squeak.

I'm sure we all have read my and Jin posts on the squeaks that we have been having. Jin's was a cranshaft bearing. Mine is still unfounded. And mine came back yesterday, after being gone for almst 4 weeks.
If a crankshaft bearing is going out, would the noise be constant?? Is it common for them to go out?
Mine squeal is hard to figure out where its coming from, sometimes it makes a faint chirping sound, and thats it. Other times it squeals, but if turn the wheel, or give a little gas it goes away. (my squeal only happens with no load on motor at idle speed.)
I have noticed that if I'm stuck in traffic and temps gets a little hotter than just cruising, the squeal is more noticiable.(Noramlly car runs with temp gauge about 1/4 inch above 100 mark, when stuck in traffic it goes to the halfway mark on gauge) Which has me leading towards the water pump bearing. Than if I stop car and run errands or something and let it cool for a little bit, the squeal goes away. My theory is that maybe the hotter coolant temp is causing the bearing to expand more or something.
Any other input would be great!!!!

If loading the belt (turning the wheel, turning on headlights, A/C cycles on, throttled up) makes the sound stop, you can at least be sure it is belt driven.

I musta missed the post you referenced, but crank bearings don't squeal, they knock. Horribly. I'll have to find that and see what we're talking about.

How many miles you got? If over 50K, go ahead and change the water pump. You'll need it by 75K regardless of if it's the problem or not.

I forget, you got the 3.1 or 3.8? The 3.1 pump is a no-brainer, any dolt can change it.

Jeff,
its got 110,000 on her and its the 3.8. Replaced the pump 2 summers ago. (bout 50,000 miles ago). Not hard to replace either.

OK. I just read his post. The P/S pump is on the back of the newer 3.8, yes? Did you check that out?

The bearing wasn't what he was hearing, it was just coincedence.

jeff,
yes the ps pump is at the back of the engine, PAIN IN ASS to get too!!! GM desingers need a clue when it comes to some of this stuff.
I am checking the pulleys tomarrow. And shall see how they sound and move.

You try looking at a Buick forum, where that motor is more common? Maybe they could tell you more. It might be one of those noises that every one of those does at some point, and they know right away what you are talking about.

Kinda like how everybody here asks about the racket the 3.1 makes when cold.

I also have this simular squeak. It is intermittant. It happens at idle or at a constant runnign speed. One and only sure symptom is that is stops when you accelerate. Other than that, it can happen or not happen any time. sometimes it starts and then fades away other times it gets very loud. All that are within 500 feet around look to see what is making this terrible noise.
I have taken the serpentine belt off all pulleys and it still squeaks. Can't be water pump, alternator, idler, ac or powerstering. But I can't seem to locate it.
Have tried a stethasocpe but just can't even get a clue!!
If you come up with something, please place a post back to this.

Since your noise only happens at high vacuum situations (idle and cruising) and goes away when you get on the throttle, I'd look at the intake gaskets, pcv tubes, etc.. and see if you have a vacuum leak that is making a squeaking noise.

Thanks for the vacum ideas/ I just replaced the upper intake manifold and the gaskets that go along with it/ I also replaced the lower intake gaskest while I had it apart. The upper manifold had developed a water leak directly into the air intake along side of the egr tube hole. that cured the water leak problem but it is also the start of this squeak problem. It started out with a very faint squeak. I thought it was the power sterring pump. but after just a couple of days, it changed to the intermitant trouble i have today. sometimes bearly noticible and other times a screaming squeal. then other times, no noise at all!!
Tonight I searched all around but could see nor here nothing in the intake area./ checked all vac tubes, they seem ok.
Yesterday it wouldn't sqeak at all! I drove it for 20 miles in the early morning. let it idle for 10 more minutes. no noise/ then repeated it in the afternoon. still no sqeaks.
Later that night I had a meeting less than a mile away and it sqeaked all the way there and back!
When I shut it off, the sqeak slowed and stopped just like it was part of the dirve of the engine. I tried it again and it sounded the same.
Previousely I had taken the serpentine belt off after having checked all the pulleys it turns. With the belt off, It still sqeaked.
One other sympton. When it does sqeak, it is after the engine has started running for a minimum of 20 seconds. sometimes much much longer. But never right as it starts.
thanks for the input, if you have any other ideas, I would like to know them.

Is the squeak a constant squeeeeeeeeeeeeak noise, or a squeak squeak squeak noise?

the squeak is rather constant when it is happening. but it does seem to have greater and lesser intensities to it. when you shut off the engine and as it is comeing to a stop on the final one or two turns of the crank, you can tell that the intensity changes a little . but as a general sympton, you can't here the spaces of silence between the squeaks.

