96 Windstar - front engine noise

Just started hearing a whinning sound from front of engine. Can't tell if it's coming from altenator, power steering pump or water pump. Serpentine belt was showing wear so I replaced that but the sound still persisted. No coolant leaking near water pump but vehicle has 101k miles with original pump so I replaced the water pump but sound still persisted. Belt tensioner appeared to be in good shape when I removed it while replacing water pump. I'm thinking it's gotta be the altenator or power steering pump. How do I know which one is causing the noise?

[erenia0324]

hi not sure if it the same problem i was having. on my 98 i could here a noise in the tensioner. we change it and still the same. so we change the belt and nothing. we notice that the tensioner wasn't getting tight enough even thought it was at max. we thought about getting a belt i bit smaller but notice the pulley was kinda worn out so we bought a new one and notice is a lot bigger than the one install. we put it on and that it. if you need more explanation e-mail me at erenia0324@hotmail.com

[Ian Howard]

Windstars are notoroius for having whining power steering pumps if the fluid is just the slightest hint dirty.. Aerostars and older E/F-150's were notoroius for it.

[mcalva]

maybe it could be the belt free pulley, the one that has no tensioner spring. The bearing may be lost.

[microsfoftxpuser21]

turn your wheel damn if it get louder as u turn its the power steering i did this on my 94 t bird and 98 winstarr most common alts if there old yeah but pumps do go hows the fluid if brown or grey flush it cause i'm doing mine next week i do mine every 12,000 miles

[mark v]

Nothing like answering a post that is 2 years old.

[SherrieC]

I was happy to see this pop up, as I'm having intermittent chattering from front right side. Turns out, my water pump pully is wobbly and making this wierd, hard to track down noise. Mechanic says it's not too hard to fix, shouldn't break the bank.