92 xj making nosie

ok so on my 92 now not the 90 lol but when i fire it up it makes a whining noise and kinda a grinding noise at the same time. its on the front of the engine but not sure if its idler pullys, alt, power steering or something else. its got less then 170k on the engine and its over 3 hours away and if i could figure the noise out i could buy the part and drive it back home cause i dont feel like having to rent a U haul and trailer to bring it back if i dont have too. i know idler pullys go out alot on other cars so im just wondering if this has happened to any of u around 170k

has the 4.0 btw

i really need some advice cause i really dont want to have to get a U haul and i got to get it soon and would rather drive it back down but how long do the idlers last on the 4.0's ?

It's hard to diagnose at this distance, but what I'd do is take along an automotive stethoscope, or lacking that a piece of hose you can stick in your ear, wrenches suitable for removing and adjusting the belt (14 and 15 mm as I recall), and a small quantity of brake fluid with a little brush or spray bottle.

The first thing you do is wiggle and wobble pulleys to look for play. The second is to turn it on and try to isolate the noise using the stethoscope. Make sure the AC is off (remember defrost puts the AC on too). The third is to take the brake fluid and spray the belt to see if it quiets down. Brake fluid will temporarily halt squealing without damaging the belt. If it quiets down with all pulleys still spiinning, then tighten the belt. If it doesn't, take the belt off and test each component for rough bearings and the like.

An idler pulley is a good candidate at this age. Hope it's the small one that is cheap and comes off easily, and not the one in the fan bracket that is expensive and hard to find. But the water pump could also be the culprit, and so could the power steering pump or the AC compressor.

If it's the easy idler pulley, you can take it out, pry open the seal, and put a little grease or oil into it to quiet it down, and it should be reasonably safe for the trip home if it's not wobbling all over the place. The water pump is a bit of a gamble, but if it's not leaking yet, I'd probably take the chance (of course I'm a fool, so your mileage may vary). Other possibilities, such as a bad alternator bearing or power steering pump, are hard to guess. If the belt isn't wobbling and the noise doesn't get worse, I might give it a try anyway, depending on how difficult it is to work on where it is and what tools you have with you, etc. Alternators are easy in a driveway. PS pumps a bit more of a hassle, but still not that hard if you have the tools for the fittings. The little idler pulley is easy anywhere. The fan bracket is not.

Hint for working on the belted components. With your tensioning setup, if you have to replace a pulley or the alternator, it's easier to loosen the four bolts holding the AC compressor on, and tilt the compressor, than it is to back off the belt tension and retension it. Remounting the belt is also easier.

well water pump and power steering r not the problem. so its either the alt or the idlers which both will be 20 bucks shipped to my house and my friend is going to double check. he also said it trys to die too so might be the alt.