2001 SSEi, 92K miles - I am getting a whining noise from the front of the car when rpms are at or above 2500. It will not make noise when I am in park or neutral, so I can't get under the hood to see where the noise is comming from. Dealer says it might be the trans, but can't say for sure without pulling it.

Sometimes it is very loud and sometimes it is barely noticeable. I would say that it is not the trans, except that I am also getting some rough shifting. Also, when I am on the highway and I let off the accelorator then give it gas, the car will lurch a little.

I had the trans fluid replaced, but had no effect.

Do I spend the cash to have the trans pulled, or could this be something else?

heheh, this is sumething i woukd try.....put your car(front wheels) on jack stands and maybe 2 jacks..... not to high but hight enought of course to get the wheels off the ground... hehe.....put something behind your rear wheels also. have a buddy get in the car, start it and put it in drive and have him 'drive it' while you listen....

i mean.. i dont think this is the safest way to test it.. but not to bad.


*edit*

cant wait for the comments that come back for this post!!!

lol that sounds like fun

I was thinking about doing that also, so I put it up on stands and wedged a stick against the gas pedal (yes, I put emerfency brake on).

I still could not find the soure ce of the noise. I used a screw driver as a sound scope and still could find it.

It is definitely coming from the area below the alternator.

Any other sugestions?

Find a nice hill and put the car into neutral as you coast down.
While the car is in idle and rolling down hill can you still hear the nosie?
Could be a bad wheel bearing?

I finally had a chance to try this.

I put the car in neutral going down a hill and the noise went away, but when I gave it gas (still in neutral) the sound came back. The same thing happens when I am going down the highway and let off the gas (stil in drive) - the noise goes away unitl I give it gas again.

Here is the weird thing - If the car is not moving and I put it in neutral and rev the engine, I do not hear the noise, but if the car is moving over 30 - 40 MPH and I put it in neutral and rev the engine, I do hear the noise.

It'* definitely the trans...pretty soon it will start jerking really hard when shifting from 2nd to 3rd and so forth. Get ready for a $2000 repair and no help from GM.

If I was you, I'd dump it now.

Possibly the Torque Converter or maybe drive chain. Are you getting an SES light? Many trans codes will not trip the SES until they become very bad. You may want to scan the car for stored codes that arent causing the MIL to light.

Yes. I did have an SES light, but when I took it to the dealer to have the noise looked at, they said the the code was for a bad cataytic converter. The SES light went away a few days later.

The car does jerk a little when I am on the highway and give it some gas after coasting.

I'll go buy a scanner tommorow and see if anything shows.

I guess I should accept the obvious and plan on a $2000 rebuild.