Whining noise

InsideInsurance

Will get the car looked at in a couple of weeks when it goes in for a warranty repair on the seatbelts but wondered if anyone who's knowledge of cars goes beyond mine (which isnt much more than how to drive) can diagnose the likely issue....

25 month old car, 23,000 miles on the clock. High pitched whining noise when driving along, starts becoming noticable at 2,000 RPM and gets louder as the car revs more up to 3,000 RPM at which point the noise of the engine starts to drown it out. Also louder with the windows open than when closed.

Havent tried revving the car whilst stationary to see if it still makes the noise.

Strider590

Air con on or off? (and I don't just mean the cabin fan/blower).

Anything that changes with engine speed has to be something driven directly from the engine.

Aircon pump, water pump, alternator, power steering (if not EPAS).... Turbo if it's got one (this would be VERY bad).

It shouldn't be the cam belt tensioner at that mileage, but faults have been known.

InsideInsurance

Would need to double check but I am sure there was a period where the AC itself was off and it was still making the noise.

Think it uses a chain rather than belt, not sure if the chains have tensioners or not.

force_ten

I find the Whining noise often comes from the nut behind the wheel

InsideInsurance

force_ten wrote: »

I find the Whining noise often comes from the nut behind the wheel

Normally the seat next to that but the wife wasnt in the car when it first started :beer:

tberry6686

If the noise is only present when driving I would be looking at the wheel bearings first. If present when stationary then it will be something driven directly by the engine.

force_ten

sorry couldn't resist that one :rotfl:

from the information given it could be many things and a few more test would be required to diagnose further

what is the situation when the the car is stationary IE take the road wheels and drive shafts out of the equation

it could be a pump or a bearing or one of many other things so without more info nobody will be able to narrow it down

colino

Is it only when driving? Wheel bearings, diff and gearbox your hoping not, at the at age of car. Before adding it to the warranty problems, I'd check the power steering fluid and then be using WD40 (with the straw) and eliminating the other rotating bits at the front of the engine. Don't use too much as the belts might carry over the lube and silence the real wrong un before you focus on it.

InsideInsurance

colino wrote: »

Is it only when driving?

I need to check, it idles at under 1,000 RPM at which point I dont recall hearing it. Would need to increase the revs and check whilst its stationary.

AdrianC

Knock it into neutral at cruise speed when it's audible. See if the noise goes away. If not, it's almost certainly a wheel bearing.
If it does, it's probably a belt tensioner or bearing on an engine ancillary (water pump, alternator, a/c compressor etc).

ilikewatch

I had a noise like this in a one year old diesel Astra with 18K on the clock - over a few hundred miles the whine/whistle turned into a metallic rattle then a loud bang and could of smoke as the turbo failed catastrophically at motorway speeds.