Obnoxious irritating "Whistle"
 

Since the 1st week we took delievery of our HCH in March 05 I've noticed that the car will emit a "whistling sound" at highway speed. Usually between 55 - 70 mph. I love our hybrid, and I've gotten use to the other sound it makes when you slow down to take a turn, kind of a "siren the police are coming" sound. But this whistle sound is really obnoxious. :angry: Since we don't commute, it's not a big problem, but it bugs me on the highway.

I thought maybe it was the radio antenna, or a faulty windshield installation. Since we had a rear panel "fixed" with new clips to tighten it up, I thought that would fix it, but no dice.

Anyone else experience this?

Re: Obnoxious irritating "Whistle"
 

Either mine does not suffer from this problem or I'm too old to hear it. I did have a car whistle like that one time and it ended up being a loose vent pipe.

Re: Obnoxious irritating "Whistle"
 

Something like this happened to our Colt when it was pretty new, but it went away on it's own so I have no idea what it was, but it was really annoying.

Re: Obnoxious irritating "Whistle"
 

My driver's side mirror whistles under certain conditions.

Re: Obnoxious irritating "Whistle"
 

Speaking of mirrors:

If you suspect it's the mirror, try retracting the mirror up against the side of the window using the hinge and drive it at speed. That might change or eliminate the whistle, and you will know your culprit...Worth a shot, anyway, right?

Re: Obnoxious irritating "Whistle"
 

I also hear the "whistle".

From what I've gathered this is due to magnetostriction in either the motor itself or the power converter. Magnetostiction is a characteristic of all magnetic materials, on which the material stretches and vibrates under elevated magnetic fields. This is the same buzzing sound one hears on sodium-vapor street lamps. The difference is in the frequency, the street lamps operate at 60 Hz, the power inverter at perhaps 10 Khz.

But I find it less annoying that the rumble of an ICE..... but that is only me.

Re: Obnoxious irritating "Whistle"
 

My antenae makes a whistling noise at highway speeds. i thought I had angled it correctly, but it started doing it again.. so time to play with it... or find a shorter antenae.

Re: Obnoxious irritating "Whistle"
 

I'm thinking that the the electric motor sounds more like a quiet jet engine revving up or down rather than a whistling sound. :P

Re: Obnoxious irritating "Whistle"
 

Thanks guys, I'll try the mirror and antenna adjustment. It sounds like it's coming from the driver's side.

I guess I could do what Click and Clack say, "just turn up the radio". ;)

Re: Obnoxious irritating "Whistle"
 

I've had a whitsle noise as well. Mine sounds like it's from the passenger side. Still unsure of it though. I was thinking I didn't have the cabin filter seated correctly, I have to double check. I doubt it is that though.