Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Jeep with inline six.. engine whine

Was coming home the other day and noticed our '95 Jeep with inline six has developed an engine whine.. You know how fuel injected cars sound? They have that little whine anyway.. well this is a louder, higher whine.. and it definitely sounds like it's in the engine compartment. We've recently had the water pump replaced and some AC work done.. so I don't think it's those two... any other ideas?

Thanks,

Walt,

It whines when we're moving, increases with engine RPM. Sometimes it whines, sometimes it doesn't, but it's been happening alot more often lately. We were also pulling a long hill coming back from Idaho this past weekend and while we were driving at highway speeds it started up which it hasn't before. Usually as you get into the 40 mph + the whine goes away. Whatever it is seems to be getting progressively worse.

Thanks,

If it only whines when you are moving then it could be in the driveline.

The noise is spuratic and doesn't always happen.

Called the service center that we take my wife's car into (I don't work on my wife's Jeep.. that way I don't get in trouble when something goes wrong) and they said it's most likely the alternator pulley if it's more of a whine than a squeal. He said this is pretty common with the Jeeps.. so hopefully this is the situation. We'll see.

Thanks,

Please don't say AC compressor bearing! We just spent $900 getting the rest of the ac up to snuff. Boy, I didn't even think about that one, but it would figure! I'll check it out tonight when I have time. I'd like to locate the problem before the shop tells me what they think the problem is.

If you've recently had ac work done, most likely it is the belt, since they would've taken it off, they may not have tightened it enough...

It's a serpentine and I believe it has some kind of an tensioner on it, but I'll check it out.

Thanks,

73SUPER, My daughter's 2000 Jeep has NO belt tensioner as per factory.Crazy to me. Anyway, her belt would screech, not whine when it needed tightening. It gets tightened the old fashion way, by tension feel or give.

Well it's in the shop.. I know.. I'd work on it if I had time, but this is her daily and I don't have time for it. I tried to listen last night and of course it wouldn't do anything, but I did notice the serpentine belt was cracking a little so I'm having the shop replace that and try and track down the engine whine. I'll keep you posted with their findings, but they haven't always been 100% either...

Coulda done a simple test to rule out the serpentine belt...mist a little water on the belt...noise goes away...its the belt.

My wife has a 2000 model...talk about a SOB to change the belt...straight forward but time consuming...

Good luck

Thanks. We had the belt replaced, tranny flushed, exhaust manifold replaced (cracked again), and a breather hose that had collapsed was replaced). So far we're not hearing anything. Total bill... $1250. Boy, no wonder I prefer working on my own cars. Ouch!

Thanks for all the help!

Yes, we got one (this time!). It has an accordian type connection where it normally would crack. They say this one is guaranteed not to crack.. we'll see.

Thanks Walt!

Ouch...how much do these exhaust manifolds cost?

and are all 4.0 exh manifolds prone to crack...if not..when did they change them?


Be ****ed if I pay that much to fix the old ladies jeep..she'll have to leak.

The aftermarket just came out within the past year is what I'm told. It's (finally) designed not to crack in those areas that usually stress first. The mechanic said that it's now designed to flex instead of being rigid, but they're pricey!

Oops Sorry... yes, they're pricey. Mechanic said they listed for $500 (of course that's probably after his markup). Not sure what it's made of as I couldn't get a good look after it was in and the wife was anxious to headout for the weekend. I do want to take a good look when she gets back. We'll see how it does. I guess they're selling like hot cakes! This is manifold #3 for us.. don't want to replace it again.

I haven't really gotten into the old jeep six yet, I researched performance mods like any gear head should.. ..but thats about it.

I guess I better keep this in mind, just in case my wife says somethings making a funny noise.

Hope this one hold up for ya..

Is this what your referring too? If your mechanic buys from the same source as this ebay seller, then there was definitly some mark up.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JEEP-EXHA...1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks walt.

Sure did, I received two e-mails from you and replied to both...you didn't receive anything?

Hmm, that is odd.

I rechecked my sent folder and they are listed as sent, I will resend them, let me know if you received them. If not, I will send you a PM using this site, containing the information.

Could it be blocking my e-mail, do you have to allow people to e-mail you, some accounts do? Oh well, let me know if you receive them today.

Later

The tubular Jeep 4.0L manifolds (were replaced w/cast iron in 1999) crack because of the weight of the exhaust system along with flexing due to heat/cool cycles. The easy preventative is to install an exhaust hanger right at the firewall, or as close to the front as you can. That takes a LOT of stress off the system and will prevent most cracks.

If one does crack, get it welded instead of replaced. Ask the welding shop to strengthen the cracked areas with gussets. I have my 87 exhaust welded and even welded a support bar about halway down and between the rear tubes along with some gussets. No cracks since, and it was welded four years ago. I'm not using a front hanger either.