# Whining noise that varies with acceleration. 99K miles..



## JettatoCruze (Mar 10, 2019)

For clarification, the whining sounds like a distant police or ambulance siren. When I first heard it I was convinced that is what it was until it was constant each time I accelerated. It is audible unless the air is on high or the radio is on. I also live in a hot climate (SC) if that causes premature wear.


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## JLL (Sep 12, 2017)

JettatoCruze said:


> For clarification, the whining sounds like a distant police or ambulance siren. When I first heard it I was convinced that is what it was until it was constant each time I accelerated. It is audible unless the air is on high or the radio is on. I also live in a hot climate (SC) if that causes premature wear.


Is the noise level proportional to the engine speed or the vehicle speed?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Which engine (1.4T or 1.8?)

Does it happen in neutral/park, or only while in gear? Change with road speed or just engine speed?


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## JettatoCruze (Mar 10, 2019)

It's the 2.0 diesel. It definitely varies with speed but it's difficult to tell if it varies by engine RPM or vehicle speed. I want to say it's mainly engine RPM which is what made me think about the transmission. I had the cars ATF changed out in favor of Amsoil's variant about 30,000 miles ago. I'm at work at the moment but when I get a chance I'll see if it does it in neutral as well with the hood up.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

JettatoCruze said:


> It's the 2.0 diesel. It definitely varies with speed but it's difficult to tell if it varies by engine RPM or vehicle speed. I want to say it's mainly engine RPM which is what made me think about the transmission. I had the cars ATF changed out in favor of Amsoil's variant about 30,000 miles ago. I'm at work at the moment but when I get a chance I'll see if it does it in neutral as well with the hood up.


Try knocking it down a gear or two in manual mode and see if it picks up in speed/intensity.


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## JettatoCruze (Mar 10, 2019)

Cruze diesel engine whine Under the hood.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

JettatoCruze said:


> Cruze diesel engine whine Under the hood.


I hate to say it, but that kinda sounds like a turbo in its death throes.

You might have more luck isolating the noise with a mechanic stethoscope or a paper towel tube to the ear or something to find a general location.


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## JettatoCruze (Mar 10, 2019)

jblackburn said:


> I hate to say it, but that kinda sounds like a turbo in its death throes.
> 
> You might have more luck isolating the noise with a mechanic stethoscope or a paper towel tube to the ear or something to find a general location.


Bought one and the turbo does sound appreciably loud with it but are there any particular idler pulleys that need to be checked? Has anyone else had a turbo fail this early? I don't think I've seen any of the other turbo failure symptoms such as oil in the exhaust, loss of power, etc.


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## JettatoCruze (Mar 10, 2019)

Took it to a local shop with the instructions to run the car without the drivebelt and see if the noise continued. I wish I could have been in the bay when this happened but according to the shop owner the noise stopped and he seems to think its the timing belt. The car just now turned over 100k miles so the 'Change timing belt' warning shows up on every startup so I'm hoping the guy didn't just see that warning and decided to tell the owner thats what he thinks it is. He also did mention that the belt seems to be 'vibrating against the cover'. Has anyone else heard of a timing belt making an audible noise like that? I'm under the impression that some people push the belt change intervals to 120k or more. Not that I plan to do that- I just want to make sure this guy is right and that the turbo is indeed fine.


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## 15cruzediesel (Sep 30, 2019)

I'd have to agree turbo.
That whine sounds like it is coming from something spinning way way faster than anything the engine mechanically is spinning.

But ultimately you either trust the mechanic, take the belt off and test yourself or take it to another mechanic.


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## JettatoCruze (Mar 10, 2019)

Pulled the intake and found this. Thing is I don't know how much oil blowby is normal for these cars. Should there not be any? Inside of the intake also looks shiny with oil but the only pool so to speak I see is what you see at the lip of the turbo. As far as shaft play- assuming I'm even touching the right thing, there doesn't seem to be much at all which from what I've read is another telltale sign. It seems as if everything is tight.


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## JettatoCruze (Mar 10, 2019)

And now I have a very apparent coolant leak. Not sure if its related or not or if its just because of the shitty plastic hoses every company wants to use now has cracked, ala this video-


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## JettatoCruze (Mar 10, 2019)

Just as an update on this heap- I finally got this resolved. The issue ended up being a vacuum leak on the turbo vane actuators and not the turbo itself. So I'm hoping this thread can help out a future owner in that these cars can exhibit several symptoms of a failed turbo including the tell tale siren like whine and that it still may not be the turbo itself.


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

JettatoCruze said:


> And now I have a very apparent coolant leak. Not sure if its related or not or if its just because of the shitty plastic hoses every company wants to use now has cracked, ala this video-


Sorry, no one responded to this, but the plastic hose issue is very common and has multiple threads there discussing it. Here was mine earlier this year. Back of Engine Leak - Plastic Elbow

And FYI there are 2 of those hoses on the back, one intake and one output. Both suffer the same issue, it's just the 90 degree one that failed on me first.

Guys save the fitting where they snap because you can just take the plastic off and put a piece of rubber hose on them and snap them back on.


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