[airgrunt82]

2013 xv with cvt, i just hit 82,000 miles(only 7 when i bought it and drive 90% highway). started making this whirring noise.only adubile at low speeds as engine drowns it out as i speed up. at first thought maybe a bearing, or cv boot. checked all cv joints, half shafts, ball joints, brakes still look good lots of pad left. noise seems centralized to transmission. just seeing what you guys think. i have extended 100,000 mile warranty so try to get fixed before that. dont worry about my post count, this is my 5th subaru and member of forester and legacy forums

 

[rlouie]

Welcome aboard!

First off - we don't (or at least most of don't ) mark members as "undesirables" due to their post count! Everyone is welcome here!

Now to the original issue - do you hear the noise from the outside or inside the cabin? Also, do you hear it in reverse?

 

[Sandi]

Do you hear the noise more when the engine is cold? Or is it there even when warmed up?
Don't know whether this is the same problem, but mine whines when warming up especially on a cold morning. Didn't notice it the first winter I had it, but it got worse in the second winter when it was one year old. Once the engine has warmed up it is pretty quiet?

 

[airgrunt82]

can hear with windows down at slow speeds and in reverse, stops when i stop.

 

[billybob]

I know years ago i had purchased a 94 Ford Ranger with 120,000. It would make a sound like you describe. I dropped the pan clean it, new filter, and about 4 quarts of fluid. It quieted down, didn't have an issue with it when I sold it with 180,000 miles on it. I don't understand why the manufacturers won't put a simple inline filter for the transmission. A bad wear pattern on the gears will result in gear noise (high pitched howl) either during acceleration, float, or coasting

 

[rlouie]

Have you had your CVT fluid changed? Might be a good time to have it done and see if that makes a difference or if they find excessive metal particles in the fluid.

 

[airgrunt82]

Same noise whether cold or warm. Haven't changed fluid yet, manufacturer recommends at 100,0miles. So might do that.my 2010 legacy never made this noise and it had more miles on the CVT transmission.

 

[rlouie]

Same noise whether cold or warm. Haven't changed fluid yet, manufacturer recommends at 100,0miles. So might do that.my 2010 legacy never made this noise and it had more miles on the CVT transmission.

Short of taking apart the transmission, the only real way to get some insight into what's going on in there is to do a fluid change and look for things that shouldn't be there - ie smelly fluid, more particles than normal...

 

[Ryan8603]

Do you hear the noise more when the engine is cold? Or is it there even when warmed up?
Don't know whether this is the same problem, but mine whines when warming up especially on a cold morning. Didn't notice it the first winter I had it, but it got worse in the second winter when it was one year old. Once the engine has warmed up it is pretty quiet��

I just noticed this on mine last week 2014 CVT picked it up 1-20-14 and now have 15.6k on the odo, drives fine, just hear it when it's cold and between breaking and applying gas, or gas off to coast, to gas on if that makes sense. I just got an oil change that same week, and supposedly they look everything over, so I'm not worried about it. I'm assuming it's just the cold, 11 degrees here this morning

 

[billybob]

I just noticed this on mine last week 2014 CVT picked it up 1-20-14 and now have 15.6k on the odo, drives fine, just hear it when it's cold and between breaking and applying gas, or gas off to coast, to gas on if that makes sense. I just got an oil change that same week, and supposedly they look everything over, so I'm not worried about it. I'm assuming it's just the cold, 11 degrees here this morning

Unless you tell them of your concerns, all they do is change the oil, rotate the tires, and check the fluid levels. You need to tell them of any unusual problems.

 

[Ryan8603]

Same noise whether cold or warm. Haven't changed fluid yet, manufacturer recommends at 100,0miles. So might do that.my 2010 legacy never made this noise and it had more miles on the CVT transmission.

Just a couple of additional observations. When I put the CVT into manual mode I don't hear the noise anymore on mine. Also, I just got fresh gas and it hasn't made the noise since, but I also only drove for about 1 mile from the gas station to my house, but it was making the noise before I got gas. From inside the car it sounds like a transmission thing so I think this is more of a coincidence then anything, not sure why fresh gas would make a tranny noise disappear spontaneously

 

[Ryan8603]

this is my first CVT, always had manual transmissions before, could it be that this is just an ordinary noise that comes from a CVT at low speeds when I am going around a corner as it tries to decide what gear it wants to go into?

