I have this strange noise coming from what appears to be the transmission area. It's like soft, muffled, "tea Kettle" whistle. Very soft. Starts at 20 mph and stops at 20 mph. It never gets louder or quieter with speed changes. If you shift to neutral, it's still present, so it's not engine rpm related either. It's only constant is it stops as you slow to 20 mph! It starts at 20 mph.

 

No other problems with the transmission. I'm stumped.

 

Could it be speedo cable? driveshaft?

 

(95 Impreza 2.2 AWD)

 

Todd

I have this strange noise coming from what appears to be the transmission area. It's like soft, muffled, "tea Kettle" whistle. Very soft. Starts at 20 mph and stops at 20 mph. It never gets louder or quieter with speed changes. If you shift to neutral, it's still present, so it's not engine rpm related either. It's only constant is it stops as you slow to 20 mph! It starts at 20 mph.

 

No other problems with the transmission. I'm stumped.

 

Could it be speedo cable? driveshaft?

 

(95 Impreza 2.2 AWD)

 

Todd

 

Differential? A bearing? Could be alot of things. Does it do it in every gear?

Yes, it does it in every gear. It's an automatic.

 

It does not sound like bearing noise, as it does not change tone at all with speed changes. It does not change under acceleration or deaceleration either. It's like something just "turns-on" at 20 mph!

Does it do it at 20mph in reverse?

 

 

lol!

 

I dunno - maybe speedo cable.

Look around under the car at the heat sheilds, any plasti tidbits etc under ther. I bet you what your hearing is wind noise from something being loose or caught down there....nipper

I'm kinda thinking speedo cable too.......I'll try it at 20 mph in reverse!

Scott, is it affected at all by outside temperature?

 

Also, did it just begin suddenly one day out of nowhere?

Scott, is it affected at all by outside temperature?

 

Also, did it just begin suddenly one day out of nowhere?

 

Ya know - the temp here did just recently plummet to 93.

 

(sorry - couldn't resist)

Ya know.....when it's cold, (1st few miles) = no noise. It starts after it warms up good.

 

 

Todd

Yep...it starts after the car warms up.

maybe some kinda weird whistle through the heat shields but only after they expand????

 

 

I got nothing

Are you absolutely sure that it doesn't change pitch with engine or vehicle speed? There's practically nothing in the drivetrain that spins at the same speed all the time. All I can think of that does the same stuff all the time is the fuel pump.

 

Hmm. Maybe you have a noisy fuel pump? You could try getting some heavy load on the engine. Go drive around a bit and warm it up normally, then stop, put it in drive, put on the P-Brake, stomp the footbrake down hard, then rev engine some. This'll basically load the engine as hard as it'll ever be loaded. Don't do it for more than a few seconds or more than a couple times, as you can overheat your transmission fluid. Drive around a bit to cool it down.

 

That's brake-torquing, in case you didn't know. It's good for dragstarts in an auto, FYI.

 

Regardless, in that case, you'll be loading the engine up without the drivetrain spinning at all. The only places left to whistle are engine related and the torque converter. You may be able to get a rough idea where it's coming from.

I'll give that a shot later today. Thanks much for the suggestion!

 

Todd

You know we never did classify the funny noise as funny hehe or funny haha ..very important for diagnosing nipper

Ok, Ok a strange noise.