Any idea what this noise is?!
Discussion
OK, you'll have to listen hard. My phone is rubbish at recording and it was taped to the steering wheel boss but kept bouncing a bit so you're getting a lot of referred noise as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLVaO3NP1Jo
What you're hearing is at 40mph. From 0-4 seconds is steady throttle and the noise is only just audible. 4-7 seconds I lift off and it becomes much quieter. 7-10 seconds is light application of throttle and it gets much louder. The noise that's new is the "whoooooooh" noise. Everything after that involved corners and it stops then, and one of the bits of tape came loose so pretty much ignore everything after 10 seconds.
Now the background...
2014 Alfa Giulietta 1750TBi QV TCT with 15,000 miles, just serviced with engine oil change.
Noise has actually been obvious for 6 months and I've been in and out the dealers 3 times with it. The first and last time they said they couldn't hear it. The middle visit they said they could but thought it was a tyre noise and to have the worn fronts changed. Well, I did, and ended up changing all four tyres and it's still there.
Here's the facts I can figure out:
The pitch never changes regardless of speed.
No effect changing gear, putting it into neutral or braking.
Only present from 40mph and above and mainly on light throttle or acceleration.
Disappears if you lift off or steer side to side.
Only appears once the car is warmed up and barely present if the road is wet!
Sounds like it's coming from the offside front.
Garage have had it on a ramp to check driveshafts, CV joints and wheel bearings and say they're fine, though they were a franchised Alfa dealer so pinch of salt and all...
Original Dunlop SP Maxxs were replaced with four Goodyear F1 Assymetric 3s 6 weeks ago and nothing changed.
I know it's a quiet noise but the Alfa paranoia starts to kick in. It's been faultless for over 2 years, after all! Plus, the dealership shut down yesterday so Edinburgh is currently without an Alfa dealer and Scotland, as a whole, now only has two left, in Glasgow or Inverness! If it needs fixed soon, I'll probably have to pay for it myself.
Any ideas appreciated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLVaO3NP1Jo
What you're hearing is at 40mph. From 0-4 seconds is steady throttle and the noise is only just audible. 4-7 seconds I lift off and it becomes much quieter. 7-10 seconds is light application of throttle and it gets much louder. The noise that's new is the "whoooooooh" noise. Everything after that involved corners and it stops then, and one of the bits of tape came loose so pretty much ignore everything after 10 seconds.
Now the background...
2014 Alfa Giulietta 1750TBi QV TCT with 15,000 miles, just serviced with engine oil change.
Noise has actually been obvious for 6 months and I've been in and out the dealers 3 times with it. The first and last time they said they couldn't hear it. The middle visit they said they could but thought it was a tyre noise and to have the worn fronts changed. Well, I did, and ended up changing all four tyres and it's still there.
Here's the facts I can figure out:
The pitch never changes regardless of speed.
No effect changing gear, putting it into neutral or braking.
Only present from 40mph and above and mainly on light throttle or acceleration.
Disappears if you lift off or steer side to side.
Only appears once the car is warmed up and barely present if the road is wet!
Sounds like it's coming from the offside front.
Garage have had it on a ramp to check driveshafts, CV joints and wheel bearings and say they're fine, though they were a franchised Alfa dealer so pinch of salt and all...
Original Dunlop SP Maxxs were replaced with four Goodyear F1 Assymetric 3s 6 weeks ago and nothing changed.
I know it's a quiet noise but the Alfa paranoia starts to kick in. It's been faultless for over 2 years, after all! Plus, the dealership shut down yesterday so Edinburgh is currently without an Alfa dealer and Scotland, as a whole, now only has two left, in Glasgow or Inverness! If it needs fixed soon, I'll probably have to pay for it myself.
Any ideas appreciated.
Edited by Ali_T on Tuesday 1st November 13:50
Yes, sounds like resonating to me too. Maybe it's something you added to the car at some point. The fact that it isn't as noticeable when road is wet suggests that the thing that is resonating is getting wet too which would dampen the resonation. Look around the car for thin metal that gets wet in the rain.
My car sounded like a wheel bearing was on its way out, turned out to be rear wheel alignment. (being FWD, the rears had not been checked)
On acceleration the wheels pull forwards and then are too toe in, when you lift off, the wheels are braking slightly, therefore aim further toe out. Play exacerbated by a dodgy bush?
So maybe take it to a full 4 wheel place?
On acceleration the wheels pull forwards and then are too toe in, when you lift off, the wheels are braking slightly, therefore aim further toe out. Play exacerbated by a dodgy bush?
So maybe take it to a full 4 wheel place?
Thanks folks. Very useful suggestions.
No, nothing has been added to the car that I'm aware of. Only 2 years old and 15k on the clock. It also hasn't gotten any worse in the 6 months so a bearing would seem least likely. Tempted to have the transmission and diff oil changed for piece of mind though Alfa don't recommend it until 4 years and 40,000 miles. I'd have hoped that if something was loose, they might have seen it when it was in, and also at it's last service a month ago. But it is a main dealer....
No, nothing has been added to the car that I'm aware of. Only 2 years old and 15k on the clock. It also hasn't gotten any worse in the 6 months so a bearing would seem least likely. Tempted to have the transmission and diff oil changed for piece of mind though Alfa don't recommend it until 4 years and 40,000 miles. I'd have hoped that if something was loose, they might have seen it when it was in, and also at it's last service a month ago. But it is a main dealer....
Quick caveat to this. The noise got a bit louder and more obvious in the last few weeks. Botu my son and I are convinced it's the nearside front now but, although it initially seemed independent of braking, it now obviously disappears as soon as the brakes are applied, and takes a few seconds to reappear once brake pressure is released. Still mystified! Suspect replacing the wheel bearing will be the answer but it's fairly untypical.
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