High pitch squeal/whine above 40mph

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nmcbride

Member
:
2016 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring W/Tech
Recently I have noticed a high pitch squeal or whine when driving along at about 40mph or higher. Mostly drowned out by wind noise, it is audible when driving alongside a wall or high curb median or something like that.

It's low volume but high pitched so I am sure the dealer will tell me they can't hear anything...

Anybody else heard something like that?

25,300 miles
 
nmcbride said:
Recently I have noticed a high pitch squeal or whine when driving along at about 40mph or higher. Mostly drowned out by wind noise, it is audible when driving alongside a wall or high curb median or something like that.

It's low volume but high pitched so I am sure the dealer will tell me they can't hear anything...

Anybody else heard something like that?

25,300 miles
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Assuming something isn't rubbing on a rotor...I've had caliper's stick and cause issues...it could be a bad wheel bearing as well
 
Thanks. Trying to get some ideas before taking it in. Noises are so easy for them to dismiss.
 
Kedis82ZE8 said:
Sounds like a different sound.... squeals or whine versus dog whistle?
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More like a low volume really high pitched dog whistle I'd say. Sounds nothing at all like the transaxle whine in a video in the link above. I had an Audi 4000 with bad synchro bearings that made a noise like that.

They called today to tell me the replacement for my fogged tail light is in so I'll have them take a look next week when I drop it off.
 
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nmcbride said:
Recently I have noticed a high pitch squeal or whine when driving along at about 40mph or higher. Mostly drowned out by wind noise, it is audible when driving alongside a wall or high curb median or something like that.

It's low volume but high pitched so I am sure the dealer will tell me they can't hear anything...

Anybody else heard something like that?

25,300 miles
Click to expand...

Could be a diff, or wheel bearing. That is my experience as well, with noise. I am relatively young at 30, and do have decent hearing in my right ear in the 6-6500hz range, and I can hear diff/bearing whines that older people cannot (as we age, our hearing shifts down, and we lose our upper frequencies. People who are around engines/jackhammers will also lose their 4kHz range, and people around gunfire, and jet/turbine engines will lose 5-6kHz, which will shift downward as they age into the speech zones of 3-4kHz. In the end, we all go deaf pretty much, or at least the world is muted, and the lower frequencies are the last to go. This is why elderly people have more trouble hearing women/children. The blessings of age!)

What you are describing...does it get worse when you are on/off throttle? Is it better or worse when you steer right or left (applying pressure to one side of the chassis/bearings on that side) or the other?
 
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Unobtanium said:
Could be a diff, or wheel bearing. That is my experience as well, with noise. I am relatively young at 30, and do have decent hearing in my right ear in the 6-6500hz range, and I can hear diff/bearing whines that older people cannot (as we age, our hearing shifts down, and we lose our upper frequencies. People who are around engines/jackhammers will also lose their 4kHz range, and people around gunfire, and jet/turbine engines will lose 5-6kHz, which will shift downward as they age into the speech zones of 3-4kHz. In the end, we all go deaf pretty much, or at least the world is muted, and the lower frequencies are the last to go. This is why elderly people have more trouble hearing women/children. The blessings of age!)

What you are describing...does it get worse when you are on/off throttle? Is it better or worse when you steer right or left (applying pressure to one side of the chassis/bearings on that side) or the other?
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I popped it in neutral driving down a deserted roads and the noise was still there...just above 40 til I can't hear it at all over road noise around 50ish. Tapping the brakes did nothing. Haven't tried steering changes. Something for tomorrow.

Anything I can give the dealer will help.
 
nmcbride said:
I popped it in neutral driving down a deserted roads and the noise was still there...just above 40 til I can't hear it at all over road noise around 50ish. Tapping the brakes did nothing. Haven't tried steering changes. Something for tomorrow.

Anything I can give the dealer will help.
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Transmission output shaft, or wheel-bearing, maybe? A diff is typically on/off load specific in noise/pitch.

I will say, I've noticed a similar sound, too. It also happened once while COMPLETELY stopped. All I can think of is some high pressure something. Fuel pump maybe. I have no idea. But it wasn't a bearing as I heard it when sitting in a parkinglot. It does it during the summer more than winter, come to think of it.
 
Unobtanium said:
Transmission output shaft, or wheel-bearing, maybe? A diff is typically on/off load specific in noise/pitch.

I will say, I've noticed a similar sound, too. It also happened once while COMPLETELY stopped. All I can think of is some high pressure something. Fuel pump maybe. I have no idea. But it wasn't a bearing as I heard it when sitting in a parkinglot. It does it during the summer more than winter, come to think of it.
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Interesting. I'll let it sit running and get out and see what i can hear from under the car and in the engine bay. Don't want to rule anything out at this point.

