S3 weird whining noisee

[dave_beastttt]

No issues with anything, no warning lights, no other sounds, no loss of power, nothing feels out of the ordinary

Sound starts happening above 45-55mph in any gear
Sound happens whether on or off throttle/coasting/accelerating
Sound is constant, doesn't speed up/slow down with engine/car speed/S-Tronic in neutral
Sound doesn't change with direction change
Sound stops when the vehicle stops

It does sound like it's coming more from the left side of the front of the car, but with the windows down, the noise isn't any louder/different, it's noticeable in the cabin rather than outside

Any ideas?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/c5k1wnz96fuwtzn/sound.mp3

 

[HansfishS3]

Wheel bearings?

 

[dave_beastttt]

Wheel bearings?

The sound is the same whether going 45mph or 70mph, there is no change to the pitch or frequency, which to me rules out wheel bearings

 

[S3_Mat]

I think its the prop shaft centre bearing.. my car has a whistle exactly as you describe it. Its worse when cold and can be triggered with full throttle. Onces its there it stays for a while and gradual goes away as i assume the bearing heats up.

 

[S3_Mat]

IF you have a facelift. The price of a new prop will make your eyes water(around 1k)... and afaik you can only split and replace the prop centre bearing on pre facelift cars. Still 350ish so not cheap either way.

 

[dave_beastttt]

That would be coming from behind the driver though? This was definitely coming from the front left?

Just came back from a 20 mile drive at 40-60mph and it didnt do it once
Also, if it was a bearing on the prop, the noise would increase/decrease with speed?
The recording in the op was done between 50-70mph but as you can hear, the tone/frequency doesn't change, like a pump or something.

 

[S3_Mat]

If it were engine related it would happen at any road speed.

The fact the noise occurs with the clutch down (dsg in neutral) above a certain speed means that it needs to be something that is rotating unless its wind/tyre noise. So in order front to back wheel bearings, brakes rubbing/harmonics, cv-joints(unlikely), front diff, transfer case bearings, prop centre bearing, rear diff, haldex, rear brakes, rear wheel bearings.

The centre bearing is not quite central in the prop shaft its more to the front of the car so it would be just to the left of the driving position. This bearing and the transfer case bearing are likely suspects - or potentially just a wheel bearing.

It could be any of those things in that list so they probably require checking out in turn by a garage. I'll try and record what mine sounds like and post it up. If you find out whats causing do share and ill do the same.

 

[dave_beastttt]

If it were engine related it would happen at any road speed.

The fact the noise occurs with the clutch down (dsg in neutral) above a certain speed

It happened whether it was in gear or not, the noise didn't change with speed, it was constant!
If anything, it sounded like a pump of some kind "hunting"

 

[dave_beastttt]

I found out what was causing it, I trawled Youtube for anything similar, only thing I could find was this....


and link in description to a forum thread where the owners oil filter had collapsed.

I did an oil and filter change Wednesday and no more noise!! Hope this helps someone else with a mystery siren sound

 

[kash_v]

Wow never seen that before lol

 

[Kayla]

@dave_beastttt I think I'm having the same symptoms that you described in your initial post, the whining happens when the car gets up to temp but not before, it doesn't matter if I put clutch in or change gear its still exactly the same and only happens over 30mph, the video you posted about the oil filter is of it idling did yours make the noise like that or was it only when driving I've had garage tell me it's gearbox bearing and 1200 to repair it