Whistling noise 2013 958
 

My Cayenne has developed a whistling noise in the cabin which is related to fan or vehicle speed. The noise occurs at high fan speeds or vehicle speed above 35 mph when it is windy or at higher speeds even with no wind (even with the fans turned OFF). I replaced the cabin air filter with a WIX filter and it did not eliminate the noise. I am thinking it has something to do with the heat A/C ducting. Does anyone know if removing the driver side ducting is DIY? Or should I be looking elsewhere beside the ducting for a solution?

Hi Michael, welcome to the Cayenne forum. I'm moving your posting to the 958 subforum since as you know - that's what you own.

As far as your problem - I think we need a bit more info on where the noise appears to be coming from... One test you could try for the AC ducting is simply turning off the fan, and then turning off each outlet with the rotary dial on the outlet. If one makes a difference - that might help us narrow down where the issue starts from. Also it isn't clear if you can make the noise happen when the vehicle is stationary by simply turning up the fan to max...

One other oddball thing you might try - assuming you have folding mirrors - when you hear the whistle - fold the mirrors in and see if the noise changes.. There have been some reports of whistling mirrors.

Meanwhile, hang on while I move the thread..

Common sources of whistles you hear inside the car:

Bearings in fan motor for heat/air conditioning
Weatherstripping around a window or door, may have been damaged by someone trying to break into the car
Sunroof seal releases at some point with wind coming from right direction and at the right speed, if the place where the seal isn't tight is small enough, you can get a whistle that is darn near impossible to localize, sounds like it's coming from everywhere.

To help localize the sound, having a passenger who can check where the sound is coming from while you are driving to replicate the whistle... very helpful... if it doesn't seem to be coming from the front, the passenger can get in the back seat or even in the cargo area to see if the sound can be localized better.

It also helps if the passenger can press on the windows/doors while there's noise to see if it changes.

As for DIY, you can remove anything if you're so inclined. The vents on the front are held in place with four clips. They're accessible from in-between the vent slats. They're small rectangular tabs. Use a small screwdriver to pull the tabs inward toward the center of the vent. That'll pull their spring part inward, away from the dash opening. You can do one side and then the other of a vent. Pull inward, pull the vent toward you and have the tabs rest on the dash opening. Repeat on the other side of the same vent. It'll then come forward and you'll see the four spring clips; two on each side. Re-install is just push the vent back into the opening until the tabs catch.

It's possible that something has fallen into a vent and is causing noise. One option for diagnosing this is by using an inexpensive gizmo. Poke it down in there to see if there's any obstructions.

The video for the phone mount shows you what wkearney described above, if that helps.. https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/958PMK.html

Today I tried to replicate the whistling while the car was parked. Unable to replicate it by opening closing vents or varying fan speed. Whistling is coming from from dash area and is probably vent-related. I will try to look in the dash vents and see if I can find anything obstructing airflow.

Thanks for all the excellent suggestions!

When you hear the noise try changing the mode on the a/c to recirc mode.

Mine has started doing something similar too. It hasn't been bad enough to chase yet. But there is a tiny whistle sometimes...I have been meaning to turn the "air panel" off in the PCM when I hear the noise, but never seem to have the whistle and time at the same time.

Tried the recirc mode today when I heard the whistling noise, recirc mode made no difference, still hear whistling. It is very low volume, with the radio playing at a normal volume the noise cannot be heard. Still need to make time to investigate the possibility of something in the vent(s).

Run the system with the cabin filter removed and see if it's still there.

Mine does exactly the same thing. It did it before the dealer replaced the cabin air filter and it still does it. There is no chance anything fell into my vents. I really dont know why it started about a year or so ago.

I had a whistle that turned out to be the seal around the sunroof. I cleaned everything I could reach having to do with the sunroof opening and used rubber rejuvenator on rubber parts/seals and never had the problem again. My whistle required wind blowing at the car from a specific direction AND speeds above 35-40 mph. (raise back of sunroof to clean rear edges and back of sunroof track area, then open the sunroof normally to clean the front area.

Whistling noise ventilation - Cayenne 958
 

Hello! I have a 958 diesel made in 2012. In the last few weeks I have noticed this annoying noise / whistle coming from the area where the dashboard intersects with the windshield. The sound appears at a speed starting with 120km / h, and at over 150km / h it becomes very pronounced and annoying. It's a sound similar to that when driving with the window slightly open, to which is added a whistle. After various tests with the adjustment of the vents, the direction of the air, etc., I discovered that I can attenuate this noise when I completely turn off the ventilation system or when I activate the recirculation of the air inside the car. When I do this, it sounds like I'm closing a window at high speed. Another interesting thing is that this noise almost disappears when I run in the rain at the speed mentioned above. I made a software diagnosis of the air conditioning system and did not identify any problems. However, I suspect the fan probably no longer controls the outside airflow. Until I get back in service, I hope to find out more about this issue. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you!

Bump on this thread

my whistling sound occurs at higher driving speeds and is caused by air coming through vent - whistling stops if I turn on re circulation mode. Whistling also occurs if HVAC fan is on a higher speed.

Is this normal?