About a year ago, my 2009 G37S Journey AT developed this annoying high-pitched tone. It is not terribly loud, but seems to go on continuously. The pitch doesn't vary with movement or engine speed, and is present sometimes at idle, too, but guaranteed if there is even the slightest pressing of the gas pedal. Sometimes it will disappear for a few seconds when I rev the engine but always comes back. It isn't the AV/NAV or the HVAC (if I turn them off, the noise is still there). I can hear it both in the cabin with the doors closed and windows up and also outside the vehicle. It hasn't gotten worse over time. I can't tell where it is coming from, although it SEEMS to be from the engine compartment.

It is quite annoying, but since it is such a high frequency, it seems most people I ask can't even hear it. On a long trip, I now have to wear musician's earplugs to get some relief.

Has anyone had this problem or heard of this happening before? Searching the forums turns up lots of threads about noises, but nothing like this

 

i would assume it is prob one of your pulleys or belts making the noise. esp since it happens at idle and moving. but maybe someone else has a better answer

 

I once had a mystery noise on the Maxima that drove me nuts. We finally tracked it down to a resonance from the belt tensioner. Cheap part, inexpensive swap. OP, if yours is a repeatable noise, a shop should be able to put the car on a lift and use a listening device to locate the source.

You've been living with this for a year, huh? Wow.

 

I would think if it were a pulley or belt, the tone would vary with engine speed, but it doesn't. Quite mysterious.

 

Yeah, I guess I might have to go that route eventually. I dread that, though. Our great dealership was sold and "moved" and now it is crap. I simply don't trust them, especially with something that most people can't even hear. The next closest dealership is 100 miles away! One dealer for a 2.5 million person area? It is crazy.

I am usually not tolerant of such things, but I live so close to work that I bicycle, so the car only gets driven a few times a week at the most. I am at something like 26K miles on a 2009 car. With the stereo loud, it is fairly easy to tune out most of the time.

 

Try making a recording of the noise and post it, I have a noise that im assuming might be a pully, belt or tensioner, but it only appears when it is cold out, and it is worse when it is cold and wet haha.

 

Could it be the ecm issue? I'm not sure the exact details with that, but I remember reading on here that Infiniti has a tsb where the ecm makes a high pitch frequency. My car does it, but I only notice it when on the phone, due to no music playing. But it is so bad when I do hear it. Drives me nuts.

 

You definitely don't need to go to the dealer for something like this, any good shop should be able to figure it out. Post something in one of the regional subforums looking for suggestions for a good independent shop.

 

I don't think a recording will work. It is a very high frequency tone that I doubt will even record well. I might try it at some point though. My noise is not temperature dependent though. I am guessing that most mechanical noises like pullies will probably vary in tone depending on RPM (this one doesn't change). Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Interesting. Thank you so much for the clue.... the term "ECU" lead me to this thread: https://www.myg37.com/forums/g37-sed...oise-poll.html The poster described my problem pretty closely. I need some time to read it and see what it is about.

 

Damn that was a lot of postings. OMG, it is so nice to know I am NOT CRAZY. Yep 10kHz sound, just like they describe. Conclusion: It is from the ECU. The sound CAN be heard even outside the car. The sound DOES come from the right side near engine compartment (which is what I thought but could not be sure).

Now the bigger problem... I am pretty sure that even though I have only 25K miles or so, my warranty on the ECU is long over. I will call the dealership soon and see what my options are, but I am not hopeful.

 

Good luck! I'm pretty sure I'm stuck with it, due to being tuned. Oh well, like I said I only hear it when I'm not playing music. Even listening audiobooks, I cannot hear it.

 

Tuned?

I can hear it even when music is playing

 

I had a very similar issue with my 09 G37. I noticed the noise whenever the engine was rev'd up above ~2500 rpm. I had the dealer look at it and they ended up replacing the ECU which is located somewhere behind the glove compartment. After they replaced the ECU the noise was gone.

 

Yeah, I am pretty much screwed now because it wasn't doing it while it was under warranty

I did learn that it doesn't start making the noise until after it has warmed up a while. Then it is there when the RPM is above idle, all the time. I am actually having to wear earplugs now when I take long trips

I am really pissed that it was a known problem and they didn't perform a recall like they should have done.