My car developed a whine as well, but I have yet to figure out where it is coming from. From my experiance these are a bit tough to track down. Mine appeared after a timing chain, sprocket and guide change. It also DOES not dissapear when the belt is removed, originally I did not know you can test it that way, but before this, I thought it was the PS pump as well, then the idler pulley which was changed with not results.

I just finished replacing the guide rails one more time to see if it will go away and still nothing.

Since the engine is all metal, the sounds travel and resonate in different places, In this case, I think it would be best to make sure the whine is first tracked down to it's point of origin, then tested to see if it goes away, then make any replacements, but who on earth would go through a lengthy procedure like that?

xp

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1985 190E 2.3L - a constant project.