Started '02 UL (116k miles) this morning and immediately noticed a strange "whirring" sound, which would increase with rpm's. Turning off the climate control did not affect the sound, nor did having the car in park, reverse, or drive. Completely engine related. Drove 30 mins to work, noise still there. Popped hood, noticed slight smell of burning or something overheating. Just had fuel pressure regulator replaced a few weeks ago. T-belt, water pump, and all bearings and tensioners done at 110k. Also noticed a very very slight sluggishness with the car, and slightly harder to start the last few days. Gonna drop it off at the dealer on the way home. Any ideas?

 

I would start with the alternator, then PS pump, and then possible problem with the new water pump.

 

I notice PS pumps do make whining noises when they are under a lot of stress. hows the steering?

 

I didn't notice any difference in the steering feel. The noise is coming from the front side of the engine.

 

Took the car to Lexus of North Maimi and wouldn't you have guessed, the noise stopped on the way to the dealer. When I got there the mechanic did say he still heard something, so I let them have it and they gave me a loaner. Today they called and said it was the timing belt tensioner, they said its too tight and causing the pulley to misalign. Huh? I don't quite understand that. They said they took off the serpentine accessory belt and the noise was still there, so that ruled out the alternator and PS pump. That is of course assuming the "noise" they were referring to in in fact the same noise that I heard.

Since I had just had the T-belt, pulleys, tensioner, water pump and cam seals done over the summer, they told me to take it back to that mechanic, so that's where I'll take it Friday. Car drives and sounds fine to me now though, so I'm not sure what was causing the noise. Could have been debris rubbing up against the accessory belt that has since dislodged and gone away.

On a good note the Lexus dealer didn't charge me a dime for the extensive diagnostic or the ES loaner, and they even gave my LS a nice wash and detail at no charge. Kudos to Lexus of Morth Miami in that department...

 

good to hear! hoping it is nothing serious - I would be reluctant though to drive the car at all, if something is dislodged in the timing belt area, it may cause some serious damage if it causes your belt to slip. if you have no choice but to drive it, I would feather it all the time.

Keep us posted on what the Mechanic finds out!

 

Wow... no charge! I have such ****ty Lexus service in Tucson that I'll NEVER bring my car to the dealer again, nor will I EVER buy another Lexus. I brought my car to the dealer for two accidents (not including 4 years of oil changes and regular maintenance visits). The first time (someone rear ended me) they charged me $12k and kept my car for six months... and gave me some piece of **** 2003 Accord loaner with 140k miles and stained cloth seats.

The second time I brought it in (got rear ended again, but this time there was a car in front of me that I ended up hitting) it cost $17k, they had it for four months, the rear air struts were damaged and leaking, but not repaired, and the most annoying thing to date is the the idiots at my Lexus dealer reversed the lights for my windshield washer fluid alarm so that the light comes on when it's filled up... so in order to get rid of the light, I have to drive around with no windshield wiper fluid. To top it off they said all my front air struts we failing and wanted to charge me $6k to replace all four air struts. I was so pissed I just converted the car to steel springs.

One would think that when a person buys an $80,000 car, that they at least get loaner that's also a Lexus. ****... when I bought a Hummer (H1) the dealership almost always gave me another H1 or at a minimum, an H2.

 

I took the car to my indie mechanic that did the timing work and he couldn't find anything wrong with it. He said the alternator pulley makes a little bit of noise but that it's nothing outside of normal, some make more noise than others.

I have a theory about what happened -- when I had the fuel regulators replaced last month at the Lexus dealer, they left the right plastic engine cover in the trunk. It was already missing one or two clips; I bet when the tech removed the cover he set the clips somewhere nearby in the engine bay. Either he forgot to put the cover on or lost the one or two clips and didn't bother to replace them. One of the clips then may have found its way to being lodged up against the serpentine belt somewhere, resulting in the noise and burning smell. After 40 mins of driving it likely wore away enough to free itself.

 

Also it couldn't be the timing belt tensioner, as the Lexus dealer said, because by its design there's no way it could be "too tight".

 

good to hear! that sounds logical enought to me