Went wheeling today. Now my truck whines.. Help?

[theoutbackdream]

I went wheeling today with my buddy. Nothing too extreme. Just did some wheeling at Prairie City SVRA, along with a dirt road. I switched into 4-lo when I needed it, such as climbing up/over any obstacle that 4-hi would have issues with.

Truck was driving excellently, until, out of no where, I begin hearing my truck start making a power-steering-like whine constantly. We're talking at; idle, accel, decel.. Going straight, turning the wheel. It sounds as if there's no more PS steering fluid in the system and it's going dry... But....

Power steering? Turning the wheels doesn't make it any better or worse, and the fluids still fine. Fluids still perfectly level, and the color is not dark/black, so that knocks that out.

Transmission? I didn't have issues with hard shifting, and I doubt the temps got so high since we weren't doing anything remotely difficult...


Is there anything that I could possibly check or has this happened to someone else?

I have a 2007 v6 4wd.

Thanks

 

[AuSeeker]

I would suggest pin-pointing where the whine is coming from to help determine what the issue is.

 

[CXS]

I would suggest pin-pointing where the whine is coming from to help determine what the issue is.

Agreed. Also keep in mind it might have nothing to do with wheeling. It may have happened if you were on the pavement. Sometimes assuming it was caused by wheeling prevents folks from considering all possibilities and overlook the real cause.

Wild guess - bad tensioner.

 

[Drunner97]

^ +1 Tensioner makes sense since it's doing it at idle. Do any water or mud crossings?

 

[theoutbackdream]

I would suggest pin-pointing where the whine is coming from to help determine what the issue is.

When I was trying to pinpoint the sound yesterday, it sounded like it was coming from the front of the motor/steering pump area.

Weird thing... When I tried to pinpoint it better this morning, the whine was there, but then it just slowly died out.. :noidea:

 

[theoutbackdream]

^ +1 Tensioner makes sense since it's doing it at idle. Do any water or mud crossings?

No water/mud crossings yesterday. I did do water/mud crossings a few months back though..

 

[theoutbackdream]

Agreed. Also keep in mind it might have nothing to do with wheeling. It may have happened if you were on the pavement. Sometimes assuming it was caused by wheeling prevents folks from considering all possibilities and overlook the real cause.

Wild guess - bad tensioner.

Would a bad tensioner come on, and then go away? (With noise...)

 

[wadle5]

I had this issue going on for several months. Would start when first starting up the vehicle or when it rained. Then it would gradually decrease. Switched belts and it still occurred. What it ended up being was the spring tensioner on the belt. $20 amazon part later and it was fixed.

 

[Oneluv13T4R]

Would a bad tensioner come on, and then go away? (With noise...)

Yeah, just like a pulley.

 

[theoutbackdream]

I had this issue going on for several months. Would start when first starting up the vehicle or when it rained. Then it would gradually decrease. Switched belts and it still occurred. What it ended up being was the spring tensioner on the belt. $20 amazon part later and it was fixed.

Yeah, just like a pulley.

Interesting. Never knew a pulley would make a whining sound.. I thought they just make an awful sound when failing... Guess i'll look into the pulley.

 

[4Reak Show]

Interesting. Never knew a pulley would make a whining sound.. I thought they just make an awful sound when failing... Guess i'll look into the pulley.

Pulling off the belt and spinning all pulleys by hand and listening generally warrants a good place to start. You can run the truck without the belt briefly to see if whine vanishes. That test would eliminate trans or timing chain etc and pinpoint to something in the belt system.

Again, likely a pulley.

 

[theoutbackdream]

Pulling off the belt and spinning all pulleys by hand and listening generally warrants a good place to start. You can run the truck without the belt briefly to see if whine vanishes. That test would eliminate trans or timing chain etc and pinpoint to something in the belt system.

Again, likely a pulley.

Since the whine isn't consistent, could I still hear something wrong by spinning the pulleys by hand?

I'll have to try and figure that out soon... Thanks

 

[AuSeeker]

Now that the whine has seemingly gone away, it is possible that since you were offroading that something foreign..like a stick or twig, etc. got stuck in some moving part at the front of the engine and has now fallen out?

 

[theoutbackdream]

Now that the whine has seemingly gone away, it is possible that since you were offroading that something foreign..like a stick or twig, etc. got stuck in some moving part at the front of the engine and has now fallen out?

That possibility is highly unlikely, as when I parked the truck yesterday, and the noise was still there. When I started it today, the noise just slowly went away.. Also, we were on dirt/large rocks... But it could be possible...

 

[Atlanta_man]

Mine's been whining for 2 years now. I keep waiting for whatever it is to finally fail.
Louder under load.

 

[benztech82]

Mine's been whining for 2 years now. I keep waiting for whatever it is to finally fail.
Louder under load.

I ordered a pulley today. I used a stethoscope to pinpoint a noisy one. I will do them one by one until the noise is gone. So far the noisiest is beside the alternator.

2005 V6 LTD 186k