tdhanson

Hi all,

Been experiencing some engine whine lately, that follows the RPMs. Sounds like a high-pitched noise from a pulley or something. Definitely seems outside of normal, but it's not like a frequency. When I engage the clutch at speed the noise goes away.

Here is a sound clip: https://www.dropbox.com/s/y6nwgvfy4y...20013.m4a?dl=0

I'm in first gear, go up to 3000rpm, stop, honk horn, then go back up to 3000rpm.

Any ideas? At idle, I can't hear the whine but there is a ticking sound I hear when I put my ear up to the passenger-side intake.

rusnak

Have you checked the transmission oil level? So if you shift to neutral, and coast from speed, it goes away?

What about when stopped in neutral, and you hit the gas? Same sound or none?

altonj

Could not tell from your clip, but a high pitched whine can be caused by a failing AOS. Start car, then try to remove the oil fill cap and tell us if it was difficult to remove...

Bill Lehman

I also can't tell from the recording but while you're looking check P/S fluid level. The reservoir is small and rarely checked.

Macster

As others have recommended checking the transmission/power steering fluid levels is a good idea.

My WAG is it is something with the accessory drive. The only noise I've heard from this area from my Boxster -- a low pitched rumbling noise that started out below my hearing threshold only to increase in volume as the cold engine idled (but it still didn't get that loud) -- proved to be a water pump.

To confirm where the noise was coming from a removed the panel behind the seats and removed the belt and started the cold engine that had been making the noise just prior and the noise was gone.

(Before I removed the belt I made a careful sketch of its routing and noted the direction the belt was turning so I could install the belt exactly as it had been installed.)

This told me the noise was from the accessory drive.

I then checked all the accessorry drives for any excessive play. The only play I found was at the water pump. While it wasn't much it was more than the other drives exhibited (they had practically zero play).

Also the relatively new belt had an inner sharp edge. I checked the old belt and both its edges were still dull. This told me the belt was not tracking true and this was due to misalignment due to play.

I put everything back together and had the car towed to a dealer and the water pump and T-stat replaced.

If none of the accessory drives are loose have any play it might be from an idler/tensioner roller bearing. The Boxster is on its original hardware -- with over 310K miles no less and I have no experience with any problems from these in my Boxster -- but my Turbo has had one of these go bad twice now.

The first time all I heard was a "dry bearing" sound. The 2nd time one went bad all I heard was just an intermittent not real loud chirp/squeak.

If you are up to it you can attempt to diagnose this yourself if the fluid levels prove to be ok.

Or you can get the car in and have a pro tech diagnose the noise.

My usual advice is the less the engine is run when it is suspected of making a noise the better. So you don't want to waste any engine run time running the engine just to hear the noise or thinking the noise is going to get better on its own. And I wouldn't ignore the noise.