Geoff77 Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 Ive just come in from a drive with my 2005 Forester NA. I noticed that there was and still is (3 mins after turning the car off) a very high pitched ringing/beep sound coming from the engine area. Its so high pitched that its difficult to locate exactly where in the engine area that it's coming from. It sounds much like the sound when your ears ring. You know if you've just left a really loud concert and you're lying in bed, you hear that ringing in your ears. If you were to stand infront my car right now, thats exactly what it would sound like. Does anyone know what this sound might be? It cant be a good thing. Im wondering how bad it is and if its safe (for me and/or the car) to be driving. Thanks everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 Is it continuous or beep beep beep? If continuous I would wonder if the car overheated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff77 Posted January 2, 2006 Author Share Posted January 2, 2006 its continuous like beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep it lasted at least 5 minutes. The temperature gauge didnt show any signs of over heating. Didnt detect any odd smells but i have a horrible sense of smell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 its continuous like beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep it lasted at least 5 minutes. The temperature gauge didnt show any signs of over heating. Didnt detect any odd smells but i have a horrible sense of smell. Just a hunch. Next time it happens and it's not too bright outside, open the hood and have a look at the catalytic converter. It might be red and sizzling. My .02$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff77 Posted January 2, 2006 Author Share Posted January 2, 2006 If it is either of these things, or something else, what would cause it? I had the oil changed on Wednesday. I've had the oil changed every 6k kms by Subaru and drive really conservatively. There is only 19k kms on the car. Today's drive was 15 minutes on the highway at 110 km/h with no traffic. I have to work tomorrow. Should I be skipping work to have this looked at ASAP? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferret Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 Right behind the grill is the "beeper". You know the little 'sonalert' that goes beep when you lock / unlock with the remote. On some MY05/06 Foresters the connector gets damp or wet from rain/snow and provides a high resistance to ground thereby allowing the 'alert' to let out a quiet 'peeeeeeeep'. Look in your owners manual for replacing a turn signal bulb and remove the front grill (you have to remove the grill and headlight assy to replace the front signal lights) You don't need to remove a headlight, you do need to remove the grill and this tells you how to. With the grill out you should see the 'sonalert'. It it right in the middle mounted on the center support right behind where the Subaru Star grill emblem was. Take the connector apart and dry it out. Then after putting it back together, coat it with some grease or other water repellant. Hint...when putting the grill back in, remove the 3 plastic clips (lower left center and right) the the grill was mounted to. Do this by depressing the tab from the front, on the bottom edge and remove from the car. Then insert them into the grill and resnap the grill back in by lining up all 5 clips back into place then pushing to seat them all. Failing to do so, or trying to position the grill on the clips left on the body will break the ears right off them. No worry.....Dealers stock these at about $2.59 a piece. Then listen......to the sounds....of silence.........(Oh well, I do remember Simon and Garfunkel when they were in the top 40.....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 Check the water in the radiator to be sure it is not over heating. When a car is too hot it can do a continous bleet as the boiling water hits the expansion tank. Don't just look in the expansion tank, check the radiator water too when cool. Vacum problems can bleet or a hot cat but they usually stop quick. It would be good to have this checked soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 Ive just come in from a drive with my 2005 Forester NA. I noticed that there was and still is (3 mins after turning the car off) a very high pitched ringing/beep sound coming from the engine area. Its so high pitched that its difficult to locate exactly where in the engine area that it's coming from. It sounds much like the sound when your ears ring. You know if you've just left a really loud concert and you're lying in bed, you hear that ringing in your ears. If you were to stand infront my car right now, thats exactly what it would sound like. Does anyone know what this sound might be? It cant be a good thing. Im wondering how bad it is and if its safe (for me and/or the car) to be driving. Thanks everyone. does it sound like the beep beep you get whne you lock the doors? nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferret Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 This will not give the beep beep sound of the door lock/unlock. It is as described. Since it's a high resistance thru a damp connector, it sounds like your ears are ringing since the sonalert is not getting full voltage. Some XT guys thought it was the turbo spinning down...or oil pressure being released from the turbo.....or as suggested, some thought it was a coolant leak. Seen/heard it a few times. 1st time it took a piece of hose to my ear and searching under the hood to locate it behind the grill. Afterward, Subaru notified their service dept's via some sort of memo, not even a TSB yet. I hope that comes soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 New one on me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 This will not give the beep beep sound of the door lock/unlock. It is as described. Since it's a high resistance thru a damp connector, it sounds like your ears are ringing since the sonalert is not getting full voltage. Some XT guys thought it was the turbo spinning down...or oil pressure being released from the turbo.....or as suggested, some thought it was a coolant leak. Seen/heard it a few times. 1st time it took a piece of hose to my ear and searching under the hood to locate it behind the grill. Afterward, Subaru notified their service dept's via some sort of memo, not even a TSB yet. I hope that comes soon. The easiest way to tell is to unplug the beep thingy and see if it goes away. i'm thinking its a moisture issue as its a peizo-electric beeper, sort of like a capacitor. The voltage leak to round is enough to make it beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepppppppppp. Thats just the best theory i can come up with nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outback_97 Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 Geoff77: I had a similar noise coming from my engine a few times, this was tens of thousands of miles ago and I never figured out where it came from. It was as you described, very high pitched and faint and continued as the car sat in the garage after running. It did not overheat or act unusually before this. I haven't noticed it recently but unfortunately we no longer house it in a garage, which was quiet and dry and warm and more conducive to tinkering and listening. I did snip the wire going to my alarm siren, but that was because I was tired of deafening myself upon reconnecting the battery after working on the car. And I hate car alarms, I never used the thing anyway. I have no idea if the sound was coming from this source, sorry. In summary, mine made a similar noise, now at 118K miles it's running just fine. Steve EDIT: Here's a similar post, no resolution though: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=47734 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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