Noises comin from engine bay

MountainSubie

New member
How's it going guys? Hopefully this is allowed to be in this section. I just created an account on here.

I am looking for some more insight on some noises I have in my 2013 Sti sedan. I have been to the dealer a few times for these sounds and every time the tech told me he can't find anything wrong. I was actually there today getting an oil change and I had them look at two noises. The back seat is rattling too and I asked them too look at that too. Just before I left, I noticed the back seat was still down as I had left it. I ran back inside to try to grab the tech again to have him look at it. The lady from service went to grab him. When she came back, she told me that he was in the middle of a super important tear-down of a gtr that belonged to the owner's Doctor. She said he was too busy to come back out. This made me weary that he had even taken the time to truly look at my car. (Yes I don't trust the dealer)

The first sound is with the steering pump. When sitting with the car idling, without turning the wheel, there is a very faint hissing noise coming from behind the dash. The closest way I can really describe it is high pitched steam-like white noise. Kind of like the noise a refrigerator makes. You can barely hear it over the rumble of the engine. I have turned the radio off, so I ruled that out. Doesn't matter if the clutch is in or out. I can remember the day I started hearing it. It was right after I had gotten an oil change. Probably around 12000 miles. When you turn the wheel, there is a more audible hissing. Not crazy loud but definitely not silent. When you hold the wheel in one spot, the hissing doubles in volume. The tech told me this was normal as the fluid is moving through the lines. When I bought the car, it was silent. The weird part is that I once had the car in and the same tech looked at my car. This was around the same time last year. He had listened to the engine bay with a stethoscope, he said he heard a sound from the steering pump that he didn't like. He just said if it got louder, bring it back in. It got louder and now he's saying its normal. He also said he once replaced a steering rack on an outback with a similar noise, and it didn't go away so he didn't wanted to get burned by replacing mine and the sound still being there.

The next sound is while accelerating. Not sure if this is related to the steering noise, but doesn't seem to be coming from the same spot. The steering sounds more behind the gauge cluster, where this sounds more in the turbo area, behind the passenger footwell/ behind the clock pod. It is a very faint ringing sound that seems to increase in volume with rpm. Doesn't make the sound when sitting at idle and revving the engine. I would almost say it's a combination of hissing/ringing. Does it in all gears and gets louder on boost. Here's a video I took. Hopefully you can hear it. It's ringing and my ears and I can't ignore it (and no it's not my hearing). My friend who has a 2004 wrx wagon can hear it pretty clear when riding in my car. Any ideas?

http://youtu.be/d5qHpuZY4Mk

You can hear the sound pretty well about 30 seconds in. The car is stock except for an invidia catback.

The a/c compressor was already replaced on the car about 1000 miles ago along with both front wheel bearings. Now I'm really paranoid.

The other thing is my 36000 mile warranty ran out today. The dealership insisted that Subaru would take care of me if anything goes wrong, now that it is documented.

Much appreciated guys. I'd rather get a second opinion on here then keep worrying about it. I have another appointment on Thursday with another tech after they dropped the whole "the tech is super busy with a gtr" bomb on me and to have the back seat looked at. Thanks for your time!
 

Grinder34

Track Monkey
Well, good thing is the issue is/was documented BEFORE the warranty ran out. Obviously the sounds are not normal, and the PS one could (IMO) quite easily be the pump. Warranty work is warranty work, so they "i dont want to do this, because it might not fix the problem" is a bunch of BS. I know it might be a pain for you, but go in there every day/week and insist the problem isn't fixed, until it's fixed to your satisfaction.

If the dealership continues to suck, take it to a different subaru dealership with all the documentation (service records with the "customer states" bit on it) and show them that this has been a lingering issue that should be covered under warranty.

