I have a 2000 XJ with 170,000 miles. It has a squealing whining noise in the front. It sounds kinda like a whistling high pitched squeal, kind of like a tea pot. It usually starts after about the first few miles. Sometimes its right at start up.
I put on a Gator Belt, checked the pulleys and tried unplugging the AC clutch but it still comes back. I will drive for 30 minutes or more and it wont make the noise but it keeps coming back. Accelerating seems to affect it by starting and stopping the noise and letting off the gas will do the same.
I hate to just start throwing parts at it like the water pump...
Any ideas?

 

tighten your belt!!! i had the same problem b4 and i cranked my belt so tight their is hardly any play

 

Thanks 99WhiteLightning

Its pretty tight now. It sounds like a good place to start though. I suppose the worst that could happen is break the belt.
Its about 16 degrees right now so I think I'll wait until Monday after I have it sit in a warm garage over night before I try cranking it tighter.

Has anyone else had that tea kettle whistling squeal, and any other fixes?

 

ur welcome for the answer, i had asked the same question a few months back and they good ppl of this forum said the jeeps likes thier belts excrutiating tight good luck on the fix

 

If you have replaced the belt and still have a whistle it could be a vacuum leak and not the belt. You will not break the belt by over tightening, but you could burn out a bearing from to much pressure.

 

Thanks for your help. Is there any specific location I should be looking for the vacuum leak?

 

I thought you guys would like to hear what this noise turned out to be.

It sounded like a loud whistling tea kettle. It would happen after about ten minutes of driving. Sometimes upon start and sometimes just for a minute. When accelerating it would go away and when I let off the the gas it would whistle loud. We all thought it was the belt or a bearing or pulley.

It turned out to be the air intake control motor. The valve or plunger in it would stick and cause the noise. I replaced it and all is well.

 

Glad to hear you figured it out. My buddy had the same whistling issue with his and it was a loose bolt on his exhaust manifold.

 

Well I thought it was fixed...it came back after 2 days of no noise.

The Air Intake Control Motor (AICM) seemed to solve the noise but 2 days later it came back. The noise occurs after about 5 min of driving. When my foot is on the gas it goes away. When I let off the gas it whistles like a tea kettle and its loud. I have parked and opened the hood and tapped on the AICM and then it will go away for a little while but then it comes back. What is weird is there is no change in perfomance...it runs great.

I first put in a NAPA Auto Parts part. Then I tried OEM and they both did not stop the whistle. I'm wondering if its something in line with the AICM like maybe a small hole in the throttle body. I might try a little tri-flow oil on the AICM.

Does anyone have any ideas...this is really disappointing!

 

This drove me nuts. The whistle noise was as loud as a tea pot.
Turned out not to be the Air Intake Control Motor.
It was the tubbing and passenger side air pump from the emissions system. Part of the evac system.

Finally it sounds good and run great.

 

It came back again. I replaced the intake manifold gasket. Its finally gone. The gasket had some sure signs of a leak. I just don't get how it ran so well with a leak like that. The tea kettle sound is finally gone.