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Whirring noise when idle?


vukelic

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Just recently i was driving my N/A 1995 Supra home night when I thought I heard a whirring noise. I listened for a bit more but it went away. Once i got home i

noticed it was whirring when in neutral, just idling. it sounds like its coming from the front, kinda of near the clutch fluid reservoir. I am not super car savvy so i can't exactly locate it myself. I noticed however my car idles at around 1100 rpm, and thought maybe this was too high. Any ideas folks?

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Does the whirring stop if it's doing it idling in neutral and you depress the clutch pedal? If so it's worn out gearbox bearings.

 

Never hold the steering against the stops, it loads up the power steering pump a great deal, and the whine is the pressure blow off valve opening. That bit sounds normal.

 

Idling is ecu controlled, there'll be excess air entering the engine, almost certainly a mechanical problem,not an ecu one. Needs a good garage to look at it.

Edited by Chris Wilson (see edit history)
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The air conditioning is not on. However i noticed that rpms dropped to about 700 after a few minutes. It doesn't seem to be only when it's in neutral. the noise kind of barely fluctuates when i press the clutch in and out. I noticed also the noise is not only in neutral and idling, i tried rolling along it first at about 1000 rpms and it still made the noise. Any other thoughts?

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If you feel confident in tackling it, remove the ancillary drive belt, the one that runs the air con, the water pump, alternator and PAS pump. See if that stops the whirring, but only run for a minute at the most, as the water pump is not turning with the belt off. If the noise goes it will be a bearing in one the things the belt drives, maybe the tensioner pulley for the belt.

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Well i may try that later, but the noise is really more underneath the console in the car, at least thats where is feels like it coming from. Close to the back of the engine. If this is also informative, i can feel a vibration increase in the shift stick and the e break. Around that area.

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Gear lever and handbrake area would suggest prop shaft joint or centre bearing, but that's obviously not turning in neutral ;) Still think it sounds like a gearbox bearing. With the clutch fully depressed there's nothing else turning, when stationary in neutral, apart from from the flywheel and clutch cover / release bearing. The release bearing shouldn't be turning when in gear and driving.

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Hard to say, it won't get any quieter, that's for sure, it may get a lot worse, quickly, it may stay much the same for tens of thousands of miles. Why not get a second, hands on, local opinion, and if it is just noisy gearbox bearings see how it goes for a few months, maybe keeping an eye out for a better box? Turn the radio up and stop worrying, unless pedestrians stop and stare I ignore anything that doesn't cause the car to deviate from my intended path, or cause actual flames ;)

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As I said, if it is a gearbox bearing, or bearings, the noise should cease completely just after you depress the clutch fully, with the car stationary, and in neutral. CERTAINLY, if you then put in a gear with the clutch still down it should stop, that will eliminate any clutch drag keeping the gearbox internals turning with the clutch depressed. Truck mechanics are usually good with gearbox problems and noises.

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I would strongly suspect the bearing in the electromagnetic clutch of the air conditioning compressor. With the AC off this bearing is turning, with it turned on the clutch is electromagnetically engaged, and the bearing is NOT turning. Take the belt off, and turn the AC compressor pulley by hand. See if the bearing has play or feels / sounds rough. They can be replaced, in theory with special tools, in practice with some ingenuity. Bearing is indicated with a black arrow in the screenshot below. They can make a hell of a noise when they fail, I wouldn't have thought it would be felt at the gear lever or inside the car though. As a final test, do the "Tipex Test" on the crank damper, just out of interest.. Also, try spraying a little WD40 or similar on the inside and outside of the belt when it's making the noise, some makes of belt will make a racket when under a certain tension, the lubricant temporarily shuts it up. The cure is a new belt, ideally of a different make.

 

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?235358-Squel-on-Idle-Cold-Morningsl&highlight=tipex+test

Edited by Chris Wilson (see edit history)
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