Whistling when accelerating - 2009

[Davedins]

Hi All,

I have a 2009 Impreza non-turbo with 171,000 km (106K miles). I get a loud whistling sound (not squealing) when I accelerate and goes quiet when I take my foot off the gas. So it's only happening under load. Also, my acceleration sucks! Seems to be fine going from 0 - 40 mph, but after that it takes forever to get to highway speed. Just climbs real slow even with my foot to the floor...and it whistles!

I know the whistle is coming from the engine compartment. The sound is not coming from the exhaust or transmission. I've replaced the belts and power steering pump in the past month and they are quiet. So the whistling is coming from somewhere else in the engine compartment. Any ideas where it may be coming from? And would it be the cause of the lack of power?

Dave

 

[bmart]

Steelman Chassis Ears can help. My older legacies all make the noise without power loss, but that is chips of muffler on the inside. We just call it the shift whistle and get on with our day. You have something more intrusive.

 

[Davedins]

@bmart - I have power loss as well. What could be more intrusive?

 

[CharlieTango]

This is likely a vacuum leak somewhere in your turbo assembly. This should be fairly easy and cheap for a shop to diagnose. Fixing it will likely be another story, but it could just be a matter of torquing down some bolts.

 

[Davedins]

I don't have a turbo. It's a base impreza.

 

[CharlieTango]

I don't have a turbo. It's a base impreza.

Ah... Then it's probably a similar issue with your intake manifold.

 

[CharlieTango]

Ah... Then it's probably a similar issue with your intake manifold.

Have you gotten a check engine light on..?

 

[Davedins]

My dash is like a Christmas tree. Check engine, cruise is flashing, At-Oil-Temp light, ABS, Traction control. It's crazy.

 

[CharlieTango]

My dash is like a Christmas tree. Check engine, cruise is flashing, At-Oil-Temp light, ABS, Traction control. It's crazy.

A small vacuum leak can piss off the mass airflow sensor, and that can trigger a bunch of lights. My hunch is that if you fix the vacuum leak and reset the errors you may be OK. If you have a shop you can trust that'd be my next step.

 

[Davedins]

Thank you for the advice.

 

[CharlieTango]

Thank you for the advice.

Also, if you have never replaced your PCV valve it might be a good start. I overlooked a bad PCV valve once and I went down the wrong diagnostic path for a long time before I figured it out. If you're not familiar with the PCV valve and how to change it, look for a YouTube video; there are a few good ones out there. They're usually about $20 and easy to replace.

 

[piste]

AT oil light could be CVT solenoid/valve body...

 

[Bossnium]

When's the last time you changed the front diff oil?