High pitched whistle

[Kier Gigeroff]

Hi all,

First off, I hate to just register for a forum and then right off the bat start with questions. But I’m in a bit of a jam. I’m a long time lurker here, and have gotten a lot of excellent information from the forums and ETCGs excellent repair videos.

Anyways…

I’m a member of a couple of GM truck forums and am more familiar with pre-99 GM trucks than anything else. I’m no mechanic, just inclined.

I’m helping a friend with a 2000 Honda Civic, 1.6 Auto, 173’000kms, stock. Has an intermittent high pitched whistle coming from the front of the car, almost sounds like a mini-supercharger (I know, it’s difficult to describe). Loud, can be heard over the radio (it isn’t a speaker sound). Only happens at highway speeds (approx. 100kmh and up) and sometimes if you slow down after you’ve been driving fast, but won’t make the sound when revved up in park, only in gear at speed. And not all the time. It will stop for minutes at a time, and then slowly increase in sound, and stop again.

When I initially heard it I thought possible rock in the brakes, but after listening for awhile I’m beginning to doubt that very much. It is unrelated to sharp acceleration, sharp braking or sharp turns. Just kind of occurs….and then goes away….very, very annoying to say the least.

Now, apart from inspecting the brakes (which are fine as far as wear is concerned, and no significant gouges in the rotors) I haven’t done anything. I have been reading for the past couple hours, and it seems to be a fairly common issue on these cars, with the same symptoms, but the consensuses I’ve found (on various forums) are all over the place. Power steering pump, water pump, wheel bearing, brakes, antenna, hood, windshield seals, air intake, vacuum leaks, serpentine belt…not terribly helpful.

Any ideas? Help would be greatly appreciated. As I said, I’m mechanically inclined, but I don’t know much about Hondas specifically. I pretty much stick to maintenance on domestic 1/2 to 1 ton trucks and tractors.

Many thanks, from Canada eh.

Topic

[Roy French]

I ran into something like this before. It turned out to be the hose going to the pcv valve. It had gotten oil soaked and soft in one spot. It would squish down and make a loud whistle under certain conditions. I’m not saying that’s what’s going on with your friend’s car, but it’s worth a look.

[Kier Gigeroff]

Thanks for the input. I checked it out and it seemed fine. Went over the entire engine bay and didn’t notice anything bad. Checked front end, all parts appear to be good, but I know you can’t always detect wear on stuff like CVs and wheel bearings etc.

It’s making the noise pretty well all the time now, apparently. Starts around 30 km/h.

One thing I haven’t tried, which I probably should, is jack the car up on stands and put it in gear, to see if it’s driveline related or not.

[college man]

There is a tsb on the timing belt tensioner. also look
at the alternator bearings.also belt tensioner.with the car
in park.bring the engine rpm up slowly until the noise appears.

[Kier Gigeroff]

Does not make noise when in park. Only after 30 km/h or so.

[Adam]

If you can rev the car in park and it doesn’t happen then you have just eliminated allot of possibilities. I would look at the wheel assembly in more detail. Have you checked the brake pad indicators to make sure they are not loose and making contact?

[Kier Gigeroff]

Thanks for the input. I have. That was my first thought after he described the noise to me, either that or rock in the brakes. Took them apart, checked them out, like new. Rotors are perfect.

Hitting the brake doesn’t have anything to do with the sound.

Possible that it’s a CV shaft or wheel bearing?? Like I said above, I’m no mechanic but I’ve diagnosed and repaired dozens of those and never have they made any kind of sound like that. Then again, I’m no Honda man either.

I would think if it was a CV, turning sharp should have an impact on the noise. Which it doesn’t appear to. Plus, I’ve never heard a bad CV squeal like that.

[college man]

[Kier Gigeroff]

Well apparently the sound stopped. My friend was on a long drive (4+ hours) and somewhere during the drive down it stopped and hasn’t come back.

Go figure.

[Anonymous]

vacuum leak maybe?

[Kier Gigeroff]

[quote=”ericg72391″ post=52474]vacuum leak maybe?[/quote]

I considered that and checked around for vacuum leaks, didn’t find anything. It should have made the noise when in park I would think, unless it was made by airflow over whatever was leaking (as previously suggested, something like the PCV hose). Sound is still gone.

I have concluded the headlight fluid reservoir must have spun a bearing 🙂

[Author]

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