[Supraa_luva]

Ok I just put all the stuff back on my car finally. Originally the alternator went out so I put in the 80amp upgrade from the mk3's. While it was not running I've taken the headers off (wrapped them and painted them), radiator (used and air compressor and cleaned it all up and down where it was seated), all the belts (had to replace the alternator belt with one that was an inch longer), intake and throttle body (intake cause it was in the way and easier to get at things and throttle body cause it was pitch black in there), and a few other things, hoses and such and cleaned alot of stuff, and painted my valve covers

I just finished putting it all together right now, I made sure everything was done, put in the battery, started it up and I expected a little clunkyness at first and stuff, so I started it and it shut right off, was like, huh, did it again, went and looked around and was like, duh, the AFM isn't hooked up. So I hook it up, and try to start it again, and now it ran great, exept I started to hear this grinding type sound. I got out and checked around and I assumed it was the belts and pulleys making noise since it was coming from around there. I put my head down to listen and it was coming from the left, moved my head left and AH HAH! there it is... huh? it's coming from the intake!?

Now a while back I put a K&N cone filter on my car, I heard this same grinding noise since it's more open and it was quiet and has been that way ever since. but after today it's alot louder. it's this whining, slight grinding noise coming from the intake, It's loud enough that I can hear it from in the car with the door open.

Any idea what this is or if it's bad or what?

 

[SDRmk2]

U might want to doubble check the belt i doubt it is your intake. Check power stearing fluid and those belts. good luck.

 

[FWDsux]

Get a big screwdriver or a mechanic's stethoscope and touch it to the power steering pump behind the pulley, up by the intake, anywhere you think the noise is coming from. If the sound increases with rev's, it's prob a bearing, or something like that. Noises are confusing to track down in an engine bay, the screwdriver/stethoscope trick is a good one to narrow it down.

 

[Jay]

I heard a similar noise when a power steering pump started to go on my 83. Thats pretty close to the intake, maybe check there first?

 

[Supraa_luva]

I checked today and listened around (I don't quite understand the screwdriver thing you are talking about FWDsux, is it to feel for vibrations?) and I listened with my ear close (which is kinda dangerous near a pulley, lol) and I am absolutely positive it's coming from the intake, it's VERY loud if I put my ear right there against the cone filter, then if I move my ear to the right over the pulley it's not there, back left and it's right against the filter. I'll ask my uncle once he wakes up if he thinks it's coming from the same spot. Any ideas what this could be? :?:

 

[Supraa_luva]

Just had my uncle look at it. He knows quite a bit about cars, mostly older ones though. Hasn't dealt with too many fuel injected cars, but anyways. He looked it over and said the same thing, it's coming from the intake but wasn't sure why. It's quite loud. I could hear it from inside his garage when the car was parked next door in my driveway. It seems to get faster when the engine is revved but doesn't get louder it doesn't seem, just faster.
Could this be the cams? valves?... I dunno what would cause a sound to come all the way out from the inside of the intake.

So to recap. I've had this sound before, but now it's alot louder. The sound itself is coming from the cone intake. It seems to get faster when revved but not louder.

*also on a side thing my check engine light is on and it's idling around 1150. Might be due to having unscred and rescrewed the throttle position sensor but not sure.

 

[Dave A.]

Maybe you've got some squirrels chomping away inside your cone filter. :wink: (just kidding!) Take the cone filter off and see if the noise goes away or gets even louder. You really need a mechanics stethoscope to pinpoint the exact area of the noise. The intake pipe could just be amplifying noise from something that is resting against it or on it. You don't have a turbo, correct?? A turbo with badly worn bearings can sometimes allow the compressor wheel to come in contact with the compressor housing. Not a fun sight to see or hear! Belts can make strange noises as well that can sound like a grinding noise. Try applying a drop or two of liquid dish detergent on the underside of each belt, one at a time, and see if the squirrels abandon ship and the grinding noise goes away. :fadein:

 

[Supraa_luva]

It's safe to run the car without the filter for a minute or two? kinda scary, lol. Thanks for the tips though. I'll try and see what happens.

[edit]no turbo . I'd rather hear my car with a bad turbo than my car running good with no turbo, lol.

I tried taking off the K&N, started it up and it's just slightly louder, but this allowed me to put my ear really close to the AFM where the cone was. It's REALLY loud that close, lol. It's coming from there for sure now but like you said maybe it's just amplifying the noise from someplace else. I'll try the belts next.

 

[Supraa_luva]

alright, well I still have the grinding sound but I'm not too worried about it anymore as I've had it before just now it's louder. But my check engine light is still on and my car stumbles when I start it. I tried to start it 4 times today before it stayed on. I turned the ignition... stumbled stumbled shut off, did that a few times and when I was trying to hit the gas to make it stay on it'd shut off. finally stayed on and ran but stayed idling at 1200 like before. Could this just be the throttle position sensor or possibly that and another problem?

I'm thinking of just taking it in and getting it looked at and fixed as I don't know that much about cars. Only thing is most places charge 60$ just to check a car, not including price to fix. So not wanting to do that just to fix something that could be so simple.

 

[Supraa_luva]

woot, I got the check engine light to go off, I was fiddling around with the throttle position sensor and finally got it in the right spot. Now it's running smooth (aside from the grinding noise I'm still getting). But it's still idling at 1200rpm even when hot. It used to idle at 600, is there a way to set it back lower?

 

[Voyn238]

Sounds to me like your idle adjustment is way high. You said you cleaned the throttle body, right? You may have cleared out the idle air passage, and increased airflow at idle. There's a little tube on the TB that points towards the front of the car. If there's a little rubber cap in it, pull it out. This is the idle adjust screw. Turn it clockwise to reduce airflow and lower idle RPM's. Sounds to me like that's the only problem, and that you're hearing the normal intake noise, only that it's at a higher volume because of the increased idle speed. My intake makes a hell of a lot of noise. Okay, so my whole car does, but you know what I mean...


good luck!

 

[Supraa_luva]

Thanks alot Voyn. That fixed it. Yeah when I cleaned out the throttle body there was a LOT of gunk in there, really clogged up. I cleaned the inside and the tubes up really good with carb cleaner. Now it seems to run smooth. Did 2 1/2 full turns of the screw though to get it back down to 700rpm idle where it was before.