# '00 Altima 5-sp - whining noise



## TuffguyF4i (Nov 8, 2006)

Hey all. The car is a '00 Altima, 5-speed with the normal 2.4L engine...it also has about 89k miles on it. 

I have only owned the car for about 3k miles and of those miles for the past 1k it has made a loud whining noise that is dependant on vehicle speed, NOT engine speed. It gets increasingly loud the faster you go. It makes the same amount of noise if you have the car in gear or in neutral. I would think that it would not be transmission related, but you never know. I just swapped out the MT fluid, with a good syn oil, to make sure. The noise did not change.

It really sounds like a front wheel bearing. There is a small amount of slop in the side to side play, but no more in the front then in the back, and the back is not making any noise. Most bearing failures that i have seen with previous cars, have sounded more like a grinding then a whine. 

I inspected the CV joints. No breaks in the boots.

I'm a bit puzzeled. Any thoughts?


----------



## MickeyKnox (Jun 17, 2006)

it maybe your belts. if they are not tight enough or you spilled some oil on them some of the pulleys will rub against the belt and make this sound. most often it's the power steering pump pulley that makes this sound since it's the one requiring a lot of force to move it. 

if the distance between centers of pulleys is 7-11 inches the belt should deviate from straight line by 1/2inch when you push in the center of the belt. if its 5-6 then it's 1/4inch. if you decide to change belts clean all pulleys with acetone.


----------



## TuffguyF4i (Nov 8, 2006)

If it was the pully, wouldn't it change with engine speed, and not vehicle speed? That has always been my experience in the past.


----------



## MickeyKnox (Jun 17, 2006)

belts often make whining noises. so I would just check the tension anyway. spray some brake fluid on the belts and see if sounds disappears.


maybe power steering needs fluid? check fluid level and how clean it is.

there is a hub cap recall on some altimas. there was a thread recently about it. not sure if you car makes the same noise. basically on certain type of nissan rims hub caps are not held very well and make some nasty sounds.


----------



## TuffguyF4i (Nov 8, 2006)

Ok guys. Thanks. I'll look the car over this weekend. My wife is driving it 12+ hrs soon, so i want to make sure it is in tip top shape.


----------

