Whirling/whining noise when accelerating

[sitchey]

Hi Guys

I have a 2007 Audi A6 2.0 TDI. Recently I have noticed that car makes a low pitched whining/whirling noise when accelerating.

It happens in every gear, and if you keep throttling the accelerator you can make the noise come again and again.

I initially thought it was the turbo, but thankfully there is no power loss and no black smoke when accelerating. I know this doesn’t rule out a potential turbo issue so the noise is worrying me, plus it is annoying .


To help, I have recorded the noise when I was out driving, and have saved it here for you to listen to.

The recording isnt the loudest so please turn your volume up. But to help you isolate the noise I have placed some timings when the noise is noticeable.

• 13 secs
• 16 secs
• 19 secs
• 25 secs
• 30 secs
• 38 secs
• 1m 02 secs (very clear at the start when pulling away)
• 1m 16 secs (started to play with the accleerator pedal to make it come and go)

Hopefully someone can give me some advice on what this sounds like.

Anyway thanks for any input!!

[Dpanic]

HI mate,

unsure - do not believe its the turbo (as that's normally a very high pich sound - if there is an air leak in the pipes).

its sounds (sorry to me) like normal engine, mine (3.0dti) would grown as it climed the revs - but changed the oil and it was much better.

when was the last oil change?

checked the poly v belt (alternator drive belt) - any splits

Can you here it standing still reving up - or just on the move?

sorry not much help (only had mine for three weeks - so getting slow used to the setup)

there should be someone along soon who knows these more ....

[gttdi jay]

im glad some one else has this i have on my mk4 golf 1.9 i been looking for it for 2 weeks now as its just started but i find it's not always there on mine whata bout yours ?

may i ask do you find it doesnt do it on idle speed or when you rev it when sat still ?

[sitchey]

hi gttdi jay and Dpanic - thanks for the replies!

Mine is always there, but you cant hear it when you rev it from a stand still.

The oil and timing belt were changed last week

This morning I heard it constantly when sitting round 70 on the motorway, though it was more faint than usual - prob cos of the louder road noise at that speed

[Quattros]

I have same noise when driving at 70mph on motorway, i can make it come and go by press the pedal on and off.. 2.7 tdi quattro..

[Quattros]

FIXED... it was a boost leak, hose from intercooler to throttle body had a hole 5mm long in it where it connected to the throttle body, think the hose clip had been tightened too much.. got a new one on order.. audi quote 199+ vat!! ouch... ill see if i can get one cheaper..
as a temp fix i cut the hose and pulled it up and over the throttle and clamped it back.

[AFF]

hi sitchey, I know it was 4 years ago - but did you actually find out what was the source of the noise? (I'm having similar one on A4 B8)

[3wheeler7]

Hi
I had a low softish grinding noise on my 2.0 BRE engined A6, turned out that the bearing in the bottom idler wheel on the serpentine belt had collapsed (not the tensioner pulley). Took 3 garages to find it.

Regards
Tony

[Anders Borum]

Hi sitchey,

first off, thanks for sharing your story.

Second, I am facing a similar problem on a 3.0 TDI Quattro with S-stronic gear box. Same whine across gears 2 - 7 and whine seems directly (or, very related) to engine RPM whilst in gear and quite easy to reproduce, especially when the car is warm. If I shift to neutral while driving in said gears in low to high speed, the sound goes away instantly. Revving the engine in parked or neutral position (parked) also doesn't reproduce the sound.

So it seems the whine follows engine RPM regardless of acceleration or deceleration (wheels pulling the engine).

The car has 100.000 miles on the clock and a complete service book.

I've got a local AUDI shop listen to the car and the technician definitely noticed the sound (also listening specifically for the turbo with the hood off) though couldn't provide any additional information. I'm due for a large service in 4 weeks and will be driving to Germany to the AUDI shop I use there. A technician is booked for a drive with me and the car so I'm hoping he'll be able to provide an aha-experience.

Any chance you have the original sound files laying around and could share them again? I'd really like to compare your sound with what I'm experiencing. If sharing online is an issue, please private message me for contact information - it would be a big help.

Thanks in advance,
Anders

[kristijanuk87]

hi guys im new on here got a issue with my vw sharan 2005 1.9 tdi sport 115 happens on 5th gear when relising acceleration its winning any idea what could it be i have read some adverts on here aswell as googled it said with driveshafts i replaced bothsides inch cv joint not got a clue what ment to do anymore been to mechanic and they think its the gearbox any advice is apririciated thank you