I have a 2000 Stype 4.0 and in the last month I have had a "whining & rattling" noise when the car is on. I could not hear this from inside of the cabin and the car runs fine, no warning lights on or anything, but what got my attention was a plastic burning smell ( I knew it was not fluid like oil or anything) so when I got out of the car is when I heard the noisy rattling. Further investigating I found the noise was coming from one of the wheels that the serpentine belt is on and where the small amount of smoke and smell was coming from. Can anyone tell me how much this issue is going to cost to fix and am i doing any major damage driving the car? Has anyone had the same issues? I have spent countless amounts of $$$ to have this car working correctly. I have had this car since 2005 and it has 75,000 miles on it to date. Please help.

 

I wanted to add that the rattling is one of the pulleys that the serpentine belt is on. Is this expensive to fix or replace?

 

Depending on which 'pulley' your describing, it could be as easy as a $15 part from an aftermarket manufacturer (idler pulley). However, if its the tensioner pulley, you're looking at about $150, at least thats what mine cost, and the dealer is where I chose to buy it from...too many chances that the offset and bolting area wouldn't match up. There are other pulleys to -- the alternator, the power steering pump...so w/o some detail of which one, we won't really know.

If it makes you feel better, the idler pulley is usually the culprit, but you never know. How about a pic with a big circle around the pulley giving you smoke signals.