whistling noise when driving

mctoone

Member
Contributor
I think this topic has been covered before but I can't find it in the search. I have an automatic 2003 P5 and since day one I have noticed a whistling sound when driving. You have to be on a quiet road to hear it. I first noticed it when driving home late at night on a country road....second day I owned the car! Just a quiet whistling sound...anyone else hear this?
 
is it the alternator whine? if your radio isn't on and your fan is, you can hear a slight whine on a very quiet road. i see you don't have a roof rack, so that's ruled out. i'm sticking with the alternator whine. i heard grounding wires will eliminate that.
 
AND he's a she!...the noise happens when even going slow. But it has to be quiet outside to hear it. It gets a little louder when you accelerate. Or at least changes pitch a bit. I would like to point it out to the dealership when I take it in for its first checkup but they probably will not hear it.
 
just turn up your radio, noise gone-problem solved....j/k id say its the alternator aswell
 
my sincerest apologies, miss.

the way you describe it reconfirms that it is the alternator whine. once you turn on your stereo, it actually goes away. if your radio is off, the noise actually comes through the speakers. i'm pretty sure the dealer is going to tell you it's normal. look into grounding wires, as they seem to help the problem.

mctoone said:
AND he's a she!...the noise happens when even going slow. But it has to be quiet outside to hear it. It gets a little louder when you accelerate. Or at least changes pitch a bit. I would like to point it out to the dealership when I take it in for its first checkup but they probably will not hear it.
 
i'll let 1st mp3 in NH know about your problem. he's the audio guru, so he'll be better versed at what you could do to assuage the problem.
 
If you have an entirely facotry audio system the likelyhood of alternator whine as induced through the audio system is very unlikely.

The time I have seen it is do to a bad antenna ground.

To rule it out, next time you hear it turn off the radio. If it doesn't go away then it is something on the car physicly whining.
If it does go away then the radio station is possibly emiting it. Next time switch the radio to CD and see if it goes away.

Although Mazda engines are well known as being whinny. My MX-6, MP3 and P5 all somewhat whine while driving, mostly just a high pitched but very subtle noise. I have heard it is more to do with the transmission then the engine but thats not my area :D
 
Maybe not, if she has a 4 channel amp or soomething then you could be very right.
 
nothing... i ran out of money mid project. but eventually, i'm gonna have a 5 channel amp to power everything and switch speakers out to infinity kaapa's. maybe by the end of the year or early next.

edit:
oh yeah... the wire guage is whatever can handle 200watts. the sub and amp are only running at 100 watts right now. i turned the gain all the way down, it's good now.
 
Technicaly nothing shoule be making a alternator noise throuhg the system then. It comes and goes with headunit being on?
 
yeah, once i turn on the head unit (stock) and turn the volume all the way down, it goes away. it's a REALLY faint noise, so it doesn't bother me. i'm just wondering what's causing it. i always thought it was alternator whine like those american cars that whistle when you drive if your stereo isn't on and playing.
 
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