My wife had a Miata that would make a whistling noise when driving, it was one of the wipers as it would stop,if you turned them on. The dealer could not figure out how to get rid of the noise, that and getting stuck in traffic too many times was all took. She traded her car in and got an auto, the first one in her life, never drove anything but manual before.
Whistling type noise from engine bay
- Thread starter daemontrym
- Start date
PocketRocket
Member
It's the turbo spinning at idle. The wastegate stays open to prevent the turbo from making any sort of boost at idle. And then once you hit the gas, wastegate closes, boost builds, and off you go.
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PocketRocket
Member
Watch a video of a car with a huge badass turbo. They all whistle at idle and get louder from there. The smaller the turbo, the more quiet it is. Especially with a stock plastic intake. Listen to a diesel truck with an upgraded turbo, that's probably the loudest an idle whistle can get.
Trevinator
New member
or just get a CAI and a turbo back exhaust and finally hear that your car has a turbocharger.
Fantom Blu
New member
I have the 1.4T with an automatic transmission, same whistle, for the first time today I noticed it while driving in general, usually I notice it after spirited driving and when I get to where I'm going, today it was regular driving and once the engine warmed up I could hear it, I also noticed that when the transmission shifts the sound actually stops, I have an appointment with the dealership Thursday (still under warranty), so any ideas on what it is are greatly appreciated so that I can point the technician in the right direction.
ChicksHateMe
Member
For Safety Sake, Try This;
1. Find a spot on the road with plenty of room in front of you to accelerate.
2. While Accelerating, press on the brakes.
If the brakes are hard as a rock WHILE you are accelerating, that whistling could be related to a bad check valve in your Braking System.
I was getting a high-pitched whistling sound randomly, while on the road for about a month (but I don't drive much). On one drive, I was accelerating by cruise control, when I needed to brake to avoid rear-ending the car in front of me. The brakes were as hard as a rock. I had both feet on brake and it wouldn't budge. Close to panicking, I FINALLY reached cruise control speed and acceleration let off and I was able to brake before hitting the car in front of me.
I was so freaked out, I just kept pressing the brake, expecting it to work, that I didn't really know what was happening, and how to stop it. In hindsight, I know now to either;
1. Turn off Cruise.
2. Knock it into Neutral (Should turn off cruise as well)
Thought about turning off car even, but too afraid I'd lock steering and loose too much control.
Any way, check valve turned high pitch dog whistle happened to me, and over time the booster became filled with brake fluid rather than air. It took the dealer I HAD gone to, two tries to figure it out. They said they changed (1st) The master cylinder and the booster tank and (2nd attempt) the Check valve and a motor/pump? It was given back with the problem the first time, and I had to take them for a ride to prove it was still there.
I know there could be many reasons for the whistling, but the situation I had was wicked dangerous and scary, so it's worth at least testing out.
Hope it's something simpler or less dangerous, but it's worth the simple test.
1. Find a spot on the road with plenty of room in front of you to accelerate.
2. While Accelerating, press on the brakes.
If the brakes are hard as a rock WHILE you are accelerating, that whistling could be related to a bad check valve in your Braking System.
I was getting a high-pitched whistling sound randomly, while on the road for about a month (but I don't drive much). On one drive, I was accelerating by cruise control, when I needed to brake to avoid rear-ending the car in front of me. The brakes were as hard as a rock. I had both feet on brake and it wouldn't budge. Close to panicking, I FINALLY reached cruise control speed and acceleration let off and I was able to brake before hitting the car in front of me.
I was so freaked out, I just kept pressing the brake, expecting it to work, that I didn't really know what was happening, and how to stop it. In hindsight, I know now to either;
1. Turn off Cruise.
2. Knock it into Neutral (Should turn off cruise as well)
Thought about turning off car even, but too afraid I'd lock steering and loose too much control.
Any way, check valve turned high pitch dog whistle happened to me, and over time the booster became filled with brake fluid rather than air. It took the dealer I HAD gone to, two tries to figure it out. They said they changed (1st) The master cylinder and the booster tank and (2nd attempt) the Check valve and a motor/pump? It was given back with the problem the first time, and I had to take them for a ride to prove it was still there.
I know there could be many reasons for the whistling, but the situation I had was wicked dangerous and scary, so it's worth at least testing out.
Hope it's something simpler or less dangerous, but it's worth the simple test.
Chevrolet Customer Care
New member
Hi Fantom,
I would be happy to look into this further as well, and forward your information to the dealership regarding this concern just in time for your appointment. Feel free to send me over a private message along with your VIN, current mileage, contact information and preferred dealership. Looking forward to hearing from you soon!
Patsy G
Chevrolet Customer Care
Fantom Blu
New member
Now for an update, when I took the car to the dealership back in July they took it for a drive (without me) came back told me it was a combination of turbo spool and seals sealing. I accepted that answer car had less than 5000 miles on it.
Fast forward to today, get the second oil change done on the car, had the guy at the desk go out to the car with me and listen to the car, agree there was defintely a whistle. Mechanic looked all over didnt see any leaks. Changed the oil, the whistling stopped, Guy said give it a couple days if it comes back give us a call, got in the car sat there for a 30 seconds to a minute car started whistling again, went back inside and told him, they checked the car again and came back with a service bulletin for the crank case seal possibly whistling, parts come in tomorrow morning, they loaned me a Jetta.
