alright, my 93 sonoma 2.8L has a whine. thing is, its not always there. start it up, quiet. after i get down the street, the thing sounds like its got a friggin weiand 8-71 blower in it. ill get to work (about 7 min. away) shut it off, restart it, and it'll be gone. i was almost certain it was the tensioner because it was cocked, and spinning the pulley by hand i could feel grinding in the bearing. so i replaced that and the belt. i drove out the shop, pulled into mickey-d's and it was back! i know its one of the belt driven accesories, cause ill pull the belt off and it will be silent. i just cant pinpoint it...even with a stethescope! (long screwdriver) anyone else had this problem? if not ill just wait till something breaks. then ill know what the hell it was!

 

How does your powersteering feel when it whines? I'd check and make sure that the PS res is full. It is possible that the pump is starting to go, but being lubricated by the PS fluid, it doesn't feel bad to the touch. It also wouldn't be a bad idea to change the PS fluid.

 

I had that problem before, It turned out to be a bad alternator, The bearings went on it.

 

it doesn't sound like a ps whine. the noise does not change at all when i turn the wheel and the fluid is full and clean. i checked for excessive play in the shaft and that feels good too. and its not the altenator either. it sounds like its coming from down low. im starting to think it may be the air pump. it only seems to do it when the engine is cold, but it will keep going until i turn it off and restart it in a few minutes.

 

Possibly a water pump?

 

sounds like a water pump to me.