I have an annoying engine whine in my 3.8 jk. I thought it was a pulley but it turns out the sound is the same with the belt on or off. I can make the sound in neutral or while driving. I rev the motor in neutral till about 1500 rpm and thats when the sounds begins and will continue slightly louder as you rev the engine. I made a video of the sound on my way back from the movies. Any ideas what the sound might be? In the video its the buzzing sound. I have a manual tranny, the clutch was not pushed in. the 0:36 mark you can hear it well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv_QhHyetdg

 

i have that too! 07 manual tranny, idk what it is. it just started.... someone help
!

 

Had an oil change today, seems to be gone? My air filter was crazy plugged up too.

 

my air filter is crazy bad too..

 

People have spent 5 grand to get that sound from their JKs.
Back in the day, people would replace their timing chains with gears to get that sound.

If it comes back...

Try it with the clutch pushed in.

Look for a bad idler pulley or belt tensioner.

I wonder if the oil pump may be the source.



Get underneath it and see if you can determine which end of the engine it's coming from.

 

I've had the sound also on mine for about 3 months now. 08 with 104k miles manual transmission. I know my front crank seal is leaky. Once that is done in changing the oil and filter. I can't seem to get where it's coming from though.

 

Autozone part number 231133 took care of that.