Sometimes when i give my car light throttle i hear this spinning metal sound, kinda like a whirring noise, its hard to describe. When i give it more gas, it stops though....im curious as to what this is....i cant tell 100% where its coming from, but it sounds like either the engine bay or underneath the car somewhere...i know its vague, but if anyone can offer me some suggestions, i would appreciate it. thanks in advance...

Check your power steering fluid and see if its low. Just a guess, but I know when my pump ran low on fluid, a whirring sound was heard.

My car makes a sound similar to that. Happens at around 2500 RPM. It dies out higher in the rev range. When I rev the engine to around that RPM when ideling, I hear a buzzing sound, so I think the two sounds are related. This has been happening to my car for over a year. NO ONE can find out what it is. It's not the header, because this was happening way before I even got my header. I don't know if both our cars are making the same sound, but if you find out where your's is coming from, please let me know. Thanks.

Originally posted by NismoNx2000
Sometimes when i give my car light throttle i hear this spinning metal sound, kinda like a whirring noise, its hard to describe. When i give it more gas, it stops though....im curious as to what this is....i cant tell 100% where its coming from, but it sounds like either the engine bay or underneath the car somewhere...i know its vague, but if anyone can offer me some suggestions, i would appreciate it. thanks in advance...

IT'S YOUR WATER PUMP!!! No seriously though, my car did the same thing for like two months and the next thing you know, the car stalled and the pump siezed. Just like that. If your car has over 75,000 miles (probably) then you should change the pump. Check out the thread in the classic forum. Good luck.

Are you referring to the noise my car is making or to the noise that Nismo's car is making? If you were referring to my car and not Nismo's, was your car experiencing the exact same kind of noise and at that RPM I mentioned?

Either way, I had the suspicion that the water pump was making the noise on my car, but the noise started happening almost right after I got my CV joints changed over a year ago. So, today me and my dad put my car up on the ramps we have to change the oil. We also checked for the noise. That buzzing sound seems to stop when you push down on the boot portion (I believe) of the passanger-side CV joint. Who knows though. We've been wrong before when trying to figure out where the noise is coming from.

By the way, yes my car has over 75,000 miles. It just rolled over to 90,000 yesterday. She's getting old. :(

TIA

Originally posted by blackb13
IT'S YOUR WATER PUMP!!! No seriously though, my car did the same thing for like two months and the next thing you know, the car stalled and the pump siezed. Just like that. If your car has over 75,000 miles (probably) then you should change the pump. Check out the thread in the classic forum. Good luck.

heat shields often rattle at certain rpm's, might need to tighten them up if you still have them on your exhaust manifold.

bump. has this prob been solved? what was making the noise?

i think im having the same prob, was gona get a new water pump this afternoon but store out of stock. then i ran accross this 3 year old thread...

shoulds like the water pump mine made the same noisse before it siezed up.....

This might not make much sense but I'll ask anyway. With the windows rolled down, does the noise seem to come mostly from *INSIDE* the car. (i.e. engine area) or from *OUTSIDE* the car. (i.e. wheel area).

Also, does it go away at higher speeds or just higher RPM's?

I vote for wheel bearing issues. The first NX I had did this when a front wheel bearing went out. I could also call it a "whirring" noise. I'd also check the heat shield. It may have been accidentally bent when the axle was put in. You just might not be able to hear it when you start getting faster.

At any rate, good luck.

-nathan

mine makes the sound at certain RPMs, around 1,700rpms BELOW. anything above and the engine sounds normal. It happens while moving or not, and u can hear it from the 'inside' ("whuuurrrrr"), and on the outside ("whuurrrr" with more treble). Doesnt matter when the aircon is on or off.

the noise is the loudest during startup and when the engine is cold. the volume turns down a little when the engine is hot/running for quite sometime.

My alternator and a/c compressor bearings are brand new. the 2 belts are also new.

so far we havnt checked the waterpump.

also, what is this "small oil tank" thing beside the aircon compressor and below the waterpump? passenger side. It seems to be leaking oil...

also, what is this "small oil tank" thing beside the aircon compressor and below the waterpump? passenger side. It seems to be leaking oil...

Does it have a pulley/belt as well? If so, I'd guess the power steering pump. Also, on my 93, the power steering reservoir sits above everything. I had that leak once and it leaked fluid over everything underneath it. In your case, maybe the main bearing in the Power Steering pump is going bad. Have you checked the fluid level lately? If it has gotten low enough (becuase of the leak), then it would be similar to running your engine with low/no oil.

Good luck.

-nathan

This might not make much sense but I'll ask anyway. With the windows rolled down, does the noise seem to come mostly from *INSIDE* the car. (i.e. engine area) or from *OUTSIDE* the car. (i.e. wheel area).

Also, does it go away at higher speeds or just higher RPM's?

I vote for wheel bearing issues. The first NX I had did this when a front wheel bearing went out. I could also call it a "whirring" noise. I'd also check the heat shield. It may have been accidentally bent when the axle was put in. You just might not be able to hear it when you start getting faster.

At any rate, good luck.

-nathan


I doubt it is a bad wheel bearing, since he said it makes the noise after startup and while he is blipping the engine. Does the frequency of the sound change with RPM change? I have whirrling noise that changes frequency depending on the RPM's.

Does it have a pulley/belt as well? If so, I'd guess the power steering pump. Also, on my 93, the power steering reservoir sits above everything. I had that leak once and it leaked fluid over everything underneath it. In your case, maybe the main bearing in the Power Steering pump is going bad. Have you checked the fluid level lately? If it has gotten low enough (becuase of the leak), then it would be similar to running your engine with low/no oil.

Good luck.

-nathan

i checked the power steer reservoir, and its full. I think this "small oil tank" thing is my main front or rear crank, with leaking seals? i found somethin similar in this thread (http://www.sr20forum.com/showthread.php?t=22221&highlight=crank+pics). Anyway, if this is indeed a crank seal leak, could it be the one causing this weird whuuurrr sound?

I doubt it is a bad wheel bearing, since he said it makes the noise after startup and while he is blipping the engine. Does the frequency of the sound change with RPM change? I have whirrling noise that changes frequency depending on the RPM's.

yes the sound changes pitch, depending on rpm. at low rpm / idle, it sounds like a low whuuur and as u press the gas pedal, the pitch of the whuuurr goes up together with the engine rev and at around 2,100rpm, the sound disappears.

does it sound like a metal chain spinning? I drove an se-r today that made a whirring sound like slightly loose metal chain spinning? I thought it was the timing chain or something. the sound also went away when above 2k rpm's or so.

I doubt it is a bad wheel bearing, since he said it makes the noise after startup and while he is blipping the engine. Does the frequency of the sound change with RPM change? I have whirrling noise that changes frequency depending on the RPM's.

Sorry, I wasn't very clear on my reply. It was meant for Chris. Seems we have several people with problems in one post. :D

I'm confused even if no one else is. :-)

-nathan

WTF. I think i got rid of the noise... Underwash :tongue:

apparently, the oil pan/compressor/pulleys/waterpump/ps area is full of thick black filth/old grease/dirt/crap/etc. got it pressure sprayed with diesel (if i use degreaser, i might use like, 20+ cans to get that thick crap off), followed by a pressure spray of water.

well, i think those powersteer washers need to be refiled for a better surface, and i think i also need to replace the oil seal in the steel oil pan (does it have a gasket like the valve cover?).

well im not sure if i solved the whurrring sound problem. ill just cool then engine a little bit (sound's louder when cool) then ill see if it's indeed gone :cool:

sound still exists :(