Hey guys. i DID look through the forums and i couldn't find anything :( so im posting this now.


A short summary is my engine has this higher pitched 'whine' when i am accelerating and im starting to worry..
I've never really been that happy about automatic transmissions with all that can go wrong electronically.

Long story(ish). I went to You Yangs on sunday and as i was driving back (doing 100kph) on a single lane road there was this massive dip in the road then a rise, which sent my car airborn for about half a second. I didn't hear a wack, ting, snap, grind or anything. It all just seemed alright.
So i was coming home and turned the music down, and heard this 'whine' and didn't know what it was.
I had previously removed my resonators on my air intake and sealed it off, so last night i removed them thinking something wasn't right and put my resonators back in but the problem seems to have exasperated today.

I am due for an oil change (about 700km's ago) Does this 'whine' during acceleration seem like a transmission that is on its go? should i start looking for a new one/manual conversion?

does the whine sound like a supercharger?
gets louder as the rev's rise?
it may be alternator whine, adding another ground from the battery to the chassy may get rid of it

could be electrical interference from your alternator, being played back thru the speakers / headunit?

turn the music up, it drowns it out :)
EDIT - MR_Roberto beat me to it!

ah it gets louder as the engine does, so yeah lowder as the revs rise.
not through the sterio cause i turn it down to hear it.
i have a dog as battery, **** all over the top so i may change that and see how that goes.
but it does kinda sound like a super charger thus why i thought itwas an intake obstruction :(

so i got fed up and have and did some investigating.
got some pics of some 'possible problem' area's that might be of interest. any info would be great.
first pic:
there is a tear in this little mesh **** that connects to the exhaust pipe directly under the engine
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k111/presti_01/IMGP5778.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k111/presti_01/IMGP5780.jpg

second:
some oil and a possible hole in the metal?
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k111/presti_01/IMGP5779.jpg

third:
a crack in the bottom of the di-carst **** ontop of the engine..if that makes sense? check the pic
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k111/presti_01/IMGP5782.jpg

ah it gets louder as the engine does, so yeah lowder as the revs rise.
not through the sterio cause i turn it down to hear it.
i have a dog as battery, **** all over the top so i may change that and see how that goes.
but it does kinda sound like a super charger thus why i thought itwas an intake obstruction :(


alternator whine can still come thru the stereo even if its turned right down ...

i suspect incredibly well hidden supercharger lol
actually i get a little bit of this in my car atm as well. i always thort it was to do with the RCAs and the power cable from the battery being too close together in the amp instal, sorta getting noise jumping from one to another?? i do know that when my mate fitted his neons and grounded them on the metal of the back of his deck he got that sound really badly!

alternator whine can still come thru the stereo even if its turned right down ...

so the negative cable on the battery on mine seems to dissapear into the depths of the engine. should i find it and move it to another spot or add another ground? sorry im not good with electronics :(

get some more heavy duty cable and connect another one from the chassis to the negative so your earth is a bit more solid. if ya got lots of aftermarket stuff in your car its probably too much for the stock cable

i suspect incredibly well hidden supercharger lol
actually i get a little bit of this in my car atm as well. i always thort it was to do with the RCAs and the power cable from the battery being too close together in the amp instal, sorta getting noise jumping from one to another?? i do know that when my mate fitted his neons and grounded them on the metal of the back of his deck he got that sound really badly!

when RCA's meet power cables its called engine noise, its a constant stadic noise that comes through the speakers
i used to have it, moved the RCA's and its gone
in the OP's case, it may be engine noise, a simple ground (4ga minimum) from the negative terminal on the battery to the chassy may fix the problem
but judging from the pics it may be something else but this is a starting point (cause its cheap :))

cool ill be trying this myself then:happy:

yeahh i will try this cable thing, i might buy it tomrorow, but hte car will be hopfully booked into the local mechanic for friday (as i need my car every day, but i shall have to take mums echo to work... yay) but i hope its nothing major cause i cant really afford it..

That manifold casting issue is nothing, thats how they come.

If your battery has corrosion all over the terminals, pour boiling hot water over them and it will dissolve the corrosion.
However if it happened right after an incident this I highly doubt is your issue..

A bearing noise can cause exactly what you are describing, actually knowing what bearing it is would be the hard part. Thats actual noise coming from the engine bay, not through the radio. The first car I drove when I was 16 was an old Mazda 323, whenever the air conditiioner was turned on it made a funny whining noise that increased with revs, caused by a faulty compressor bearing. It eventually stopped working all together, but it did sound pretty cool!

