This morning as I turned on my 2005 5AT (77k miles), I noticed a very particular whine coming through the cabin (probably from the engine bay). The whine would change pitch with acceleration. 10-15 minutes, after turning the car off and back on, the whine went away.

I don't live in a very cold area (it got to the low 40s overnight), and this has never happened before even in colder weather. That said, it has been raining and the previous day I had driven through some areas with slight flooding (water was no more than 3-4 inches deep).

Any ideas as to what may have caused this? Could it have been the water in anway? The thing is, I've driven in similar conditions before, with nothing that happened afterwards.

Even though the sound went away, I still want to be cautious...

 

is it the tranny thats whining??

 

It might be your powersteering getting air into it. My friend told me the other day to check my power steering fluid and there were bubbles in it. Take off the cap on your power steering and dip your finger in there. If you are looking at your engine it is on the left side underneath the panel.

 

a bunch of people are experiencing this problem,

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10270945

nothing TOO serious IMO.

 

Actually, I already did the power steering recall thing. I did it like 3 months ago and never heard a peep until yesterday. Thus, I don't think its the hose.

It does sound like its coming from the transmission.

 

Oh and yes, the sound reappeared this morning. It definitely varies with RPM...

 

I just called my SA and he indicated this might be a belt tensioner issue: http://www.aa1car.com/library/belt_tensioners.htm

Seems plausible..

 

If anyone's curious, after taking it in, they found that it was due to a failing power steering pump.