whistling sound

[apple mike]

my car seems to make a lot of unusual sounds. i have no idea where they come from though. there is a constant whistling sound and i was wondering if anyone knows what this could be???

[apple mike]

i have recently been told that this COULD be the alternator but were not sure. does this affect the use of it? is there anything wrong with it. also, i saw a brand new mk2 golf 16V alternator. can this be used on a golf driver 1.8?

does anyone else have this problem?

thanks

[Oddball]

It's always those unusual little noises irritate me the most until I know what they are.
Possible your alternator belt is loose. Or it could be air getting drawn into the carb (wheezy whistling).

Does the whistling happen when you're driving? Or standing still? How loud is it, can you hear it over the engine?

If it happens when the car's at a standstill, then the easiest thing is to leave the engine ticking over, pop the bonnet, and have a good listen while walking round the car. I find the easiest way to tell where an engine noise is coming from is to get an empty kitchen roll tube, or 2-3 toilet roll tubes taped together. Put one end to your ear and move it around the engine (beware of moving parts though). The tube acts like a stethoscope, and will enable you to determine which part of the engine the noise is coming from.

[apple mike]

it does this when im driving but i cant hear it in 4th or 5th which i think is because the engine noise covers it up. it is not amazingly loud but if i turn the sterio off, you can hear it.


i checked under the bonnet and id does appear to be coming from the alternator area. im quite sure it is not the fan belt as i tightened this up.

[Oddball]

The only other thing I can think of is the alternator bushes, or the alternator bearing. If it's the original alternator it could be one of the two problems, they tend to wear out after so long. The haynes manual should tell you about the bushes. But I think the bearing means a new alternator is required.

I would double check the belt just to be safe. One or two of my mates have tightened up a belt only for it to come loose again. Just in case, might save you from forking out for a new alt.
Anyways, if you squeeze the belt quite hard, halfway between the alternator pulley and the other two pulleys, it should give between 5-10mm deflection at the correct tension.

Hope this helps.

[apple mike]

the alternator is the origional but has recently been reconditioned. (no idea what they do to it)

i will double check the belt,

thanks for the help