Chris87

I'm hearing a loud engine squeal (see video below). It's continuous and doesn't appear to change during the rev range.

Some background that may be pertinent: I washed the car and let it sit for four days. When I finally started the car and rolled out of first gear, the car lurched forward, as if it were breaking free of something--bizarre but perhaps completely unrelated. But as I drove off, the engine sound was different; it made a patterned sound like it was under a load (like if you switch on the AC) every few seconds. This lasted my 15 minute drive to work. This sound now has gone away after a couple of commuting trips, and now it has been replaced with the obnoxious squeal sound.

I looked around rennlist for a few minutes and thought maybe some water/cleaner got in the engine bay considering this all started after a wash. Thanks for any suggestions!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28PT3KxAY-A

"02996ttx50

idler roller bearing? serp belt. tensioner? sounds faulty belt-like..and horrible. GL!

Macster

The lurch and the feeling like the car was "breaking free" is exactly what happened. The brakes rusted up something fierce from sitting wet after the wash.

Every time I wash either of my cars I always drive the car and use the brakes hard enough to thoroughly dry them before putting the car away.

(Recently with all the rain, and with the Boxster sitting outside in it when I went to drive it yesterday there was a bit of a lurch when I backed it out of is parking spot. The brakes had rusted up a bit from sitting out in the rain. And as I slowed rolled the car down the drive and lightly applied the brakes I could hear the brakes and realized I was hearing the rust being removed.)

For the obnoxious squeal sound I'm with ""02996ttx50". My Turbo at 151K miles has been through 2 sets of idler/tensioner roller bearings. The first time the noise was a "dry bearing" sound. The 2nd time a "chirp".

One can't discount though a possible water pump problem. Best to get this correctly diagnosed and fixed. I'm always leery of continuing to drive my Turbo (or Boxster) with the car making abnormal noises.

Chris87

Thanks for the replies. Looks like I'll be dropping the car off at the mechanic this weekend.

"02996ttx50

yeah, a wincingly familiar sound.

151K huh? i'm right behind ya nearing 139,500.. and planning on living long enough to catch up to t2 lol.

back ot.. those are tough noises to isolate/diagnose until you start poking around in there so unfortunately chris87, if you aren't a DIY'r? you'll need a shop on this one.

leftlane

My rotors "lock up" after I handwash my car and dry it off if I don't take it for a spin right away. You can feel the binding and then breaking loose - no big deal there.

Jones R

Are you sure it squeals the same with high and low revs? Typically a bad belt driven component is affected by reving.

Macster

There is a risk from the brakes being so rusted. I learned the hard way with my VW Golf TDi. I washed the Golf and let the car sit for some time. At least over night maybe longer.

Headed out in the car and was driving down a county road at around 50mph or so when I had to make an emergency stop to avoid colliding with a vehicle that ran a stop sign.

My Golf emergency stopped just fine and there was a moment or two of it remaining stopped with my foot hard on the pedal as I glowered at the butthead that almost caused an accident.

Then I drove away with no problem immediately evident but thereafter I noticed a light pulsing feel to the brake pedal when I lightly applied the brakes. I tried (re) bedding in the brakes but this was of no help. The brakes were not "warped" the rotors just had some uneven pad material deposition due to the rust being present at the time of the emergency stop.

The only fix was to either resurface the rotors or replace them. Since the brakes still had quite a bit of life left I was reluctant to replace them nor did I want to go to the expense of having all 4 rotors resurfaced.

With some experiementation I found the pulsing not present when I was a bit more aggressive with the brakes. Thus I modified my braking technique slightly and drove the car to over 140K miles when I sold it with the original brake hardware still in service.

During the test drive by the person (a woman) who eventually bought the car she being a light braker she noticed the pulsing right away. I demo'd my braking technique but she was quite set in her ways and I lowered my price a bit to make an allowance for the brakes.

Bottom line is you can let the car sit with wet brakes if you want to, I guess. But remember to when driving away to use the brakes enough under controlled conditions to remove the rust without leaving the hot pads in contact with the non-turning rotors until the rust has been removed. If you have to bring the car to a stop from some speed, even if it isn't an emergency stop, with still rusty brakes you might find the brakes pulse afterwards.

Kevinmacd

Suggestion open the engine bay lay a towel over the engine, close the lid and wash.

FRUNKenstein

I get a high-pitched whine on my car for a few minutes after I wash it. I always assume it is the power steering system. Typically I was my car on Saturday mornings on the way to our PCA club breakfasts. The noise goes away when I depress the clutch, which tells me it is the power steering reservoir. And it goes away completely by the time I get to breakfast about 10 miles away. It may not have anything to do with your problem, but I'd consider the power steering system as a potential culprit.

Chris87

A worn out (original) water pump was the culprit. Thanks again for the replies!

Macster

No whine from my Turbo after a wash but I can hear the serpentine belt emit a chirp or three for a few moments after starting the engine after the wash. The belt's wet and slips. I can "tell" the belt is slipping by the battery volt meter gage reading. It is way low down at the "10V" level instead of zooming up to the "14V" level.

So I just sit and let the engine idle a bit until the belt/pulleys dry and the battery volt meter reading is where it should be.

There can be another source of noise though my experience is this requires the car be up to operating temperature. A high pressure relief valve in the power steering hydraulic system vibrates and produces a high pitched whistle.

I'd hear the noise after rolling to a stop and just before stopping slipping the transmission into neutral and then letting the clutch pedal out.

One way to know it is this valve is to fully depress then release the clutch pedal. If the noise goes away that's a good sign it is the valve. If one revs the engine and the noise comes back this is further sign the noise is from the relief valve.

The only way to "fix" this is to replace the valve and the only way I know to replace the valve is replace the power steering fluid tank. The valve is part of the tank and AFAIK not available separately.