Whistling sound above 4000rpm.

[Nickel Plated]

So I noticed my 03 Outback starts to really whistle from somewhere in the front of the car when I rev right past 4000rpm.
Anyone know what it's from?
If it helps, I tried to rev up past 4k while in park and neutral and didn't get the whistle, So I'm ruling out the engine.
Seems to be independent of speed. Regardless if I'm driving slow or fast when I rev up, it'll whistle. So I'm ruling out the driveshaft, diffs, or axles.

That just kinda leaves the transmission (it's an auto BTW).
It actually sounds really cool, but I imagine it's not very good for whatever it is that's making the whistling.
Would be nice to fix it but keep the whistle.

[Huffer]

Transmission wouldn't be the cause if you're in neutral and revving past 4k.

My guess is that you have an airintake hose leak that opens up when you throttle open.

[Suba_Steve]

Imaginary turbo fantasies! :wink: +1 on what huffer said, I had a bad ground that would cause a similar scenario through the speakers when under load. Could be a pulley bearing failing as well.

[86bratman]

My mom's 04 does the same thing, and it's not the first subaru I've heard do it. I had a 98 L that did it as well, everything was properly connected on both.

[Nickel Plated]

Yeah it does sound like it's coming more from under the hood than the trans. Doubt it's a pulley bearing since that would whistle even if I'm in neutral (since the engine is still running). I guess the intake is a good explanation. After some Googling I read of similar noises at also 4k RPM on people's BMWs. And folk on those forums also suggested it was an intake issue.


Imaginary turbo fantasies!

Can ya blame me? It really lets you know when you step on the gas. :lol:

Well since I rarely ever got to 4000 RPM it's not a really urgent issue. I plan to install an aftermarket inake of some kind soon. So I'll see if that takes care of it.

[Muse]

Your car is equipped with a Phantom Turbo Systems drm-n-1337 kit. These are the equivalent of at LEAST 10 +5hp stickers.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[SubaruKenny_d]

I know exactly what it is. My 01 legacy had roughly 36,000 miles on it and when i would floor it then you would hear this god awful whistle/whine. It turned out being the exhaust, the rear stock muffler is the culprit because I put an axle-back (and now a 2.5" straight pipe) and the sound went away for good! If you want to get rid of that noise replace with your exhaust with something better. Check out my post: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=27257 (https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=27257)