164 engine whine
 

Hi guys,

My 1972 164 on carbs has a strange low pitch whine coming from the engine which increases with the revs. Can’t seem to pinpoint the origin. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards
Steve

Timing gears?

164
 

Is this something to worry about ?

I assume the B30 has the same timing gear set-up as the B20? Is this a new noise or always been there?

Some 164's came with steel gears. Maybe retro fitted. These can whine a bit.

I thought all 164s came equipped with steel timing gears; but, I am not prepared to place any money on that assertion.

For the OP, I would be inclined to rule out the water pump and the alternator as the source of the noise first. Also, early 164s were non power steering equipped; but, later cars were equipped with power steering. If you have PS I would also include that in the rule out list.

First off, whine / screech / squeal / howl can be subjective assessments. Make sure that this is not a drive belt (normally described as a squeal) problem by checking the tension on the fan belt and checking for signs of glazing on the belt surface.

If the belt is not the problem, remove the drive belt for the alternator / water pump and individually rotate the alternator and the water pump by hand listening for noise and 'feeling' for any roughness in rotation. It will be easier to hear / feel for this on the alternator than on the water pump. If this check is inconclusive, with a stone cold engine start the engine up listen for the noise. You probably have a 60 second window of opportunity to listen for the noise before the lack of coolant flow in the head becomes a problem and you need to shut the engine off. If the noise disappears then you know it is related to the water pump or the alternator.

I don't know the drive belt arrangement for PS equipped cars. It may be easy to do the 'remove belt' test to check the PS system as the source of the noise.

Does your 162 have AC? If so, remove the drive belt and spin the compressor drive. With the engine not running and everything shut off the compressor pulley should free-wheel smoothly.

If all those tests prove negative, then try using an engine stethoscope to locate the source of the noise. Tooth damage on the timing gears can cause noise; but, on the all steel timing gear set its hard to conceive of tooth wear. The timing gear is a relatively low stress application for the teeth (its the fiber hubs on the B18/20 timing gears that fail - not the teeth).

164
 

Thank you everyone for your helpful comments. I’ll look into this and post my findings. 👍

Use of steel gears from the factory may be associated with factory A/C. The clunky York compressor can be hard on fibre gears.