1998-99 Pontiac GTP

[DocDave]

So my sister calls me last night telling me her car sounds like an airplane. The noise coming from under the hood is so loud she car barely hear the radio.

Any body have experience with the supercharger failing on the GM 3.8L from a 1998-99 Pontiac GTP? Does it sound that bad? Could it just be a bad alternator bearing?

I have not went and looked at the car myself, so I am looking for some feedback first.

Thanks!

[BAD LS1]

lol the blower gear drive failures sound like marbels going down the intake.

Alt, PS pump or an idler would be my guess... wont run or not well if the crank pulley is coming off due to the crank sensor reluctor on it.

[floaters]

supercharger failures are common, mostly with the nose cone, but that is like tom described, a marble sound.

[Brian98GTP]

If SHE says it sounds like an airplane, one can only assume it's a screeching or whining type of sound. My guess would be the alternator pulley or one of the idler pullies.
I'm assuming the 'airplane noise' gets louder with the RPM's, or may even go away completely....

+1 on the rocks in the intake when the s/c snout bearings/coupler goes bad. :thumbsup

[DocDave]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I will let you know what I find.

[Daytonapacecar959]

It'll be one of the idlers,take the belts off and spin the idlers to see which one it is.

[DocDave]

I finally got a chance to look at the car first hand. The problem was the air conditioning compressor. When the clutch kicked in and the unit tried to pump the roar would start.

Come to find out the A/C stopped working last summer. My guess is there is not an ounce of freon or lubricant left in the compressor from the amount of brown haze over the front of the compressor, pulley and belt.

So I pulled the clutch relay for now and told here she is going to need to have the A/C system replaced most likely.

[BAD LS1]

Well the pressure sensor shouldnt allow clutch engagment if its low, so it has freon if it cycles. The elctromagnetic clutch took a shit then and is slipping.

[B1Falcon]

I had a similar experience in my GTP (which i no longer have) and it ended up being a tensioner pulley. Right after that the alternator started to whine and needed to be replaced. Good luck and hopefully you found the problem.