Whistling sound

will26

Member
Hi all,
1.4 se manual Audi A2.

A rather annoying /worrying whistling sound has become apparent when driving over 40-50 mph. It's consistent but doesn't sound mechanical so much as it sounds like air coming through the vents! It's difficult to pin down exactly where it's coming from. The sound is still present when driving at speed out of gear. I thought it might be a head gasket, gearbox issue?

I have got a engine temp issue and the starter motor does whine when starting the car but mechanically everything else seems ok.

Any advice would be gratefully received

Will
 
Could be window or door seals either damaged or out of adjustment. Try to get someone inside the car while you drive it to see if they can find a noise around one of the doors. Does it still make a noise when the heater is on recirculate?
 
Hey thanks for your response. I'll check (or the better half will) when we next take it on a run - likely this weekend. I'll update should I find anything
 
Im really none the wiser where the whistling sound is orginating from. I suspect its comign from the vents everything else seems tight and fixed down. (bonnet, windows, doors and service hatch). will take it to the garage!
 
Have you carefully checked all the window and door seals and weather strips for damage? Do the window frames matcth the body lines correctly and not too far in or out?
 
As suggested by @audifan, this sounds like door seals unless there is something very obviously in the airflow under the car around the front wheel arches - do you have an undertray or is it missing? - secondly are the inner wheel arches fully secured as airflow around these can be pretty turbulent?

However, on one of our A2s, one of the black trim pieces that cover the B-pillar between front and rear doors is slightly misaligned, with the result that the rubber strip covering the front edge of the rear door behind the driver has about a 2mm gap approaching the top of the door. There is obviously an internal chubby seal to mitigate airflow, but in some wind directions and gusts occasionally you get an airflow noise that appears transiently behind the drivers' head and then stops again which we don't get on any other car. Planning to realign the trim piece when I get a chance. Are the black trim pieces between the doors on each side straight and positioned centrally?
 
Do you have the popular wind-deflectors fitted? These can deform the window frames leading to whistles.
 
Is the AC on and working while this whistling sound is present?

On many cars that I regularly service, a similar sound is intermittently present through the vents because of the AC gas evaporating in the evaporator via the orifice tube. On many service bulletins from various manufacturers this is described as normal and can be as loud as a horn in some occasions but most usually sounds like the whistling that you describe.
 
Hi all. Apologies for the lateness in responding but thanks for all your suggestions. I'll take another look this weekend and report back!
 
Hi all,

a long weekend!

switching on and off the AC makes no difference, unfortunately
the car isn't fitted with wind deflectors
the car is fitted with an undertray that has seen better days... its conceivable that its causing the issue.
ive checked all the seals and weather strips and they all look fine and the panels look aligned.

the sound is absolutely coming from the front of the car behind / forward of the dash... Im taking it to Vass of Bath at the end of the month with a long list of problems including this one!
 
OK can you check the 2 bonnet drains are correctly fitted and positioned and the cups they sit in are also fitted. Remove the pollen filter to see if debris has built up in the chamber. With the filter out run the fan at full speed to see if anything is flung about and also if the fan is making noise. Lastly you may have something inside one of the cabin air ducts so may have to explore checking inside them.

Of course to get help it is a good idea to help us by UPDATING YOUR PROFILE TO ACTUALLY INDICATE THAT YOU HAVE AN A2 AND WHAT YEAR AND MODEL IT IS.
 
Other than the wind related possibilities, I have had a car in the past that made what could almost be called a whistle which was the traced wheel bearing. It was quite a high piched noise and constant and it wasn't really a grid you might expect (and I think it was at higher speed), so its worth thinking about. If you can put steering load on one way or another (e.g. a large roundabout or twisty road) and the noise changes it might be that. If you can jack the car up and check for play in the bearing by firmly trying to wobble the wheel, thats also worth a try.
 
Hi all,

a long weekend!

switching on and off the AC makes no difference, unfortunately
the car isn't fitted with wind deflectors
the car is fitted with an undertray that has seen better days... its conceivable that its causing the issue.
ive checked all the seals and weather strips and they all look fine and the panels look aligned.

the sound is absolutely coming from the front of the car behind / forward of the dash... Im taking it to Vass of Bath at the end of the month with a long list of problems including this one!
Hi will26,
Check the window, by your ear when driving , mine does this when the car gets dirty, I clean the top of the windows & then wash the car & dry off before lubricating the felt seals with clear silicone spray & work this in
with an old clean microfibre cloth
the window usually seals easily following this procedure.
Hope that helps
Keith.
 
I went in to Vass of Bath yesterday about another issue, but asked the mechanic to hear out for a whistling sound when he took the car for a spin.
he confirmed it was windnoise. and absolutely nothing to do with the gearbox.!

it might be the undertray as i noticed when it was on the ramp that a screw was missing.
i took the bonnet off and checked the vents - where are the bonnet drains?
i checked the pollen/ cabin filter (first time ive taken it off) I don't have the tray that the filter sits in! i guess this might be the cause but the sound seems to be higher in the dashboard.
 
i took the bonnet off and checked the vents - where are the bonnet drains?
You'll have seen the two rubber 'mouths' on the underside of the bonnet. There should be collector cups in corresponding locations in the engine bay for the water that drips from them. One round one sits above the gearbox selector tower, the other squarer one is left of centre attached to the slam panel as you look at the front of the car. Both have pipes to drain the water away to locations where it can safely be released.
 
Here is a picture to show the items Ian described above. Circled in blue......

1648223637765.jpeg
 
Hi all,
1.4 se manual Audi A2.

A rather annoying /worrying whistling sound has become apparent when driving over 40-50 mph. It's consistent but doesn't sound mechanical so much as it sounds like air coming through the vents! It's difficult to pin down exactly where it's coming from. The sound is still present when driving at speed out of gear. I thought it might be a head gasket, gearbox issue?

I have got a engine temp issue and the starter motor does whine when starting the car but mechanically everything else seems ok.

Any advice would be gratefully received

Will
Starter whine is probably the solenoid in the starter being a bit sticky, and not disengaging the drive quick enough. Google it, and you'll see how (youtube is a good place to look) to open the starter up, and clean, the grease the solenoid mechanism.
Mac.
 
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