Hi. I have a question about my 1987 plymouth voyager 2.6 liter. While driving it last week it started making a funny whirring noise and had moment of burnt plastic smell come out of the vent. The next morning i started it up to warm up and turned the defrost blower on. It killed it. The van is still running but I'm hearing kind of a rattling noise and whirring. Could it be the alternator? No service engine light on either
moment of burnt plastic smell and whirring noise
- Thread starter misswolfxd
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The noise seems to be coming out of the engine. Rattling along with a whirring.
Sounds like time for a compressor :-(
Compressor isn't really a necessary fix right now is it?
The rattling and whirring all the time. The smell and loud noise was once last week while the defroster was on. the van died when i started it up and turned the defroster on.
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Sounds like your blower motor and or its resistor is on its way out.
I'd check these out first.
Sounds like your blower motor and or its resistor is on its way out.
I'd check these out first.
Perhaps take it to someone with mech knowledge and open the hood to see what could be going on.
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Sounds like your blower motor and or its resistor is on its way out.
I'd check these out first.
X2.
Start with the simplest/cheapest suspect. The blower motor/fan assembly that pushes air through the vents is in the engine compartment, so it could be causing the noise. It's easy enough to test...with the key in the on position and the engine off, turn the fan on with just the vent setting (no AC, no defrost). If the fan blows air through the vents without making any strange noises, and it works on all speeds, it's not your problem. If it does make a lot of noise, or doesn't work on all speeds, it could be your problem. The fan/motor would need to be removed and checked for debris and damage. If there is no debris/apparent damage, check the resistor mounted on the motor to see if it's corroded.
If the blower does not seem to be the problem, move on to the A/C compressor. Turn the van on, then turn the A/C on and see what happens. If you get a repeat of the engine stalling, or the noise only comes back with A/C or defrost turned on, that's your problem. If the van runs fine with the A/C/defrost turned off, you can just leave it that way. You may want to bypass the dead compressor though by using a shorter belt, though that may require removal of the compressor to make room. Dorman makes or used to make a pulley that would go in place of a dead compressor, but I only ever saw them for GM trucks and that was years ago.
This is a tough one with the info we have because the burning plastic smell in the vents points more towards the blower motor/fan, while the stalling when turning the defrost on points to the A/C compressor.
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Sounds like your blower motor and or its resistor is on its way out.
I'd check these out first.
X2.
Start with the simplest/cheapest suspect. The blower motor/fan assembly that pushes air through the vents is in the engine compartment, so it could be causing the noise. It's easy enough to test...with the key in the on position and the engine off, turn the fan on with just the vent setting (no AC, no defrost). If the fan blows air through the vents without making any strange noises, and it works on all speeds, it's not your problem. If it does make a lot of noise, or doesn't work on all speeds, it could be your problem. The fan/motor would need to be removed and checked for debris and damage. If there is no debris/apparent damage, check the resistor mounted on the motor to see if it's corroded.
If the blower does not seem to be the problem, move on to the A/C compressor. Turn the van on, then turn the A/C on and see what happens. If you get a repeat of the engine stalling, or the noise only comes back with A/C or defrost turned on, that's your problem. If the van runs fine with the A/C/defrost turned off, you can just leave it that way. You may want to bypass the dead compressor though by using a shorter belt, though that may require removal of the compressor to make room. Dorman makes or used to make a pulley that would go in place of a dead compressor, but I only ever saw them for GM trucks and that was years ago.
This is a tough one with the info we have because the burning plastic smell in the vents points more towards the blower motor/fan, while the stalling when turning the defrost on points to the A/C compressor.
Get a low cost mechanics stethoscope from Harbor-Freight and use that to find out where the noise is coming from.
If the blower motor is bad (sounds like it is) then the lack of air flow would cause the pressures difference between the high side and the low side of the AC system to be at it maximum, there by causing the AC compressor to place the maximum amount of load that it can produce on the engine via the AC compressor drive belt. Though there should be some pressure switch that then causes the power to the AC clutch to be turned off. When the AC compressor places the maximum load on the engine, if the engine is marginal, it might be enough to cause the engine to stall.
You could disconnect the wire to the AC compressor clutch, and repeat the things that cause the engine to die and see if it still dies.
You could disconnect the wire to the AC compressor clutch, and repeat the things that cause the engine to die and see if it still dies.
128,000 Actually. lol
128,000 Actually. i was listening to it this evening at the drive thru at the bank. it sounds like a scraping sound. metal to metak. the voltage is slowly but surely is going down too.
Thanks for all the help. I have a few things to go on now.
Originally Posted By: misswolfxd
The rattling and whirring all the time. The smell and loud noise was once last week while the defroster was on. the van died when i started it up and turned the defroster on.
What happened was that the clutch bearing seized on the A/C compressor and the burnt plastic smell was the drive belt rubbing on the seized pulley. The belt not being able to rotate around the A/C compressor's pulley caused the engine to bog down and die.
The next time you started up the engine, the A/C pulley broke loose from the seized bearing and now the pulley is free wheeling on the compressor and that is the whirring and rattling noise you hear.
Either you can replace the compressor and get a new belt, or if the car was offered without A/C from the factory you may be able to use the belt from that configuration and delete the A/C compressor from the belt routing.
The rattling and whirring all the time. The smell and loud noise was once last week while the defroster was on. the van died when i started it up and turned the defroster on.
What happened was that the clutch bearing seized on the A/C compressor and the burnt plastic smell was the drive belt rubbing on the seized pulley. The belt not being able to rotate around the A/C compressor's pulley caused the engine to bog down and die.
The next time you started up the engine, the A/C pulley broke loose from the seized bearing and now the pulley is free wheeling on the compressor and that is the whirring and rattling noise you hear.
Either you can replace the compressor and get a new belt, or if the car was offered without A/C from the factory you may be able to use the belt from that configuration and delete the A/C compressor from the belt routing.
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