Thanks bro. Good suggestions. I'll get to it as soon as I can.

 

Agreed, it could be the water pump and the smoke could definitely be from the belt itself. Stethoscopes are so awesome. i diagnosed a broken flex plate with one on a Schwan's ice cream truck at work.

 

I guess I don't understand the last few posts. Here are the stated conditions:

1)The OP removed the belt and the noise went away.
2) The OP reinstalled the belt and the noise returned.

The water pump on a LT1 engine is not belt driven. Therefore, when the belt was removed and the noise was no longer there, it removed the waterpump as a potential source of the noise....didn't it?

The only possible contenders for this 'crown':
1) Power steering
2) Belt tensioner
3) Alternator
4) Air Con compressor
5) Harmonic Damper (a real long shot)

Since there was a mention of smoke you might want to look at the alignment of the AC compressor. The rear mounts are known to crack and can alter the positioning slightly. This could cause the belt to be slightly side loaded and be noisy, even if the spinning components don't show any issues. Just a guess, of course...

 

Hmmm. Maybe I'll take it back to the shop that put the compressor on and tell them to check it. Because it's definitely something on the belt drive and they did replace the compressor and belt (after their replacement compressor just blew up 10 miles after getting it back). If they tell me it's not the compressor, then yeah, I'll go ahead and find out what it is and get it replaced. But I've spend lots of money and time trying to get them to fix the a/c system right, and if it's that that's causing the sound, then they should fix it.

 

I'd check the battery voltage with a digital meter; both at idle, at 2k rpm, and when fully loaded(lights, fan on max, radio up, etc). 14.8volts is the max the system should ever show. My alternator popped a diode(1 out of 6) and it started whining like a bad PS pump or auto-tranny pump. The alt. also ran hot during that period)...it's weird that it would make that noise, but it did. I took the opportunity to upgrade the rectifier and internal regulator from asp wholesale dot com to a 200amp alt now.

 

Today, driving home from work, I noticed the voltage was pretty high again. Around 15-16. Just seems kind of weird. Because in the time that the car was running great and not marking any noise, the voltage was always around 12-13.

 

easiest way to see if any thing is miss aligned is to check the wear on the belt. a scope is a fairly inexpensive yet useful tool, cheaper then taking it to a shop. and as for cracks ive seen cracks in the alt bracket as well...

 

this is why I said check the Water Pump maybe why there is smoke? the only green fluid I know in a car is antifreeze? Id presurize the coolant system to find the leak. never know where they can randomly come from, if you find a leak atleast you could rid yourself of 2 symtoms.




and this is why I agreed that the volts could be high... just over charging to comp the non volts while the belt was off. It doesnt sound like just one problem. heck it can be any of the pullys causing a slip in the belt but I dont think random slips would cause an overcharge symptom like no belt would. Unless the altinator was going out. (I dont like shotgunning) but thats where the scope comes in. Some places can bench test your altinator as well.

 

The compressor oil is green as well.....and there is no mention of cooling problems or continues leaks after the air con compressor was replaced...

 

And yes, coolant levels are great and temp never raises over the middle of the gauge.

I listened to the car idle yesterday with the hood open looking for where the sound was coming from. It was making the noise real strong on my way to work. I was afraid it was going to break the new belt I put on. And it sounded as if the sound was coming from the alternator. Still not sure. I'm going to get it tested. But I'm pretty sure it's the alternator. The old belt didn't seem too worn down or anything.

 

Was this ever resolved? Curious if it was the A/C compressor or something else?

 

I would get a big screwdriver,put the tip of it on the alternater,and put the handle up to your ear,and see if that helps.Hey,do the cheap stuff first. This could be a two fold problem.Waterpump going south,alternater bearings shot.My02.