HELP!!! Strange high pitched whining when accelerating

hickleschmuck · Oct 5, 2009

2004 Jetta PD 115K miles is making a high pitched whining in the area of the turbo when accelerating. The sound will not happen until the car is warm, when the EGR bypass flap is actuated, between 2,000 and 2,500 RPM (The sound only last for a few seconds). The sound also happens occasionally while cruising at 75 MPH. I can make the sound happen while parked revving the engine in neutral. There is not any noticeable loss of power so I think the turbo is working and the CEL light did not come on (no fault codes).

I’m scheduled to have the ECM re-flash and Glow Plug recall at the dealer this week and was thinking of having them look at it but that will probably be a waste of time (I’m sure they’ll suggest a new turbo

).

Anyone with any clues what this is, I don’t want to keep driving the car if I’m going to cause damage.

Evan_schulte · Oct 5, 2009

My radio does that sometimes when my auxilary plug isnt all the way plugged into something, or not plugged in at all.

Is it a stock radio?

gforce1108 · Oct 5, 2009

Check the little flex lines that run to the EGR cooler. When mine cracked, I had a whine/squeal noise. If you see soot in the middle of the flex, it's cracked. You can blank it off pretty easily. Real common failure too.

hickleschmuck · Oct 5, 2009

Would it only make the noise intermittently if the hose was cracked? It did look like there was some soot there now that you mention it. If I block it off would I trip a CEL

Lee_Taylor · Oct 5, 2009

hickleschmuck said:
Would it only make the noise intermittently if the hose was cracked? It did look like there was some soot there now that you mention it. If I block it off would I trip a CEL

I would think the noise would vary with the amount of boost the engine is providing. If you block off the egr it will trip a CEL as far as I am aware. The only way to get around this would be to have a chip tuner switch the CEL off for this error. Since the car is going in to the dealer anyway I would at least have them look at it. You are probably right though they will suggest a new turbo right after they drop a bit of ceramic glow plug into the head

gforce1108 · Oct 5, 2009

hickleschmuck said:
Would it only make the noise intermittently if the hose was cracked? It did look like there was some soot there now that you mention it. If I block it off would I trip a CEL

Mine made noises at different times. I actually didn't notice it until the first time I drove with the windows down and radio off. Once I knew it was there, I could hear it under other conditions too.

Yes - it will throw a code for low EGR flow. Since the replacement parts break just as easily, I gave up and removed the whole thing and had rocketchip do their magic (drove it with the CEL on for a long time first). Mine broke shortly after having the EGR cooler recall done. Apparently, the dealers aren't installing them right and the misalignment/looseness, etc. is causing the flex lines to break.

hickleschmuck · Oct 5, 2009

Thanks for the tip, I agree that the noise is hard to pinpoint, at first I thought I had that ringing in my ear sound but like you I finally turned the radio off and rolled the windows down.

I'll look at the hose this weekend.

hickleschmuck · Oct 9, 2009

update

just got the car back from the dealer for the ECM re-flash and Glow Plug recall and they said they pulled a code for Turbo boost control sensor P2256 and suggested a replace when I told them to look for leaking ERG pipe they said that possibly the turbo is bad (just as I thought they would) and I need a new turbo. They did not have the sensor so they did not replace. They looked at the EGR pipe and couldn’t find any leaks. Not sure where to go from here

MartyMcfly · Oct 9, 2009

I have the same exact problem except mine squeals throughout the entire rpm range! Its a real high pitch whining that is extremely evident. Im going to take off the inlet pipe to the turbo tomorrow to see if there is any shaft play on the compressor wheel of the turbo.

Im new to these cars, just bought my 04 tdi yesterday. Hopefully it stays a very reliable car.

cochranecustoms · Nov 1, 2009

having the same problem, but the squeal is around 1500 to 2000 rpms. There is no smoke symptoms like a bad turbo. Have 105k miles and had the timing belt don 5k miles ago. Dont know where to go from here.

Could I hurt the turbo driving it with the squeal?

Thanks for the advice!

Nick

hickleschmuck · Nov 2, 2009

Cracked lower EGR pipe

Update: I replaced the charged air pressure hose (from intercooler to intake) because of wear (also very common problem, I may install doggie collar) and this didn't fix the issue. On Friday I put the car up on jack stands and crawled under while the car was running and sure enough the lower EGR pipe is cracked (OEM part number: 038-131-521-CC) ordered from Impex for $80. My only issue now is removing the pipe because the nuts on the exhaust manifold side will not come off and if I force too much they will most likely snap.

MeOmYo · Nov 2, 2009

hickleschmuck said:
Update: I replaced the charged air pressure hose (from intercooler to intake) because of wear (also very common problem, I may install doggie collar) and this didn't fix the issue. On Friday I put the car up on jack stands and crawled under while the car was running and sure enough the lower EGR pipe is cracked (OEM part number: 038-131-521-CC) ordered from Impex for $80. My only issue now is removing the pipe because the nuts on the exhaust manifold side will not come off and if I force too much they will most likely snap.

heat the nuts

hickleschmuck · Nov 2, 2009

MeOmYo said:
heat the nuts

sounds like that may hurt

indiana542003 · Nov 2, 2009

Lol!!

cochranecustoms · Nov 16, 2009

The whistle stopped getting worse. I drove it for about a week longer then, bang. It sounded like the exhaust fell off at the header. Jacked it up and of corse it was the flex pipe from the intake to the egr cooler. Picked up a new piece at the stealership for 96.00 and installed. Thanks for the help the car is like new again!

NC

hickleschmuck · Nov 16, 2009

how long did the change take

cochranecustoms said:
The whistle stopped getting worse. I drove it for about a week longer then, bang. It sounded like the exhaust fell off at the header. Jacked it up and of corse it was the flex pipe from the intake to the egr cooler. Picked up a new piece at the stealership for 96.00 and installed. Thanks for the help the car is like new again!

NC

Curious how long the replacement took, I haven't had the time to replace yet. Do you have any tips for removing the nuts at the exhaust manifold? Also noticed the other day that at idle the car is making a rumbling noise now, I'm hoping it's the pipe leaking.

BioRick · Mar 27, 2016

so i just started getting this noise about a week ago.
my engine rumbles / shakes a bit on start up. This is the first winter in snow with a diesel and im not sure if its the cold or if this is a normal thing...?

but back to the high pitch sound. have you guys found that its the EGR intake? gonna order the new part if so.

thanks,

-Rick

HELP!!! Strange high pitched whining when accelerating

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