Hello everyone, first post here. lurked for a while and its time to get into the game

2005 V8, 70k miles. Purchased it a year and a half ago from original owner so I don't know any prior history of the car. So far I have just given it oil, a new battery and a new air filter.

When I took it for oil in december, the shop told me I needed to change my power steering fluid ($130) and change my cabin air filter (they wanted like $200). My dad has a land cruiser with 240k on it and hasn't changed his power steering fluid, so I thought it was BS and didn't do it. I ordered a new cabin air filter on amazon for 6 bucks and I'm going to replace that when it comes.

About 2 weeks ago the engine started making this throaty, whining noise. You can hear the whine on idle and it gets louder as you rev the engine. ITs not super loud, once you hit ~4k rpms or you are doing 20 or 30 mph (with windows down) the whine is drowned out by the engine/wind. It is not correlated with braking or turning at all. Its not horrendous, but it doesn't sound normal/happy at all and I was concerned I needed to do something about it. My buddy and I had a hard time localizing the sound. Its definitely not a belt squeal, the belt looks pristine and we sprayed them and no sound change.

To frustrate things, the maintenance light is on but my code reader does not link properly to the car, despite working on every other car I hook it up to.

So, at this point, I begrudgingly dragged it into the shop to have them take a look at it. I dropped it off on saturday and they didn't get around to it until sunday, at which point they told me they were "reasonably certain" I needed an alternator pulley replaced. They replaced the alternator pulley yesterday only to find that it wasn't the problem. The manager mechanic who I dropped the car off with on sat was back today and was pissed that the guy yesterday thought it was the pulley, so he put my perfectly fine pulley back on today and isn't charging me a dime for it fortunately.

This manager believes it is either my power steering pump or my alternator. He is going to replace the power steering pump tomorrow for $300 (unless I tell him not to). If its not the power steering pump, hes going to put my original back on and not charge me for it. (I'm assuming I only get that deal if I then have him replace the alternator but who knows). I know the car is 9 years old but its only got 70k miles on it. Fortunately this guy is not going to charge me unless he gets rid of the sound.

Sorry for the novel, my questions:

Should I have flushed the power steering fluid? Can you have issues with power steering fluid/pump after only 70k miles? Can you have power steering pump whine without having steering problems?

Am I making the right move?

Thanks

I'd find another repair shop you feel you can trust. Anyone who tells me its either a steering pump or alternator sounds like they are Guessing. If its the steering pump, you'd hear strain when you turn the wheel especially at very low/no speeds. Yes a steering fluid flush/replacement can help but you'd have to have some clue that is the problem not just guessing. There has to be some cause/effect you can follow. You could do the flush yourself. A flush around here is 79, 130 seems too high. Go to autozone or some place that will give you a code read for free. Then do your homework at either figuring out the problem and/or finding someone you can trust. Don't use the dealer for car work, they suck and Charge way too much. Good luck.

I replaced my cabin filter myself. Took me 10-15 minutes. I think I bought it for $35 something thereabouts. $200 for cabin filter replacement is a total scam.

I'm curious how you resolved the noise. I have the same problem.

I have a 2003 V6 with 193,000 miles on it. Something in the engine whines at idle RPM and gets louder at increased RPM. There are no other symptoms...just the whine. It doesn't matter what gear and doesn't get worse when I turn the steering wheel.

I took it in and the mechanic was sure it was the power steering pump. He put a new one in and the noise is still there.

I've done a fair amount of research on the forum and feel that it's either the power steering pump reservoir or one of the pulleys. I've seen a lot of commentary on 3rd generation pump reservoirs getting clogged and reducing suction head to the pump. People cleaned their reservoir or put a hole in the filter.

Have people seen this with 4th gen? I'm tempted to put a new reservoir in but I can't find the part number.

One of the most overlooked source of an engine whine are belt pulley bearings.
I don't know how many you have, but generally there is one for the alternator pulley, A/C pulley and perhaps a third general pulley that route the belts.

New pulleys with the bearings preinstalled are generally not too expensive.

Also the alternator could make a whine as could the A/C compressor bearings.

If you hear a whine or a rattle sound along with the whine, think about replace the pulleys.

These tend to fail if you wash your engine too much, especially the overuse of degreasing solvents, as do alternators.

If the sound is worse when you turn the wheel, it's probably the power steering pump or the pulley that routes the belt for the pump. Been there!

Did you resolve this? I'm at the same point! replaced the pump and its a little better but still whining and a little harder then normal. Also, I heard the these use ATF in lieu of power steering fluid, is this true?

NauticalWheeler was correct, it was on of the idler pulleys. I did replace the power steering reservoir before I buckled down and found the pulley though. There were several reports that 3rd gens had a filter plugging issue on the reservoir. When I removed the reservoir, I found that the filter area was actually quite large compared to what I saw on 3rd gen youtube videos.

ppvara, if I were in your shoes I would:
1. Remove the serpentine belt and run the engine for 30 seconds or so to see if the sound goes away. I read somewhere on here that that was safe to do. It worked for me
2. If the sound goes away, then you know its somewhere in the serpentine belt system.
3. Feel all the pulleys for play. rotate them and see if they make noise. It was very clear to me which pulley was bad. All my idlers have play and I plan to change them. NAPA only had one of each pulley so I could only change two of them.

Hope this helps! Sorry for the late response.

I have my sanity back now that the noise is gone!!

I have a whine on my 3rd gen 3.4 5-speed that is driving me crazy. Did yours sound anything like this??

https://streamable.com/sljl0