening the hood and rev the engine by grabbing the throttle cable. You should be able to hear the noise as the airpump is only engaged up to ~3300 rpms.

 

thanks. if that is the case how big of a pain in the *** is it to remove it completely, scale 1-10 1=filling a tire with air, 10=3 rotor swap

 

Difficulty depends on the person and the tools. For me, 0 on that scale. For someone without decent tools and hasn't done a lot of work on these cars, probably a 5. Keep in mind that if you have emissions testing in your area, you will not pass without a working airpump.

 

2 bolts, 2 plugs and belt. easy access. scale of 1-10 its a 3. but you need to replace it or get a mid pipe and shorter belt. do not remove it with the catalitic converter still in the car. the only thing the air pump dose is supply fresh air to the cat to promote proper operation of the cat. if you remove the air pump with the cat still in the car you will burn up the cat, clogging it and causing problems you don't want. I have a stainless steel mid pipe for sale if you are interested (pm me).

 

no testing where i live, thank heavens

 

will i have trouble running lean/rich if i remove if, or does the pump just help the cat?

 

The idle will run richer and be more unstable with the stock ECU at the stock idle rpms. You can raise the idle up to around 1000 - 1100 rpms to help even it out.

 

so i dont need to worry about normal performance?

 

I took my air pump off, you will either need a smaller belt or bigger pulleys to use the original drive belt. I thought all the air pump does is inject more oxygen into the cats to reduce emissiions and should not affect the engine air/gas intakes?

And yes, you will have to increase the idle a bit.

 

If you remove the air pump with out doing a mid pipe, you will clogg you cat!!!!!

 

Just out of curiosity, does it only make the sound when your on the throttle? or does it make the sound no matter what as long as your in the range? Because I get the whine too, but i only hear it when I'm on the throttle.

 

yeah only when im on the throttle. thanx, i completely forgot to mention that

 

Yeah, so if it's the air pump, shouldn't you hear the whine all the time? like as long as you're in the rpm range?