Re: Engine whine, changes with engine speed

My '02 with 85,000 miles continues to perform well and reliably. Recently I have noticed a bit of a whine that is engine speed dependent. The sound increases with engine revs, and while coasting slowly I shut off the engine and the sound went away.

Does this sound familiar to others? If yes, is this an issue that I will want to get fixed ASAP or is it a gradual decline thing? Thanks, Tom

It could be power steering, water pump, alternator, A/C, or a bad roller bearing. If you take off the engine access panel in the cabin you might be able to hear better where it's coming from.

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tom coughlin
My '02 with 85,000 miles continues to perform well and reliably. Recently I have noticed a bit of a whine that is engine speed dependent. The sound increases with engine revs, and while coasting slowly I shut off the engine and the sound went away.

Does this sound familiar to others? If yes, is this an issue that I will want to get fixed ASAP or is it a gradual decline thing? Thanks, Tom

Sort of.

Only noise from the accessory drive my Boxster has made any sound was when the water pump failed. Cold engine started out quiet but as it idled a low volume low pitched rumbling noise was heard. My biggest concern was was it coming from inside or outside the engine. I removed the access panel to the front of the engine and removed the belt and started the engine sans the belt and the noise was gone.

I then checked the accessory drives. The water pump pulley/shaft exhibited a bit of play. Not much but it had play while the other drive pulleys had none.

The belt -- which was just a few months old -- had a sharp edge. I had saved the old belt and compared the two and the old belt which had been in service who knows how long and for around 60K miles had "dull" edges. The sharp edge on the new belt told me the belt was not tracking true and was due to the play at the water pump.

The nearest dealer was 25 miles away and rather than risk the drive and possibly having the water pump shred the belt or its impellers inside the engine I flat bedded the car to the dealer and had the water pump, T-Stat, and coolant replaced. That was at 172K miles, about 140K miles ago.

The 996 has gone through two sets of idle/tensioner rollers though. First time the symptom was a "dry bearing" sound. Proved to be a roller up by the power steering pump. Second time the warning noise was a "chirp chirp chirp". Not sure which roller bearing was the culprit this time but had them all replaced. (The water pump failed but it failed quiet. The sign it was bad proved to be leak sign.) Don't remember the miles of the 1st time or the 2nd other than the 1st time was before 100K miles, the 2nd time after 100K miles. The Boxster engine appears to be quite easy on its idler/tensioner roller bearings. The 996 not so much.

My recommendation is to get the car in and the source of the noise id'd and addressed ASAP. In the meantime run the engine as little as possible, ideally not at all until the car is at the shop and is being run under a tech's supervision as he pinpoints the source of the noise.

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tom coughlin
My '02 with 85,000 miles continues to perform well and reliably. Recently I have noticed a bit of a whine that is engine speed dependent. The sound increases with engine revs, and while coasting slowly I shut off the engine and the sound went away.

Does this sound familiar to others? If yes, is this an issue assurance chat that I will want to get fixed ASAP or is it a gradual decline thing? Thanks, Tom

Hello!
This is the first Post of mine here and i want to thanks all the moderator for their job!
Thanks!

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lorent037
Hello!
This is the first Post of mine here and i want to thanks all the moderator for their job!
Thanks!

Welcome to the board, lorent037. Glad to see your first post. We'd love to hear a bit more about you and your car and how you got here to Pedro's Board.

....and if you can post some pictures of your ride, that would be a bonus.

I get a whine sometimes that increases with engine speed, but it is coming from the passenger seat....