A bearing noise can cause exactly what you are describing, actually knowing what bearing it is would be the hard part. Thats actual noise coming from the engine bay, not through the radio. The first car I drove when I was 16 was an old Mazda 323, whenever the air conditiioner was turned on it made a funny whining noise that increased with revs, caused by a faulty compressor bearing. It eventually stopped working all together, but it did sound pretty cool!

ah interesting. hmm ill write that down for the mechanic.. :) thanks mann




;1035443']That manifold casting issue is nothing, thats how they come.

If your battery has corrosion all over the terminals, pour boiling hot water over them and it will dissolve the corrosion.
However if it happened right after an incident this I highly doubt is your issue..

i have replaced the battery because of that exact reason, was just a tip on the top with crap.
the terminals dont look bad, but i guess that could look better you know? i might run some boiling water over it all tonight and see if that helps. cheers

If you are cleaning battery terminals, you might as well unbolt the clamps from the battery posts, and do a proper job (clean the surfaces that contact the battery posts).

Also, with your boiling water, put some laundry powder in the water, it helps clean 'em up. And don't only pour it over the battery posts and the clamps, have a container handy where you can dip the clamps in the hot soapy water. Better yet, use an old toothbrush to clean the clamps too. make sure any and all corrosion is cleaned off threads of bolts and crevices.

Let it dry off, put clamps back on battery (I quite like those red/green felt pads you can buy to go underneath, they cost very little). When bolted-up, smear clamps and posts with Vaseline (or lately, being lazy, I've sprayed white lithium grease from a pressure pak), to help prevent future corrosion!

so im quiet pissed off.

Took my car to the mechanic today, "yeah we had to bend your exhaust back abit cause it was touching your rear axel just a bit. All fixed, $140 thanks"
now dont get me wrong, great mechanics, but..


going home, put my foot down around the corner and *engine whine beggining to reappear* ****


will try this new grounding wire, if not im taking it back to *********** get fixed!


hmmmf

so im quiet pissed off.

Took my car to the mechanic today, "yeah we had to bend your exhaust back abit cause it was touching your rear axel just a bit. All fixed, $140 thanks"
now dont get me wrong, great mechanics, but..


going home, put my foot down around the corner and *engine whine beggining to reappear* ****


will try this new grounding wire, if not im taking it back to *********** get fixed!


hmmmf


thats cheap - you now have an AWD then!?
its not an axel persay - its more a solid beam to mount the suspension to.

are you able to take a vid with sound of the clip so we can hear it?
trying to describe a sound in words can be a little difficult sometimes

thats cheap - you now have an AWD then!?
its not an axel persay - its more a solid beam to mount the suspension to.

are you able to take a vid with sound of the clip so we can hear it?
trying to describe a sound in words can be a little difficult sometimes

ah okayy, i saw it went up and around the 'beam' cause it would be way to low underneath.
ill try to get a video clip, i tried last night with my phone but mmm..lol haha
ill see if a friend can do it whilst i drive.

i had a 'battery' warning light come on as i was driving and when i accelerate it can see the lights brighten so im going to put in another grounding wire with somethign i bought from super cheap, does anyone reccomend a spot to do it? anywhere that connects to metal yeah?

anywhere mate, might also be your battery/alternator if the lights coming on

i had a 'battery' warning light come on as i was driving and when i accelerate it can see the lights brighten so im going to put in another grounding wire with somethign i bought from super cheap, does anyone reccomend a spot to do it? anywhere that connects to metal yeah?

Definitely sounds like a faulty alternator, a grounding wire (although grounding wires can be beneficial) will NOT help the situation. There is definitely something wrong there! and... $140 for an exhaust, if they did that and didn't tell you first and expected cost, that would suck badly. You do know they outsource those kinds of things, you could have gone straight to a good muffler place and they could have done the exact work for much, much less.

