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Intermittent {{Ringing / Whining}} Noise - What is it?

14K views 34 replies 15 participants last post by  Oliviashorse 
#1 · (Edited)
[Editing to refine the description of symptoms]

This issue is continuing, so I wanted to refine the description of symptoms, in case it helps root out the cause.....

- Sound is more like a whistling than a ringing, but the pitch is similar to the ear ringing you'd have the day after a loud rock concert.
- Sound does not change in pitch if I give it more or less gas.
- Overall, the issue is intermittent. But it is consistent under some conditions: Sound only happens after the car has been warmed up, and only after a bit of stop-and-go street driving (not after freeway driving).
- When it does occur, application of the brakes makes it stop. Previously, letting off the gas pedal would also make it stop, but now only application of the brakes stops it.
- When it does occur, every now and then the sound persists after the car is completely shut off, from a few seconds to as long as 30+ seconds.

See below for further description.

--------(original post follows)----------

This is a weird one... didn't have any luck searching the forum for anything similar, so here goes.

Vehicle: 2005 Xterra SE 2WD, approx. 68K miles.

History: I recently bought it from the first owner, but from what I know, the miles are mostly highway (he's an older gent of about 60 who mostly drove it between CA and CO, and took good care of it).

Symptom: A high-pitched ringing or whining sound, not particularly loud, when accelerating from a complete stop. Best way I can describe it is similar to the ringing in your ears that you hear the morning after a loud rock concert.

- It stops as soon as I let off the gas, sometimes starts again when I hit the gas again.

- It stops if I hit the brakes, and generally doesn't start again if I keep driving.

- If it stops by the action described above, and then I come to a complete stop, it starts again when I start driving again.

- Occasionally the noise happens out of the blue while I'm driving, in which case it stops if I let off the gas (this is less frequent).

- Even more strange, when the noise happens, it has sometimes continued for about 10-20 seconds after I turn off the vehicle.

- All of the above is intermittent; for example, it happened a few times last week, and then hasn't happened again until tonight. All in all, it's pretty infrequent.

- I haven't been able to pinpoint where it's coming from.

Any ideas?
 
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#4 ·
I know this sound you speak of! GAH! Thought I was going crazy, actually stopped paying attention to it. Exactly as you described it, sounds just like ringing in your ears. Very faint, not like the youtube vids of the timing chain problem. Mine also relates to the accelerator, and as I have a manual, comes and goes as I shift. Does it almost seem like you can hear it out of the passenger air vent. I was thinking something like relating to the air intake, and somehow it creating a faint whistle you can hear as you get on the gas...
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#8 ·
The belt tensioner is also fairly distinctive, sounds more like a sqealing than a ringing ... almost like the sound of a failing bearing (which could very well be the failure mode for the belt tensioner, but I'm not 100% sure). Neither tensioner issue explains why the noise might continue after the truck is off, though.

Is it possible it could be something setting up a resonance in the brake rotors, and you're getting harmonic ringing in one (or both) of the brake discs?
 
#11 ·
I have no idea what would cause the ringing I suggested, or if it's even possible ... but it was about the only thing I could think of that would match what you were describing (is it similar to a tuning fork sound?) I'm not sure sheer speculation will get us very far, however ...

Have you checked the brake pads? If you're down to the squealers (they're put into pads to give you an audible indicator that your pads are done, before they're 100% gone and you're riding metal on metal for your brakes - and yes, that is a technical term ... ;)), that could sound a bit like what you're talking about ... still doesn't explain a noise after the truck is off (or not moving) though.
 
#12 ·
Any other ideas on this? Some days went by without the X making the sound, and then it started again yesterday. I can amend my initial description with some additional information:

- The ringing sound does still occur when accelerating from a stop, but where previously it would stop when I let off the gas, it now sometimes continues when I let off the gas. It still stops as soon as I press the brake pedal.

- It doesn't seem to happen until the vehicle is somewhat warmed up; that is, it doesn't happen as soon as I start the vehicle.

- It only happens in stop-and-go driving. It doesn't happen when I'm cruising.

- As mentioned in the initial posting, the sound sometimes persists after turning the vehicle off completely. This, to me, seems like the most important clue, as it seems a lot of things can be ruled out because of this.

Any ideas? The "good" news is that, as this is happening more and more often, the chances of being able to reproduce it with a mechanic in the car are increasing.
 
#13 ·
When the vehicle is off, is it moving? I know it sounds stupid but just making sure you aren't still rolling with it off. If the vehicle is stopped and the engine is off it wouldn't be the belt tensioner, brakes, wheel bearings or anything like that. What positions are your climate control knobs in? AC or defroster or anything on? If it's stopped and not running it has to be something electrically powered.
 
#15 ·
If its happening after the vehicle is off my guess would be that its heat related. Pin hole in the exhaust, diff breather (or air escaping from the diff). Could also be electric interference of some kind going through the speakers, maybe try with the radio off.

I'm really just making stuff up but it sound like a weird problems so I'm throwing random ideas out there. haha
 
#16 ·
I have no idea. Did you run a cat over and it's trying to claw it's way out of a wheel well? Seriously I have no clue. I know a motor will get hotter when you shut it down and the water pump is moving liquid around it to cool. This is called heat soak, but doesn't explain the noises being the same running or off. Off you may hear some creaking
 
#18 ·
A/C Compressor? Could be building up some pressure for some reason and you hear it whistling. Would also explain why it continues when the truck is off, because the pressure is still there...

I also think the stereo is very possible like X-Earth mentioned. Try pulling the fuses for your stereo (and amp if you have one). That's the easiest thing to try first...
 
#19 ·
RE: the stereo, I get interference on my speakers from my cell phone ... depending on where the phone is in the truck (for example it happens when my phone is in the dash tray or the cubby in front of the shifter, but not when the phone is in the cupholders). It has happened once or twice with the radio off, as well ... I've also noticed it when my phone is near my clock/radio/alarm, at home. My old phone did the same thing, so it's not isolated to my Nokia 6350 (or my imagination).

Maybe next time you notice it, see if moving your phone around has any effect?
 
#23 ·
I refined the description of symptoms in the original post, so I am bumping it to get eyeballs on it again. These are some really weird symptoms, so I hope someone can help figure it out. It's still not happening consistently enough that I'm confident it will happen when I take it to a mechanic.
 
#25 ·
My problem is getting worse/more frequent, so I am bumping this again in case anyone else has some insight. The upside of the greater frequency is that I can probably have a good chance of reproducing the intermittent issue with a mechanic present.

By the way, I looked further into the belt tensioner issue, and watched some clips on YouTube, and that's definitely not what I have going on.
 
#26 ·
Did you ever get this sound tracked down and fixed?

--Sk
 
#27 ·
No... Took it in once to have a mechanic help figure it out, but of course couldn't reproduce it while he was in the car. Eventually, it stopped happening for a long time, and now only happens once in a while (again, only when car has been driven/warmed up for awhile, and I am doing some stop-and-go city driving).

Mine is a 2005, first generation of the "new" X -- did the newer models work out a lot of the bugs from this year?
 
#28 ·
#30 ·
Sounds to me like your issue could be related to the power brake vacuum booster which is on the driver's side. You could have a cracked vacuum hose or fitting....or split booster housing. That would explain a lot of what you are describing.
 
#32 ·
I am getting a strange sound, like a kazoo or a vacuum cleaner with a bad bearing, but it only happens when the engine is cold, and between 35 and 55 mph. Once the engine warms up, it fades away. If I let up on the accelerator, it disappears, and it doesn't really change in pitch. I was thinking it is a shroud vibrating, and it tightens up as the exhaust heats up.
 
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