ok, heres the problem. it normally happens when i slowly accelerate and the cruise at 1-to 1.5k rpms, my engine makes this horrid whining. i know it is NOT the transmission because it shifts ever so beautifully from 2nd to 3rd. but what im worried about is that i might have a loose belt or it may be worn down.


can anyone help me on this, or has experienced this themselves? what should i check for?

 

it sounds like a belt and/or tensioner went bad. I have not had that on my TL but on the other cars that what it was. Turn on your AC and see if it makes it better or worse. if it does then it's a belt problem since AC pump puts more load on the belt and tensioner.

 

thanks! hopefully thats what it is, even tho i really dont want to replace the belt or mess with the tension

 

The belt is easy to replace, so it the tensioner. It can be done with regular hand tools, no big deal.

 

It could be intake whistle, but most of us have it from around 2k-3k.

 

Does the whine match engine RPM? And is it only in a particular gear? For example, when tranny pressure regulator started going out in my other car, it would whine between 1k and 3k rpm, but only in 1st gear. It would shift fine to 2nd gear, but the whine would disappear after it shifted.

You can check if it's your tensioner pretty easily... Just remove the belt, and see if the tensionor pulley spins freely...

 

well thats good, i was a little worried goin in that i may not come out alive lol

no not intake, sadly i only have one mod lol debaged, and i havent taken out the silencer so

yes it does, and im pretty sure its in 2nd, ill test that this afternoon. as for the tranny pressure regulator, im not sure, i only get the whine from 1-1.5k, never above, and never below. when i shift to whatever gear is above the one that induces the whining, not sure which yet, it goes away.

now, how exactly would i get to the pulley? lol

 

Other than your RPM range, that is the exact symptom I had.... As far as the pulleys are concerned, I was just going by my GTP, I haven't looked at the TL... On my other car, you use a Serpentine Belt Removal Tool, or a long socket wrench, and put it on the bolt in the center of the tensioner pulley. It's spring loaded, so you just pull on the wrench, and the pulley assembley moves, loosening the belt, allowing you to slip it off...

I know on my G35, it doesn't have a spring loaded tensioner, but the tensioner has a big brass bolt on the bottom of the assembly, where tightening/loosening the bolt, moves the pulley assembly up/down, accomplishing the same thing... The TL is bound to use one of these two mechanisms...

 

The TL uses a spring loaded tensioner, iirc it's a 14mm and you push it towards the firewall to loosen the tension.

 

The stock intake does whistle very slightly sometimes around that rpm range you've mentioned (mine does that, I think it's normal)...but your issue seems louder and more pronounced...so it's probably not that. Definitely could be a belt like everyone else said. Good luck with the fix.