Can you narrow down what side of the engine compartment it's coming from? My sister had a Jeep Cherokee with the GM 2.8 liter in it and her's squeaked like yours, ended up being a cracked flywheel, the edges of the cracks were rubbing together and squeaking. It finally progressed into a rod-knock noise. The only other thing I can think of is a bad harmonic balancer, fairly common on 3.8's. The balancer would continue to squeak even after the belt is removed, because it is hooked to the crank and spins when the motor spins.

richtazz
I'm still at it with this squeak. can you belive it! I have taken it to two shops, they seemed just as baffold as i am. now that the weather has turned cold, the symptoms have changed some. It never squeals when first started while everything is cold. It takes about 4 or five miles if driving to get the temp gauge about half way to normal operating temp befor the squeak will start to squeak. It hasn't been very loud and when it happens, it doesn't last very long any more. becuase it isn't very loud now, i think it is partially masked by driving noise. I seldom here it while driving but if the temp seems to be at partial warm and I have to stop, then it ussually shows up. In fact it is regular under these conditions. I have pulled over and listened at these moments but it seems to be everywere.Right side and left side. once again the stethoscope was of no help. listening through a tube placed at different spots around the engine seemed to isolate every spot tried with no noise, yet the squeak is there!
if you have any other ideas, I would be delighted.
thanks for your past info.

your squeak is making me crazy, I wish you lived close to Flint, MI so I could hear it for myself. Trying to diagnose this crazy problem on here is almost impossible.

I have kinda given up on my squeak/ squeal...... Now thats it colder here, (IL). The noise as gone away. I'm thinkning my squeak/ squeal is a belt rubbing or something. But there is no signs of wear on the inside or outside of the belt.

After two years of embarrassment every time I stopped at a light or was just going down a residential road, Five or six mechanics later, and a lot of thinking about it, I finally found the problem.
It wouldn't pass inspection this year and I was starting to get engine codes. Cylinder misfires. I checked all the plugs and they were all failed badly. I thought that I had done something wrong a couple of years ago when replacing the upper, lower and plenum gaskets. Also replacing the plenum.
I took the engine back apart down to the upper manifold only to find it was flooded with oil. One of the teachers at the Davis Applied Technology school I attend from time to time, gave me some great simple advice. Check the vacuum at the oil fill cap. I put every thing back together and checked it. It was just like my wifes vacuum she uses on the floors. I measured it with a water column gage and it blew it off the charts. It had more than 36'' of water column that translated into about 15 lbs suction. Enough to suck the oil right out of the engine and into the upper manifold through the egr valve. Only problem was that there was no egr valve nor a gasket for it. It must have dropped out and got swept away upon installation of the new plenum. It is very simple to replace. It is on the end of the plenum under the map sensor. It just drops in place.
This cured all of the problems I had. After an summer of driving it, I have no engine codes and not one squeak squeal or the ability to hear me coming from over a half mile away. The plugs look like new in all of the easily accessed cylinders.
Hope this helps
Rex Weston

After two years of embarrassment every time I stopped at a light or was just going down a residential road, Five or six mechanics later, and a lot of thinking about it, I finally found the problem.
It wouldn't pass inspection this year and I was starting to get engine codes. Cylinder misfires. I checked all the plugs and they were all failed badly. I thought that I had done something wrong a couple of years ago when replacing the upper, lower and plenum gaskets. Also replacing the plenum.
I took the engine back apart down to the upper manifold only to find it was flooded with oil. One of the teachers at the Davis Applied Technology school I attend from time to time, gave me some great simple advice. Check the vacuum at the oil fill cap. I put every thing back together and checked it. It was just like my wifes vacuum she uses on the floors. I measured it with a water column gage and it blew it off the charts. It had more than 36'' of water column that translated into about 15 lbs suction. Enough to suck the oil right out of the engine and into the upper manifold through the egr valve. Only problem was that there was no egr valve nor a gasket for it. It must have dropped out and got swept away upon installation of the new plenum. It is very simple to replace. It is on the end of the plenum under the map sensor. It just drops in place.
This cured all of the problems I had. After an summer of driving it, I have no engine codes and not one squeak squeal or the ability to hear me coming from over a half mile away. The plugs look like new in all of the easily accessed cylinders.
Hope this helps
Rex Weston

your squeak is making me crazy, I wish you lived close to Flint, MI so I could hear it for myself. Trying to diagnose this crazy problem on here is almost impossible.
After two years of embarrassment every time I stopped at a light or was just going down a residential road, Five or six mechanics later, and a lot of thinking about it, I finally found the problem.
It wouldn't pass inspection this year and I was starting to get engine codes. Cylinder misfires. I checked all the plugs and they were all failed badly. I thought that I had done something wrong a couple of years ago when replacing the upper, lower and plenum gaskets. Also replacing the plenum.
I took the engine back apart down to the upper manifold only to find it was flooded with oil. One of the teachers at the Davis Applied Technology school I attend from time to time, gave me some great simple advice. Check the vacuum at the oil fill cap. I put every thing back together and checked it. It was just like my wifes vacuum she uses on the floors. I measured it with a water column gage and it blew it off the charts. It had more than 36'' of water column that translated into about 15 lbs suction. Enough to suck the oil right out of the engine and into the upper manifold through the egr valve. Only problem was that there was no egr valve nor a gasket for it. It must have dropped out and got swept away upon installation of the new plenum. It is very simple to replace. It is on the end of the plenum under the map sensor. It just drops in place.
This cured all of the problems I had. After an summer of driving it, I have no engine codes and not one squeak squeal or the ability to hear me coming from over a half mile away. The plugs look like new in all of the easily accessed cylinders.
Hope this helps
Rex Weston

My 91 Euro has a sqeak when I shut it off that gradually slows and then stops. It is my cooling fan. I watch the fan slow down and the noise goes away with the speed of the fan.