As for the specific problems, I have no idea!
[MENTION=5193]War_Panda04[/MENTION] is a tech and might have some more tips/tricks/ideas for you
 

War_Panda04

STill Plays With Toys!
I wasnt able to hear much of a hissing noise in the video but if it sounds like its coming from right behind the cluster thats not where your power steering pump is. The steering column is there but i doubt that would make a hissing noise. I agree with Grinder. Go back to the dealer as often as you can until they fix it. Annoy the shit out of them. Do what you gotta do you have a right to get it fixed.

Where are you btw?


And thats all i have to say about that...
 

MountainSubie

New member
Yea the sound is driving me crazy and when the tech told me it was normal I was not convinced. He was the only tech there too. I'm going back on Monday for them to have another look. They told me the other tech should have been back on Thursday. The whole thing is is that the dealership is about 40 minutes from me. I am out in Colorado near copper mountain. Definitely am going to keep hounding them. He also said something about a heat shield resonating on deceleration but this noise is pretty much constant. The sound is hard to hear, but if you put your ear near your speaker, you should be able to hear a higher frequency "metallic" ringing. Thanks for your input!
 

HolyCrapItsFast

Drinks beer!
I can hear the ringing but I will be damned if I know what is causing it. What I'm hearing is a constant high frequency pitch. If I did know better, it sounds exaclty like my ears are ringing.

Is that the sound you are hearing?
 

MountainSubie

New member
That is exactly the sound I am hearing. Just as if your ears are ringing! I am at the dealership right now having them look at it again. It is constant too which makes me think something in the transmission or the turbo. I hope not but I know the come didn't come sounding like this. Sometimes on a cold start it is was louder too. Makes me cringe when I hear it but the car seems to be running fine and pulling hard.
 

Batmobile_Engage

Squirrel Meat Aficionado.
Staff member
Back in the day, my old VF39 used to make a noise like this. Video or no video, it's hard to tell exactly if the sounds are the same as what I was hearing, but that's what I remember my turbo sounding like. Idk if it had anything to do with this or not, but the turbo did eventually fail at the wastegate port as many VF series turbos do.

Also consider changing your transmission fluid or topping off with an additive. Tranny whine can sometimes be pretty noticeable on the highway if all the windows are rolled up and the radio is off.
 

MountainSubie

New member
Just got back from the dealership. Once again they said they couldn't hear anything abnormal. They told me the noise coming from my steering was normal again. I asked to go for a ride with one of the techs so I could point out the sound. They said it is the sound of the fluid moving through the lines. They ended up sending me out with some guy that was in the service. He said he was a mechanic and working towards becoming a tech. I got him to hear the sound but he couldn't figure it out. He said if the turbo was failing, it would be a lot more noticeable. He seemed to be getting pissed after I kept going over possible things. Just kept telling me he has been working with cars for some time now and he kept saying it is nothing to worry about. I'm gonna go with that for now I guess. He also told me I could have a certified Subaru tech come look at it but they want like 150 just for him to come out.
 

War_Panda04

STill Plays With Toys!
No im just making sure they arent charging you for not finding anything


And thats all i have to say about that...
 

HolyCrapItsFast

Drinks beer!
That is exactly the sound I am hearing. Just as if your ears are ringing! I am at the dealership right now having them look at it again. It is constant too which makes me think something in the transmission or the turbo. I hope not but I know the come didn't come sounding like this. Sometimes on a cold start it is was louder too. Makes me cringe when I hear it but the car seems to be running fine and pulling hard.

If the pitch is constant, the noise has nothing to do with any mechanical part IMO. If it is falling and rising with speed or throttle then there are your clues.

If I was to venture a guess I would say it sounds like transmission gears meshing but I do not hear the pitch of the sound changing. If it is the gears meshing you could check your tranny fluid level.

Other than that it is possible that this is normal because as the gears wear over time, they begin to make more noise because the space between them is greater. My car's tranmission sings to me and in this case there is nothing to worry about.
 

Batmobile_Engage

Squirrel Meat Aficionado.
Staff member
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