Forester High Pitch Noise

Feb 01, 2004 3 Replies

I have a 2003 Forester with about 37,000 miles on it and it has been trouble free. I live in the Cleveland, OH area and our weather here lately has produced temperatures between +2 to +15 degrees Fahrenheit from daylight to sunset..


After returning to my garage after driving an hour or so in these temperatures, I shut off the engine and hear a very high pitch noise coming from the engine compartment. It seems to be the loudest near the front of the radiator . It will last for 1-2 hours.



I had my car in for an oil change at the Subaru dealer last week and of course it didn't make the noise and they had no idea what it could be.



I could not determine whether this noise was produced from high pressure leak in the AC/heater system or electronic. It seemed to be electronic from my experience. When I returned home today, it was doing it again. I decided to lift one of the battery cables and the noise stopped immediately. I then tried pulling each of the many fuses one at a time, but none of them affected it.



Has anyone experienced this or have any ideas what might be causing it? I don't recall it happening last winter with similar weather.


I have a 2003 forester and notice the exact same problem during cold weather. It is definitely an electrical component. If lightly jolt the front end of the engine compartment, you can get the noise to stop, and you can make it recur with the same jolt. It's like the cold weather creates just the right amount of spacing inside the electrical component and power is always applied, so that the component can achieve a natural resonance. I doubt the component is going bad, but the noise is annoying inside my small garage. Does anyone know what the electrical component is that could cause this?

Alan

I am having the same problem with my '03 with the cold weather here in PA. It just started last night and I have about 34,000 miles. Any help would be appreciated.

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