94ZR1#444

When I start my '94 automatic LT-1, it does not make the whine. As soon as I start to back out of the driveway, a whine starts and then stop when the car stops moving. Then after I put the car in Drive and start driving slowly away from my house, the same whine happens. The whine only happens when the car is cold and when the car is moving.

I can't tell where it is coming from because it only happens when the car is moving.

Any ideas? I've search the previous posts and see a lot of other issues, but nothing like my whine when cold and when moving.

Thanks in advance,

Mark

antfarmer2

See if your exhaust connections or manifolds are loose or warm up the car before you take your wife fo a drive.

THE 383 admiral

Have you checked all of your U-Joints. A whine is typically Hydromatics or Gears. Record the sound while driving.

aklim

It's cold so I think you can get away with it. Disconnect the serpentine belt and move the car to the point you get the noise. Noise comes back, it is something else. Noise goes away, see which pulley is noisy or rough.

Jeffs82c3

Low fluid level in your power steering pump can make a whining noise...

THE 383 admiral

that typically would be a constant even at idle... Also depending how low OR full.

Purple92

The LT1/LT4 powered C4's have had a problem with Power steering pumps whining (it was sometimes called "Mourning Sickness" as it typically happened while cold). I'm not aware of anyone reporting major problems relating to it. Does your noise increase / decrease as you turn the wheel (the power steering pump "load" depends on how fast you are turning the wheel, and the amount of "grip" the tires have on the surface they're sitting on. Warm tires on pavement generates much higher loads than tires sitting on an inch of snow...

I'd check trans fluid level (when warm) and Power Steering fluid level (just for the heck of it), and take a good sniff of the Auto Trans fluid as well - if it smells burnt - that's never a good sign.

As aklim stated - if you pull the serp belt - you can run the car the way you normally do (at least for the first minute or two), that will tell you if the noise is something being driven by the belt or if it's engine / trans / diff related.

Roys92BlackRose

Does the whine sound like a hair dryer? If so, it is the fresh air injection system (?) located in the front left corner of the engine compartment. I'm not sure of the operation of the unit but mine comes on about 15 seconds after the engine is started and turns off sometime after I get moving.

On a side note, I was working on my 92 the other day and started the engine with the hood open and then had my head over the engine and that pump turned on and scared the bejesus out of me!

THE 383 admiral

Survey Say's???

bjankuski

Not being there to hear it or watch what's going on makes me think you have a low fluid in your transmission and the pump is whining.

Cliff Harris

Some transmission pumps had a whine under certain conditions. Upgrading to a later pump might cure your problem, but probably wouldn't be worth the time and/or expense.

Keep monitoring the whine and see how it goes. You might want to talk to a performance oriented transmission shop. They've seen (and heard) it all...

I had a whine caused by a bad torque converter but it only made a noise when the car was stopped. Mentioned for reference but doesn't seem to apply here.