They also said if the noise persists they'll look into it further.
I'm actually happy that they may have found something and that its not just something the car does, if the whistle was normal it would have been there day 1 when I took possesion of the car.
Fast forward to today, get the second oil change done on the car, had the guy at the desk go out to the car with me and listen to the car, agree there was defintely a whistle. Mechanic looked all over didnt see any leaks. Changed the oil, the whistling stopped, Guy said give it a couple days if it comes back give us a call, got in the car sat there for a 30 seconds to a minute car started whistling again, went back inside and told him, they checked the car again and came back with a service bulletin for the crank case seal possibly whistling, parts come in tomorrow morning, they loaned me a Jetta.
They also said if the noise persists they'll look into it further.
I'm actually happy that they may have found something and that its not just something the car does, if the whistle was normal it would have been there day 1 when I took possesion of the car.
Fantom Blu
New member
Just got the car back from the dealership, a sound is still there, I can no longer call it a whistle as now it sounds kind of like a intermintent squeak it has a pattern its not a constant one note type of sound, and the sound goes away when I rev the engine.
Replacing the crank seal may have fixed part of the problem.
Replacing the crank seal may have fixed part of the problem.
Fantom Blu
New member
Just moved the car across the driveway and no noise, I'll keep an eye on it maybe I'm just crazy it did rain all day yesterday so maybe it was a wet belt.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Fantom Blu
New member
And now the whistling noise is back, the tempo increases when I rev the engine. I just got off the phone with the dealership and I'm bringing it back up there for them to take another look at it. I'm starting to think that whatever was causing the whistle got lubricated/temporarily sealed when they changed the oil and when they changed the crank seal.
Noise is coming from the right side of the engine bay, someone at work suggested my turbo bearing might be bad, is that even possible.
Noise is coming from the right side of the engine bay, someone at work suggested my turbo bearing might be bad, is that even possible.
Wub2Dub
New member
I had a whistling from my engine bay and rough idle/stuttering under acceleration. It ended up being the valve cover. It has a mechanism built in to relieve pressure that is known for going bad. The dealer has it currently. 37k miles.
2012 Chevy Sonic LTZ (hatch)
MPFab CAI, Forge BOV, ZZP Turbo Back, Trifecta Elite Tuned, bypass valve "bypass", MPFab FMIC
2012 Chevy Sonic LTZ (hatch)
MPFab CAI, Forge BOV, ZZP Turbo Back, Trifecta Elite Tuned, bypass valve "bypass", MPFab FMIC
Fantom Blu
New member
Dealership just called, they replaced the intake manifold and either a hose or a hose clamp and that appears to have taken care of the whistle.
Has anybody else had to have the intake manifold replaced due to whistling.
Edit: forgot to mention I pick the car up Friday morning, the ride from the dealership to home should be enough to tell me if topaz has stopped whistling Dixie.
Has anybody else had to have the intake manifold replaced due to whistling.
Edit: forgot to mention I pick the car up Friday morning, the ride from the dealership to home should be enough to tell me if topaz has stopped whistling Dixie.
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Fantom Blu
New member
Just got the car home, THE WHISTLE CAME BACK!
This is a direct quote from my paper work on what they did this time.
"6205 called gm tac on whistle noise. case number 8-1529673101. PIP5197. inspected intake manifold non return valve. valve missing. replaced intake manifold and vacuum hose per tac case number 8-29673101. noise no longer present after intake manifold and hose replacement."
I need advice.
This is a direct quote from my paper work on what they did this time.
"6205 called gm tac on whistle noise. case number 8-1529673101. PIP5197. inspected intake manifold non return valve. valve missing. replaced intake manifold and vacuum hose per tac case number 8-29673101. noise no longer present after intake manifold and hose replacement."
I need advice.
Wub2Dub
New member
I had a whistling from my engine bay and rough idle/stuttering under acceleration. It ended up being the valve cover. It has a pcv mechanism built in to relieve pressure that is known for going bad. The dealer replaced it yesterday at 37k. Now they are doing my oil pan seal.
2012 Chevy Sonic LTZ (hatch)
MPFab CAI, Forge BOV, ZZP Turbo Back, Trifecta Elite Tuned, bypass valve "bypass", MPFab FMIC
2012 Chevy Sonic LTZ (hatch)
MPFab CAI, Forge BOV, ZZP Turbo Back, Trifecta Elite Tuned, bypass valve "bypass", MPFab FMIC
To me this sounds like the exact same problem that I had on my Cruze. It is the PCV valve. In conjunction, I also had the underboosting trouble code and the dealer had to replace the wastegate actuator pin.
With those two problems with less than 40,000 miles, I dumped the Cruze because either the rings are shot or the turbo could be blown or both....
Look for oil blown around the oil filler hole or the PCV valve itself. Has the car thrown any codes?
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With those two problems with less than 40,000 miles, I dumped the Cruze because either the rings are shot or the turbo could be blown or both....
Look for oil blown around the oil filler hole or the PCV valve itself. Has the car thrown any codes?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