Adding more grounds wont help if it has decent one already and will be more likely to make noise due to "ground loop" frome excessive earth points im told

The battery light on the dash mean your alt is not charging properly and could have faulty reg or rectifier assembly etc,now call me silly,but an alternator that is working really hard or possibly overcharging as the warning light suggests, will always make a very high pitched whine like a geardrive setup,so here is my suggestion,turn on all the accessories and headlights etc while in park and the engine started and have a look/listen under the bonnet,if it is indeed the alt,you will hear it easily with it under heavy load

Oh,the heavy negative wire should go from the negative terminal on that battery to under the battery box area on the body and also to the gearbox bolt IIRC

Steve

Adding more grounds wont help if it has decent one already and will be more likely to make noise due to "ground loop" frome excessive earth points im told

The battery light on the dash mean your alt is not charging properly and could have faulty reg or rectifier assembly etc,now call me silly,but an alternator that is working really hard or possibly overcharging as the warning light suggests, will always make a very high pitched whine like a geardrive setup,so here is my suggestion,turn on all the accessories and headlights etc while in park and the engine started and have a look/listen under the bonnet,if it is indeed the alt,you will hear it easily with it under heavy load

Oh,the heavy negative wire should go from the negative terminal on that battery to under the battery box area on the body and also to the gearbox bolt IIRC

Steve



i put in the cable:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k111/presti_01/IMGP5790.jpg

and the whine has subsided quiet largly atm, but i didn't do a long drive. will do tomorrow.
i will price alternators, anyone know how much? and i shall get one put in cause it sounds like it, but i will be replacing the whole negative arm that attaches to the nipple tomorrow cause this one is old and very gay, after cleaning its still quiet iffy. so yeahhh.
thanks for everyone's help, didn't at all think it was battery related but there you go, its done a better job so far than the mechanics

To the nipple? you mean Battery terminal? You don't need to replace the whole negative cable probably just sand back the contact points unless they are HUGELY corroded which I doubt.

Take it to a different mechanic.

i put in the cable:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k111/presti_01/IMGP5790.jpg

and the whine has subsided quiet largly atm, but i didn't do a long drive. will do tomorrow.
i will price alternators, anyone know how much? and i shall get one put in cause it sounds like it, but i will be replacing the whole negative arm that attaches to the nipple tomorrow cause this one is old and very gay, after cleaning its still quiet iffy. so yeahhh.
thanks for everyone's help, didn't at all think it was battery related but there you go, its done a better job so far than the mechanics

Good to hear,but i must say,that is a very bad place for an earth cable to get good contact,run it down towards the trans and put it under one of the bolts on it,much better than the one in the pic, (is it under the headlight bolt?),if you want to go to the body,some 6 b & s is more suited

Isn't that battery the wrong way around too? Thought (-) was always supposed to be closest to chassis? Eh

Nope just checked mine and its the same :)

Good to hear,but i must say,that is a very bad place for an earth cable to get good contact,run it down towards the trans and put it under one of the bolts on it,much better than the one in the pic, (is it under the headlight bolt?),if you want to go to the body,some 6 b & s is more suited


yeah i was going to see where the negative cable went, pull the battery out and the holder and put hte new one under there.
i couldn't find another ground because the new cable thing has massive connections which would almost go all the way around the bolts close to teh battery, so thats why i went under the headlight bolt.
how far down does the stock neg cable go down? is it just under the plastic that holds the battery?


lol yeah i thought it was put on wrong, being the battery has to go backwards but its correct hehe.
i will ring the mechanic on monday and ask them, they are real nice and might do me a deal as they didn't do as they promised

called RACV out (thought might as well use them cause im paying for em lol) and he said its the alenator dying, started to charge then carge went dangerously low!

(he was russian and had the coolest accent, could help but smile lol)

so $349 through RACV and they will do it for me on my doorstep, will get it done tomorrow yo!

got the new altenator installed today, driven it for abit and the power is back, response also, but the noise is still kind of there..
im hoping it will take a day or two to run in but if its not then it must be the trasmission...
do they just randomly make noises (the transmission) as they are going or just in general?

i am still trying to record the noise but i cant :( my phone isn't sensitive enough

I spoke to a mate that says it could be a cv joint or a slight bend in my drive shaft, but im not sure if those would make the noise. im begining to think its the transmission dying, does anyone know what characteristics a dying transmission has?

i am still trying to record the noise but i cant :( my phone isn't sensitive enough

I spoke to a mate that says it could be a cv joint or a slight bend in my drive shaft, but im not sure if those would make the noise. im begining to think its the transmission dying, does anyone know what characteristics a dying transmission has?

Usually BLOWING UP of the transmission is a sign, or the trans not shifting properly. you need to take this to a mechanic, as what you are saying makes no sense at all....