I do wonder if it's related to the slow speed eee eee sound on take off we had when it was newer...that kind of disappeared after about 7-8 months.
 
nmcbride said:
Interesting. I'll let it sit running and get out and see what i can hear from under the car and in the engine bay. Don't want to rule anything out at this point.

I do wonder if it's related to the slow speed eee eee sound on take off we had when it was newer...that kind of disappeared after about 7-8 months.
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Clean your rims well. If it's a dragging caliper, I'd think you should see a bit of dust, although these are some low dust pads. An IR thermometer would also quickly diagnose a dragging caliper.
 
Unobtanium said:
Clean your rims well. If it's a dragging caliper, I'd think you should see a bit of dust, although these are some low dust pads. An IR thermometer would also quickly diagnose a dragging caliper.
Click to expand...

Oh that's a good idea, we have one of those at work....
 
nmcbride said:
Recently I have noticed a high pitch squeal or whine when driving along at about 40mph or higher. Mostly drowned out by wind noise, it is audible when driving alongside a wall or high curb median or something like that.

It's low volume but high pitched so I am sure the dealer will tell me they can't hear anything...

Anybody else heard something like that?

25,300 miles
Click to expand...

I recently purchased a 2009 Mazda CX-9 Touring w/ 82k miles. I notice a faint high pitched noise in 1st if I give it a lot of gas and with any gas in 6th between 40-55mph. With the sport shift option I've determined it doesn't do it in 5th. Dealer heard it driving, but it was too faint to tell what it was when they got under it in the shop. Odd, but doesn't seem problematic at this point.
 
My 2015 CX5 had the same symptom. A high pitched (dog whistle like) squeal coming from the rear...most audible when driving near a wall or high curb. I found that he car had to be warm (driven for about 15 min or more) and the sound was never audible on wet pavement or in rain. It took numerous trips to the deal to get it diagnosed.

I was able to demonstrate for a tech (ride along), they immediately put it on a lift (with a tech inside the car) and had him hit the gas. The sound was coming from one of the seals to the right rear wheel (axle seal???).
When he sprayed it with silicon lube...the sound immediate went away. They replaced the seal and I haven't heard it since.
Hope that helps.
 
dnichols021161 said:
My 2015 CX5 had the same symptom. A high pitched (dog whistle like) squeal coming from the rear...most audible when driving near a wall or high curb. I found that he car had to be warm (driven for about 15 min or more) and the sound was never audible on wet pavement or in rain. It took numerous trips to the deal to get it diagnosed.

I was able to demonstrate for a tech (ride along), they immediately put it on a lift (with a tech inside the car) and had him hit the gas. The sound was coming from one of the seals to the right rear wheel (axle seal???).
When he sprayed it with silicon lube...the sound immediate went away. They replaced the seal and I haven't heard it since.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
buy that tech a beer...
 
Anytime I hear a weird noise I just bring it to my boyfriends shop straight away. You should honestly just bring it to your reputable shop and just show them what is wrong. It seems like a constant issue which will most likely be easier to diagnose than an intermittent problem. Its pretty much impossible to guess what is wrong with a car by having the person describe a noise. He has people ask him all the time online what he thinks could be wrong because of a certain sound the owner hears and he always just tells people to bring their car in, because its pretty impossible to give them an accurate answer.
 
courtneyc said:
Anytime I hear a weird noise I just bring it to my boyfriends shop straight away. You should honestly just bring it to your reputable shop and just show them what is wrong. It seems like a constant issue which will most likely be easier to diagnose than an intermittent problem. Its pretty much impossible to guess what is wrong with a car by having the person describe a noise. He has people ask him all the time online what he thinks could be wrong because of a certain sound the owner hears and he always just tells people to bring their car in, because its pretty impossible to give them an accurate answer.
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I prefer my dealer over the independent garage I used to go to. They're up to date on all the TSBs, and they're familiar with most of the weird Mazda problems, and their pricing is competitive with area shops. Must have something to do with some of the techs owning CX5s.
 
madar said:
I prefer my dealer over the independent garage I used to go to. They're up to date on all the TSBs, and they're familiar with most of the weird Mazda problems, and their pricing is competitive with area shops. Must have something to do with some of the techs owning CX5s.
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Thats great! I hate dealing with dealerships and most the time have had bad experiences so I try to stay away if I can. Unless it is a warranty issue. If you want to check out his shop you can, they are Gear One Performance the only reason I am telling you is because you are in PA. He is the most honest mechanic you will meet and he tells it like it is. I mean obviously I am a little biased but it is the truth. Private shops get a bad rap so I try to rectify that as much as I can. Plus they have extremely competitive rates. :D
 
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What did you find out about the issue? I'm getting a similar sound, but my issue is actually coming from the radio.
 
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