Well, I drove my car to my friends house and shut the car off. He wanted to hear how my new cutout sounded so I started the car back up again. The coolant temp was ~200 degrees, and I waited for the oil pressure to go up. I reved it a couple of times to about 4000 RPM and then the damn car started whining.

It almost sounded like a lower pitched, less "screatchy" belt noise. The whining did oscillate (i.e. went from high to low pitch), but the oscillations did not coincide with engine RPM's.

I shut the car off. Later that night, when I went to start the car, there was no whining. I drove it around and nothing.

Does anyone know what it was and will this problem haunt me again?

 

My guess would be the alternator. At operating temp your fans kick on which would drain more power from your alternator. That or a/c are the only things I know of that would make that sound. My friends cavalier sounds like it has a freekin supercharger from the whining his alternator makes.

 

Mine was doing th same thing. I really noticed it at night. I would rev the motor and the battery gauge would move and the lights would dim. I had the alternator replaced and all better.

Kane