car making humming/electrical type noise...?

Question

i recently noticed that my chavy 2003 malibu was making a humming type, electrical noise coming from somewhere in the front while I was driving it. can anyone please tell me what this is, or could be, or what to check? thanks so much!
-L

Answer 1

Maybe your coolant fan is coming on when it's not supposed to. The coolant fan is right behind the radiator and if you hear it running all the time even when the engine's cold (open the hood to hear it better but don't put your hands near the engine), the fan relay or thermostat may be bad. It sounds like a humming noise. A technician may quickly know what's causing it when he raises the hood. If it's not on all the time it may be operating normally and you only started to notice the sound as the weather warmed up and the fan started coming on.

Answer 2

Hummm If this is a steady noise like a whine.And you speed up the motor and the noise or whining speeds up too. first i would check power steering fluid level if it's low this will cause a loud whining noise.If not this then it maybe the bearings going out on the alternator.And old school way of detecting noises and you must be very careful when doing this is a lond screwdriver placed on the alternator then place the handle of screwdriver to your ear. This is done with car running. Or a piece of wood like a hammer handle. Again i stress can be very dangerous!!! Any good mechnaic should be able to pinpoint this noise fairly fast. Good luck and be safe!!

Answer 3

you probable have pads and/or footwear that are worn to the steel. The steel is scraping against the rotor or drum and making the noise. you will probable might desire to substitute pads and rotors and/or footwear and drums. If is additionally a sticking caliper. between the sliding pins which permit the caliper to head area to area (floating caliper layout) might have seized up and is no longer permitting the caliper to head, in turn destroying the pad and rotor. for that reason, you will might desire to substitute a minimum of one caliper, pads and rotor. wish this helps