light weird squeal after driving through flood

[dangaran]

Hi All,

I drove through water only 6 inches deep yesterday and this morninig when i drove to work ( and on way home)
i have a very faint whining sound cominig from front of engine, its not wheel berings as the sound can be heard when reving staionary... it get louder as i rev more, it's not very loud just very annoying.

I only just fixed the last problem with the van and now four days later i have this noise...

i have read that it could be a belt and that it should stop making the noise when the engine drys out...but that could be june or july the way this countries weather goes.

any one have anything similar happen? and is there anything i should worry about?

Thanks..

[Bob]

My guess would be water on a drive belt, in which case it will stop once (if) it dries out.

[Simon Jones]

The belts should dry out fairly readily as they will be pretty warm due to heat from the engine as well as friction round the pulleys. Try switching air con on/off and if the noise changes, then it points to it being the A/C belt rather than one/both of the alternator/water pump belts. Other options could be bearings for water pump, A/C compressor or alternator.

Normally, a damp belt will run quieter unless it's actually slipping. A quick squirt of water from a squeeze bottle or spray is a good way to identify a noisy belt. Don't be tempted to put WD40 on the belts . You can get an aerosol of stuff to spray on that reduces belt squeal, but I used it once and all it really did was coat everything in a sticky goo which was not very pleasant. Ended up buying new belts and having to clean all the mess off the pulleys.

[rita]

Its usually a sign that the belts are needing adjusted or even replaced.

Or worn pulley/s.

[wonkanoby]

my bet would be the a/c tensioner pulley

[dangaran]

Still no joy, the garage i use changed all three belts, when i wen tto pick up the van they said oh, yer alternator is making a funny noise..?
so i get a replacement alternator, take it to my local bongo garage and they said its nothing to do with the alternator and they said they fixed it..
so i drive home only to hear the same noise all the way home, i rang them and he said it could be the turbo ? due to a cheap back box i had fitted,
i think he is tells a good story..

going back to another bongo garage on friday..

[jaylee]

Might sound like a daft idea..? Everyones mentioned the usual culprits... (Bar the manifold stud?)

But you could try localizing the acoustic of the noise by making a cone of some sort out of card to narow the sound direction down...

Be careful of moving parts..!!

[wonkanoby]

my mate sprayed the pulley thast tensions the a/c belt with a grease

that shut it up for a while

and gave me time to get a new bearing kit

[Simon Jones]

Just to eliminate the belts, try wetting them with water from a squirty bottle or pump action trigger spray. If the noise changes / goes away for a while then it's belt related. You can get an aerosol to stop belts squeaking, but it softens the rubber which tends to make it shed little bits that then get stuck all over the place. Not much good for a long term solution.