I have a 2000 Cavalier with about 141,000 miles on it and have had very little trouble except for the fuel pump. My current problem is a whining noise that is coming from the engine compartment. The noise follows the engine RPM perfectly wether I am going down the road or parked in the driveway. The noise seems to be coming from the passenger side of the engine(belt side). My thoughts are alternator bearings, idle pulley, tensioner pulley. I have had the noise for about 15,000 miles now and it has recently started to get worse. It is the loudest under acceleration and is just a dull whine at highway speeds. I am hoping to fix what might be going wrong before it leaves me on the side of the highway!

 

it could just be the belt
spray some belt dressing on it and if it stops
just go buy a new belt
or wait to see if the noise comes back

 

I have tried a new belt and the whine is still there.
The whine is most noticeable over 2,000RPM!

 

you try the old long screw driver trick

which is put ur ear on the handle of the screwdriver and the other end on lets say the alternator and see if you can hear
that way

good luck

 

I figured out what the noise was. The noise progressivly got louder the last two weeks and I was bound and determined to figure it out. I pulled the old cav into the garage and fired up the garage heater. I removed the belt and started turning things. Alternator, spun fine, Power Steering, moved fine, belt tensioner pulley, spun fine, idler pulley, AH HAH! The bearing in the idler pulley had gone bad. $11 for a new bearing(or $40 for a new assembly @ Napa). Now my old cav is nice and quiet!

Hope this may help someone out there.