2007 hatchback making a weird whirring sound

[bronsin]

Did you remove the drive belt and run the engine to see if the noise goes away? If it does that leaves the alternator.

My sons alternator bearings went on his ECHO. They made noise for like 50k miles. We never fixed it.

[robkay]

Originally Posted by bronsin

Did you remove the drive belt and run the engine to see if the noise goes away? If it does that leaves the alternator.

My sons alternator bearings went on his ECHO. They made noise for like 50k miles. We never fixed it.

Hey everybody. Just a follow-up on this. I had taken the car into a shop that specialized in Asian vehicles. They did exactly what bronsin suggested above and the sound seemed to go away. They thought it sounded more like the water pump than the alternator. I kind of agreed, so we went ahead and replaced the pump. That didn't fix it. I didn't mind, though, as I wanted to get the pump replaced anyway.

Drove the care several more months and the sound would come and go. Then, this Fall, it got a lot worse. Took it back in to the shop and the owner was in a jackass mood and I decided I didn't need that. I found a different shop out of town (Ann Arbor, MI) that had really good reviews on Yelp. The guys there are great and were certain it was the alternator. They were right. There is no longer any hint of the sound.