 

[billybob]

Just a couple of additional observations. When I put the CVT into manual mode I don't hear the noise anymore on mine. Also, I just got fresh gas and it hasn't made the noise since, but I also only drove for about 1 mile from the gas station to my house, but it was making the noise before I got gas. From inside the car it sounds like a transmission thing so I think this is more of a coincidence then anything, not sure why fresh gas would make a tranny noise disappear spontaneously

So the temperature hasn't changed any and you've notice a difference when you put in a fresh tank of gas? Possibly the last tank of gas was a lower octane than your new tank of gas. Just because the 1 cent sticker on the pump saids 87 octane doesn't mean you're getting 87.

 

[brad21]

So what was the outcome on this? Sound similar to a problem my wife's 2013 with 68k miles was having. Took it to the dealer and they are going to replace the tranny under warranty.

 

[mtweisberg]

I just had the same problem with my 2014 Crosstrek at 86k miles. Thank god I purchased the extended warranty since the dealer said it needed to be replaced and it would have cost me about $10,000. Seriously thinking about selling this and my wife's Impreza right before warranty is up as I can't absorb that kind of extra cost. Will likely go to a manufacturer that has a traditional automatic. These CVTs are terrible.

 

[FLCrosstrekker]

Can happen to any vehicle brand and any kind of transmission. Happened to my Lincoln MKZ automatic transmission at 44,000 miles two months out of warranty.

 

[Bob Senior]

I had the same issue with my 2105 limited, and the put in a new CVT at 34,000 miles.

 

[afbeefcake]

I wound have a dealer look at it. Our 15 with 70k on it was making a similar noise. I took it in and they said yes it was the transmission and would have to be replaced to the tune of $8200.

Currently going back and forth with SOA to see if they'll do anything about it. They have specify asked if the fluid was every touched by anyone other then a dealer. So, I wouldn't get the fluid changed by anyone other then the dealer, but best to know if the transmission needs to be replaced first.

Good thing you have a 100k warranty. We don't. So, if they don't cover it I am not sure what where going to do.

 

[mtp1968]

2013 xv with cvt, i just hit 82,000 miles(only 7 when i bought it and drive 90% highway). started making this whirring noise.only adubile at low speeds as engine drowns it out as i speed up. at first thought maybe a bearing, or cv boot. checked all cv joints, half shafts, ball joints, brakes still look good lots of pad left. noise seems centralized to transmission. just seeing what you guys think. i have extended 100,000 mile warranty so try to get fixed before that. dont worry about my post count, this is my 5th subaru and member of forester and legacy forums

You described the exact same scenario and noise I had with my 2014 model. It has 90K miles and I bought it brand new in Jan 2014. Sadly I will be trading in my Crosstrek tomorrow once it comes back from the dealer. I took it in to have that whirring noise checked out last week and they told me the transmission had to be replaced. I have the extended warranty so I was very fortunate I took that out when I bought the car. :-( I knew I was going to put high miles on it and I knew that by the time I reached 3 years I would probably be near 100K miles. Well I was correct, I have 90K now and the warranty was due to run out very soon. The whirring noise started a few months ago around 82K miles. I'm extremely disappointed that my Subaru couldn't handle the high miles in such a short amount of time. And this happened to be my first ever Subaru. I was so excited when I bought it, but now I'm afraid to take a chance on another one. They told me that they cannot put a brand new transmission in so I'm getting a re-furbished one, but I'm worried that a year or so down the road I'll have problems with that transmission too, and then I won't have the warranty anymore. So I figured the best option is to trade it in now and whomever buys it will have a new re-furbished transmission and the option to buy and extended warranty upon purchase from the car dealer.

 

[afbeefcake]

I wound have a dealer look at it. Our 15 with 70k on it was making a similar noise. I took it in and they said yes it was the transmission and would have to be replaced to the tune of $8200.

Currently going back and forth with SOA to see if they'll do anything about it. They have specify asked if the fluid was every touched by anyone other then a dealer. So, I wouldn't get the fluid changed by anyone other then the dealer, but best to know if the transmission needs to be replaced first.

Good thing you have a 100k warranty. We don't. So, if they don't cover it I am not sure what where going to do.

I figured I would update my post.

After going back and forth with SOA they are fully covering the replacement of the transmission.
But, I guess there aren't any in stock in the US so we have to wait for one to come it.

So, to anyone in this situation, out of warranty or don't have the extended warranty, it couldn't hurt to call SOA and talk to them.