2.7 8T3 CVT Auto OAW Whine under load

[DaddyN]

Hi all,

Something strange that you may be able help me with. When hot or cold, my car starts to whine above 30 Mph and is quite loud 40 /50 Mph. When you take your foot off the gas, its still there. When you put the trans into neutral it's still there. Now both front wheel bearings have been replaced in the past, I've had the power steering pump tested and PS fluid replaced, the alternator bearings have been checked and they are sound. So, the next thing would be the tires, but all for these were replaced six months ago. I've had the car on axle stands today whilst dealing with another fault headlamp range control, and I have inspected around the gearbox and the driveshaft and the brakes and bearings. All seems to be in very good condition for a 14 year old car. When I had the brakes done a little while ago, I had them checked the bearings and they said no there is nothing wrong with those.

The only thing after trawling the web would seem to be an issue with the transmission. However the transmission is silky smooth, and there are no errors or faults. The only thing I can think of is that according to the service history, the auto trans was serviced at 51K, it is now 115K on the clock and it hasn't been done since. I have it booked in to be serviced next week, but I do not believe the transmission is the problem. I do not know if maybe the front differential is low on oil as I do not know enough about this car to go hunting, and if I find the filler hole, I do not have any suitable gear oil to replace it with or the equipment to do so. I can only describe the noise as a very loud mechanical whine it gets louder the faster you go and gets quieter the slower you go. Once you get to about 20 mph, the noise goes completely, and I'm hard acceleration you don't really hear it either, it only seems to be within normal use. All temperatures and pressures seem to be normal, there's no hot smell coming from underneath, no binding brakes or bearings. There is no oil leaks from underneath, everything is pretty dry and clean.

Any help would be most welcome.