I have been doing tons of higway kms as I recently started a new job at Toyota (stop laughing!) I started to noticea s slight whining sound coming from the front end that sounded something like a noisy bearing on a water pump. My wife had my car last night (stop laughing) & when she got home there was a strong burning rubber smell in my garage. I started the car this morning & the whining sound was strong & from a cold start the cooling fan was running.

The fan belts all looked fine.

The temp gauge has never moved just below 1/2.
I drive a 97CL3.0 with 125KMs.

Any ideas where to look?

Thanks

Adam

 

Sorry I could not read the last part of your post, I was laughing too hard.

Anyways, does the whining change with vehicle speed or it only does it at idle? Does it have an oscillating sound or perfectly steady? It could be anything on the left side of the motor in the pulleys and belts. Could be your alternator about to go as the bearings can wear down after drying out after many years. If the sound is oscillating it could be an idler pulley with bad bearings.

You really need to check the belts on the left side of the motor and look for cracks. When was the timing belt replaced last?? If there is a burning smell, bearings might be seized. Does it have a burnt rubber smell?

 

Thanks so much for the reply.

Just did a thorough examination & noticed that there was some ugly tar like residue coming out of the bottom component of the fan belt routing. I think this is the AC compressor but am not certain.

Had the compressor changed a few years ago & that helped but the AC has never been very good. If it is in fact the compressor, we can be certain of a very hot summer in SW Ontario.

The whining sound is pretty constant. It does not seem to vary much with increased RPMs. The burnt rubber small is strong but the belts all look good other then the oil residue that appears to be thrown around.

My timing belt is still original.

 

I am now able to confirm that the AC compressor clutch is toast. After some research (thanks to this site)- it looks as though the clutch can be replaced without actually having to R&R the compressor & having to evacuate the refrigerant. Texashonda writes about it in a few posts but I think this is something that is beyond my mechanical abilities & I have a general lack of patience!

Does anyone have any knowledge or suggestions on the price for a part & the probable cost for labourr? Like most of us, saving a buck is very important!

Thanks

 

TexasHonda knows his stuff. check some junkyards to see if you can pull one out of another CL. or even a 94-97 accords.