Took my 2014 Countryman S automatic to the dealer yesterday to have them figure out what was making the high-pitch whistle during idle.

Whistle sound only happens during idle... give it throttle and the whistle immediately stopped.

Granted the sound was very faint, but it was disconcerting... every time the car came to a stop, you'd hear the whistle again... like a tea-kettle whistle far off in the distance... very high-pitched.

Today the tech called to let me know that it seems to be coming from a tiny "leak" in the valve cover. They didn't visually see a problem, but they're assuming there must be a tiny leak somewhere along the valve cover, and when the pressure builds up (PCV) during idle, the air leaking out of the cover creates a whistle.

So they ordered a new valve cover, which they are having shipped overnight.

Finger's crossed this will fix it when the install the new valve cover tomorrow.

Note to any mechanics on the forum: Does this seem plausible to you? Can a leaky valve cover cause a whistling sound?


-Joe

 

My wife picked up the car from dealer this afternoon. They put the new valve cover on, and said the whistle/whining noise was no longer present.

She drove it 5 miles to Kids R Us to pick something up. She gets back in the car, turns it on and there's the noise again. But it was different than before... it was a quick, loud high pitch squeal, about 3 seconds, then went away... but came back 5 seconds later for another 3 or 4 seconds... it was like this "Eeeeeeee! <pause> Eeeeeeee!" and sounded like it was originating from right behind the driver's side fire wall...

She took it straight back to dealer. Of course the sound did not happen at dealer, but they decided to give her a loaner again, and will keep it over the weekend to figure out what's going on.

Oy vey... needless to say, we're very disappointed. This shouldn't happen in a $30,695 car.

Hoping they really diagnose and repair the problem this time...

What mechanical parts can make such a squeal, and only at idle, and only for short bursts of time, and then go away while driving, only to come back again when the car is turned on? Very strange...

 

I'm curious as to what it could be. I have a squeal during at shutoff, and occasionally at startup. It sounds like something pressurized as well, reminds me of when I had some positive intake manifold pressured that used to blow off the plugs (blocked off emission lines) during shutoff, when I ran an aftermarket weber carburetor with a rich condition. Is that a symptom of a torn diaphram in the bov? Might explain some pressure getting by, then under some pressure it seals properly? Wild guess. Can you duplicate it with ac turned on as well?

 

Picked up the Countryman from the dealer... 2nd time's a charm, I guess.

They replaced the water pump. Apparently the water pump had a bad bearing which was squealing, so they replaced it. No more squeal.

So now my 3-week old 2014 countryman has a new water pump and a new valve cover! Hope this is just a fluke and we don't have any other issues for at least... many many years!



-Joe

 

I wonder if something is causing an acidic condition, eating at the seal, or something with the drive belt/pulleys? There was a recall on water pumps, you'd think it would of been dealt with. Did you notice any coolant leaks, or did the tech mention any? Pretty sure the 13 and later took care of many issues. Now I'm curious about the prince engines used elsewhere, and if the issues where similar, or isolated to an assembly issue at a particular facility, or certain parts sources having bad batches. I remember, the land rover 4.6 v8 had a certain vin range, which bad block molds were causing a misalignment of the oil pump, and would cause engine failure within the first 30k of ownership. Many had new longblocks installed, only to later have it happen outside of warranty. ouch!

 

Tech didn't mention any leaks. Just said the water pump was the actual source of the squeal... I have a feeling that the valve cover, which was the initial diagnosis, and which was replaced last week, was not really an issue at all...

The water pump is located on the left side of the engine, and is "driven" by the serpentine belt, correct? Or is it an electric water pump? There's definitely a pump of some sort that continues to run for 5+ minutes after I shut the car off...

 

Same whistle problem recently with my '11 CMS. Dealer replaced valve cover; problem solved.