I have a noise in the engine compartment of my '65 Valiant that started suddenly a few days ago, immedately after my gas tank rturned up dry. It sounds s bit like a whine from a power steering pump with a bearing going out, only generally higher pitched. Somewhere I've heard a sound like it - a small industrial pump or motor of some kind, maybe with a bad bearing.
It follows the engine speed very precisely, reaching an almost inaudible pitch at speed. When the engine shuts down it does a "eeeyoww" right down to the last. (It even bears a resemblance to an old fashioned tea kettle just before starting to boil.)
I've put a stethoscope on it repeatedly, going out to check it on different days when I get to thinking maybe I dreamed the whole thing. No such luck. It's always there, always the same, every time.
The reasons I get to thinking and check it again are several. It is definitely not the alternator; that has it's own lower pitched sound. Not the heater blower motor. I have no power steering. I've put the stethoscope to every place imaginable, the alternator, the water pump, even the starter, every inch or so on the block, head and valve cover. the timing chain cover, as close as possible to the oil pump and more, front, rear, right, left.
Now the real reason it blows my mind. The whine comes from right on top of the normal, ordinary, every day, mechanical, pump action, diaphragm powered fuel pump. Not at the base or anywhere near it. The top of the fuel pump. Either the round part above the diaphragm or those "towers" where the hose connections are.
So there you have it. Unless someone posts an explanation, there's proof that I've completely lost my mind. Of course such a post might not necessarily prove otherwise, but...
