lex8000

Drove it home just now. Smoke coming from engine on arrival.

I will remove the cover , drive it a bit and try to pinpoint where it is coming from.

My guess is pully or belt tensioner acts up but only at certain times.

Clutchless

They can run a pressure test on your cooling system to confirm the radiator leak. It could be the source of your burning smell as the coolant hits the exhaust manifold and hot engine. You have enough miles and age to have a radiator leak and you are due for a coolant change according to the Lexus maintenance schedule.

lex8000

OK thanks. It does appear there's some white scale there. I don't think it's the whine sound though so there might be 2 issues here confusing things. Smells like rubber to me. Might be the radiator leak was just a lucky find.

lex8000

Update on this.

After my original mechanic replaced the idler pully and bel tensioner pulley I could tell no difference in the whine. Present but low volume, no smoke etc. Everything else normal.

Yesterday the battery warning light came on. My guess is the alternator is dying. He did listen to the alternator when it was in a few weeks ago for the pully replacements but possibly it sounded OK and my assumption is he didn't read output from it. Of course it might not be the alternator but I've got an appointment with yet a new shop to let them diagnose with the light on. The shop that said my radiator needs replacement didn't find any source of the noise so I don't plan to return there.

Will update post repair on hopefully final root cause and fix.

RX in NC

A cheap mechanic's stethoscope may be your best friend here. It may nail the source of that whine down once and for all.

lex8000

Yeah I suppose I could try to track it down myself.

My hope is that the noisy part has finally failed enough to cause a problem (the battery warning light). And this will lead the mechanic to the source of the problem.

But there is a chance more than one thing is wrong. Maybe they replace my alternator or fix whatever is causing the light and the whine is still present. If I know the whine is harmless it's a mild distraction at idle only. But sure I'm game to get a tool and hunt myself if this doesn't fix it. Appointment on the 21st. I'm sure I could get an earlier appointment at the large shop that wanted to replace my radiator but I also get the impression they are top dollar type garage. And they didn't find anything wrong with alternator....

afpj

Get a $5 voltmeter from harbor freight and check the voltage with the engine on AC on and headlights on.

RX in NC

^^ So what should the proper voltage measurement be with engine, HVAC, and headlights on? Perhaps 13.5 volts or slightly more with a correctly functioning alternator?

lex8000

Update 10/21
New shop found 0 volts coming from alternator and whine . 2 shops missed this somehow. I could maybe see missing voltage drop but not the noise.

Whatever, I'm happy it's going to be fixed and given all goes well I have a new regular mechanic. My old one is honest but this has been a disappointing couple months with him.

Edit: he said labor was a lot due to radiator needing to come out. I'm having them look at it while out to see if it needs replacing.