chipmucks under the hood?

[kirbdawg69]

has anyone had a squeky stock intercooler? bought the car in OCT. and it sounded fine. Now the stock cooler is making a wierd chirping, squecking noise at me! I made sure all the bolts and nuts where tight! Its all stock the intake pipe coming off it is chrome (there when i bought it) and both the rubber hoses on it are in good shape, just wondering if this is comand thing and if there is a fix?

 

[chrisgarrett]

Does it only happen when you go into boost and then let off the gas?

 

[kirbdawg69]

No i would say it does it more at low rpm's to idle

 

[chrisgarrett]

Why do you think it's the intercooler?

 

[kirbdawg69]

if i grab the intercooler and kinda hold it steady it wont make the sound anymore! so i thouhgt that it was just loose and i tried tighten everything and it didnt help much!

 

[chrisgarrett]

Well that's a new one on me. Are you sure it isn't the tensioner or belt making the noise? Those are known squeakers.

 

[chrisgarrett]

There's three bolts holding the IC and then there's three bolts holding the brackets.

 

[kirbdawg69]

thats what i thought at first too so i changed the belt. Thats how i first found out it was the IC cause a was leaning over with a flash light with my hand on the IC and the noise went away....... and i check the bolts holding the brackets too?

 

[chrisgarrett]

Which belt did you buy? If it's the wrong belt, it will squeak.

 

[chrisgarrett]

This is the correct length belt. Parts stores will give you a 40 which is too long and will squeak. You could try removing the belt and running the car to see if it still sqeaks.

 

[kirbdawg69]

it was a napa belt and the numbers did start with 4060..... im at work now or i could check the whole number. i had the noise before i put the belt on there.


I also have a problem with the heater, that i was trying to track this weekend! I dont have power to it anywhere, i checked all the fuses and then went under the dash and check all the plugs at the controls for power then went under the hood and checked all the power at the box. I didnt have any power there either? the a/c is still hooked up and is charged but that wont do anything either. Is there a relay that im missing to check somewhere? thanks for the help!

 

[turbo39151]

there's a lot of crap under the hood that might squeak. Usually is the rubber bumpstop near the windshield where the hood rests on it. Just add a dab of lube (like chapstick, or vasoline, you get the idea) and the noise will go away. If it is the IC, I've never heard of that.

 

[salvageV6]

Is there a chance the stock intercooler scoop is hitting or rubbing on the swaybar, that would make some noise?

I had an aftermarket stock location scoop hit there once.

Otherwise dab of grease on the rubber hood bumper, and check the belt as noted.

NAPA does make a 4060637 which works well on my cars.

 

[SIXBANGR]

pull the belt and see if the noise goes away. Could be the alt. or water pump or the tensioner.

 

[kirbdawg69]

Yeah one of the first things i did when i got the car was grease the bump stop for the hood.

As for the intercooler it has to be it cause i grab the IC and steady it (a little bit of a rough idle but nothing crazy and no missing) the noise goes away! i will have to see if it hitting the sway bar? im stuck at work for 24 hours so im excited to see if that may be it! Thanks for all the inputs!

 

[six is enough]

Is there a chance the stock intercooler scoop is hitting or rubbing on the swaybar, that would make some noise?

This is very possible. You might try to readjust the intercooler a little and then retighten the bolts. Also something to look for is one of the brackets might need to be bent up a little as over time they may have saged a little allowing the intercooler scoop to hit the swaybar.

 

[kirbdawg69]

ok i will try that! and let you guys know what happends

 

[2 SLOW]

I am going to make a guess based on my experience from many years ago with changing the fan belt. I put a new belt bought from a parts store they looked up and said was the right length. I had a noise I couldn't figure out and heard the tensioner making noise, so I bought a new tensioner for about $90 and changed it. Well it wasn't the problem and then I saw that the tensioner was bouncing and making the noise. So I did some checking on the lenghth and discovered that the parts stores only sell belts in half inch increments and gave me a belt that was 64 inches long. The correct lenghth is 63.7 inches, so I tried a 63.5 inch belt and I almost couldn't get it on and made the tensioner too tight. The tensioner was chattering and making other things rattle. The 4060 number has nothing to do with the length. The number on the belt in the picture is 4060635. the 635 is 63.5 inches. The 6PK1615 under it is 1615 millimeters. If you divide 1615 by 25.4 mm you get 63.58 inches which is real close to 63.7 and is probably ok. But the true GM lenghth is 1618 mm. I know this seems real picky but the lenghth has to be real close to get the tension right. So i'm guessing that the tensioner is chattering because your belt is 64 inches long making the intercooler rattle. When you hold onto it it makes the rattling stop. You need the right lenghth belt. I only go to a GM dealer for my belt where you can get one that is 1618 mm. If you have a buddy with a TR and can look at how far his tensioner is pulled back compared to yours. I'll bet yours is not as tight as his. Also if it is too loose it could make pullys slip and cause problems.

 

[kirbdawg69]

Wow thats some great info on the belt! i didnt get to read it before i was messing around with it yesterday. I loosened all the bolts holding the IC and pulled my ECM wire and cranked it over for a few seconds to try to see if it would reposition the IC and tightened everything back down and it the noise stopped So really cant explain it? i guess she didnt like where she was? thanks for all the help and the great info on the belt!

 

[turbo39151]

I never had an IC squeak but the IC is notorious for being a real PITA to re-install and have everything line up perfect. Sometimes a little readjustment is all it takes.

Glad to hear that the chipmunk has left the building. But beware, a gremlin almost always surely lurks...