My sisters Polo has developed a strange whining.

ANONYMOUS

MEMBER
2001 VOLKSWAGEN POLO
99 MILES

My sisters polo has developed a strange whining noise which increases the faster you go. I initially thought it may be the gearbox so I have replaced it. The noise still there :(. The noise is only there when the car is moving and gets louder when I go faster. Note: I have checked all the wheel bearings and are ok. It sounds as if it is coming from the dashboard area, so I disconnected the speedo and noise still there. Any suggestions would be much appreciated as I am pulling my hair out here trying to diagnose. Thanks

Thursday, November 15th, 2012 AT 4:59 PM

3 Replies

EXOVCDS

MECHANIC
1,883 POSTS

How loud is the noise?

Can you record it with a cellphone (video) and post it on youtube. Post the link here so that we can see / hear it.

When driving at 50-80km/h, move the steering wheel slightly to the left and then to the right (like a slalom).
****** MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE IN A LOW TRAFFIC AREA*****

If the noise goes AWAY in one direction and is LOUDER in the other direction. You have a bad FRONT wheel bearing.

Thomas

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Friday, November 16th, 2012 AT 11:41 PM

STEVE777

MEMBER
1 POST

Sounds like an over tensioned timing belt. If you search on Youtube you'll have a video of the noise. Check if this is the same noise as yours. Also, this will ONLY happen when you accelerate. Wheel bearings will cause noise all the time.

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Saturday, January 12th, 2013 AT 1:44 PM

EXOVCDS

MECHANIC
1,883 POSTS

A tight timing belt will be noisy standing still and reving the engine. Original poster said the car has to be moving.

Guess we will never know. I don't get why people ask questions and then don't reply when they get free advice / an answer to their question.

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Saturday, January 12th, 2013 AT 4:32 PM