Hi all.
My wrx has developed a whine when cold and when I lift off the throttle, when accelerating it doesn't do it. It sounds like it's coming from the front of the car. I've had gearbox trouble with scoobies I've had in the past and whines and whirs have always got worse when the car gets hot. This one goes quiet when it gets hot! It seems very strange. I've booked it in to my local subaru garage next Thursday for them to have a listen, might be difficult coz car will be hot when they look at it. Just wondered if anyone on here have had similar issues?
Cheers
Lee

 

Alternator bearing?

 

I've tried seeing if it still makes the noise without the engine running, I turned the engine off whilst going along and it still made the whirring noise. I think that rules out alternator?

 

Sounds like its drivetrain related. Could be wheel bearings so id start there as fairly easy to check

 

I drove about 10 miles last night then checked wheels and one of the front centres was hot, all the rest were cool, jacked the car up but there was no play in the wheel!! How else can you tell if the wheel bearing is bad??

 

Jack the car up securely . Grasp the wheel at 1200 and 600 and see if theres any movement by rocking the wheel. Also rotate the wheel and see if it moves with any excess noise. The wheel could be hot due to the caliper sticking , so to discount that scenario, check while you have it jacked up

 

It's going into the garage tomorrow so hopefully they'll find out what the problem is. I'm praying it's the wheel bearing and not gearbox related!!
Thanks for your help kevo10

 

No probs. Let us know the outcome, good or bad

 

I took my car to the garage yesterday, they did a road test and put it up on ramps. They diagnosed the problem to be front diff bearing! Now I have to decide if I should live with noise and wait for the box to go wrong, get this gearbox rebuilt or buy a secondhand one.. Whatever i decide its going to be a bit costly!

 

Id check the oil first. Change that and maybe add some oil additive , Lucas sell a good one