;1038270']Usually BLOWING UP of the transmission is a sign, or the trans not shifting properly. you need to take this to a mechanic, as what you are saying makes no sense at all....


well thats a given...
yeah i know i need to take it to a mechanic but last time i did that, they charged me $140 for *********** nothing. i dont want to commit to a $1500+ conversion of a transmission because mine has hit the ****s without some info.
thought someone with some knowledge might be able to give some insight so i dont have to spend $600 for the mechanics to 'search' my car but if not thats fine.

Geez, you need a new mechanic!! If I suspect something is up with my car, I drop it at my mechs in the morning, he gives me a ring and if there is something wrong I can have him fix it, if it's nothing I pick it up, no costs incurred.

The TF I had, had a whine and it was one of the pulley bearings.. A/C if i remember correctly. It would vary in volume. I agree with the others, try a new mechanic, even if u need a Mitsu dealer opinion, at least then u know ur dealing with people who work on them regularly

The TF I had, had a whine and it was one of the pulley bearings.. A/C if i remember correctly. It would vary in volume. I agree with the others, try a new mechanic, even if u need a Mitsu dealer opinion, at least then u know ur dealing with people who work on them regularly


ahh okayy, ill write that down, i have a few theories. yeah mine does vary in volume, its piss annoying but i will try a new mechanic i think, i just gotta save up now its terrible :( lol! hehe

well **** happens

i have the exact same problem and have been spending the last few weeks pulling my hair out about it
i at first thought, wow havent noticed that cool supercharger noise my car makes, then realised it was coming from speakers, slowly got louder and louder until it started getting popping and couldnt drive it.
i eventually completely unwired my amps and rewired them, went away a fair bit but is still there just without popping etc now.

it goes with the acceleration, and is most noticable with volume down because no music is drowning it out. it seems to go away when i turn the head unit completely off.

its bloody frustrating. i dont want to waste money because im not great for cash at the moment, so hopefully a fix can be found without me having to overpay some bastard for his piddly work.

EDIT: this is on my TR by the way, so not a 3rd gen specific problem.

Presti why don't you speak to Mal (MadMagna) about having a look at your car? Instead of taking it to mechanics you don't even know or trust. Troubleshooting problems especially something as minor as engine noise can take weeks and too much money to solve (as you already know). I'm sure he can tell you what the problem is without charging you excessively and not telling you what is going on.

As with mechanics doing stuff without permission , I've also learnt the hard way with my old Lancer. Basically if you didn't ok any work then they have no legal right to charge you (as far as i know anyway).

Presti why don't you speak to Mal (MadMagna) about having a look at your car? Instead of taking it to mechanics you don't even know or trust. Troubleshooting problems especially something as minor as engine noise can take weeks and too much money to solve (as you already know). I'm sure he can tell you what the problem is without charging you excessively and not telling you what is going on.

As with mechanics doing stuff without permission , I've also learnt the hard way with my old Lancer. Basically if you didn't ok any work then they have no legal right to charge you (as far as i know anyway).



thanks, i might ask him, i think this time i may have a fair idea (a crack in my exhaust where it meets my resonator/cat) but i was fairly annoyed when i was told they had done some work without ringing me.

thanks for your advice,
presti

i have the exact same problem and have been spending the last few weeks pulling my hair out about it
i at first thought, wow havent noticed that cool supercharger noise my car makes, then realised it was coming from speakers, slowly got louder and louder until it started getting popping and couldnt drive it.
i eventually completely unwired my amps and rewired them, went away a fair bit but is still there just without popping etc now.

it goes with the acceleration, and is most noticable with volume down because no music is drowning it out. it seems to go away when i turn the head unit completely off.

its bloody frustrating. i dont want to waste money because im not great for cash at the moment, so hopefully a fix can be found without me having to overpay some bastard for his piddly work.

EDIT: this is on my TR by the way, so not a 3rd gen specific problem.


yeah i turned my headunit off and even pulled hte face out, its still happeneing. its def mechanical cause i can hear it under the car more prominately than in the cabbin. i think i got the answer but i needa save then go to a new mechanic lol

cheers for your input :)
presti

damn, no worries dude
back off i go to try figure this crap out.

cheers

okayyy.
went to Mr muffler. Got a new muffler (hole in it) removed resonator (welds were cracked) and removed backplate under the engine (was bent up from a hit and might have been making hte noise)

1. the noise is gone :)
2. got a wayyyy sportier/tuner exhaust noise, sounds like a supra ;) except way better...cause its not a supra lol
and yeah :) thanks guys for your insight