MalabariMatherchod

Hello Everyone,

Im glad to be part of this great forum.

I have a slight issue and Im wondering if you all experienced members out there could provide some insight.

Im thinking of picking up a 2011 Maxima, I tested the car and everything works, no warning lights, check engine or out of place.
However, once I hit 60 mph and above a mechanical whining sound starts to come from front of the car and it in clearly audible in the cabin. Asked around some people and they said it could either be the CVT bearings or Differential bearings, the sound is has made me concerned and is definitely not coming from wheel bearings or engine pulleys area.

So my question is has anyone experienced this and if yes what was the resolution ? The car is still under warranty till 2016 so if its a fix covered under warranty then I can love with it because I like everything else in the car.

Please share you expretise with me, I will be very gratefull.

Cheers

Tommy6905

Test drive another one and seen if u hear anything. Could be the sound generator

GNCMaxima

Had the same problem took months to figure it out and trust me im no mechanic but it was the transmission.

Replacing the fuild (drain n fill) will fix this. Sometimes, depending on the weather, the tranny gets too hot and boils the fuild and makes this noise.

MalabariMatherchod

Thanks GNCMaxima, that helped isolate the issue and I wil ask the seller to drain & fill the CVT.

Im just wondering why the whining sound seems to start only once the car hits 60 mph +.... (or perhaps the sound only becomes audible after that speed, but is always there)

Cheers

Tommy6905

Kindve redicukous u gotta tell the dealership to do this

xFlipy

I've had this problem since I've had the car, usually a CVT fluid change fixes the issue for me. But after some hard driving on the track or mountain roads, the whining noise is quite loud during downshifts. (I always drive in manual mode) On top of that, the noise happens every now and then while doing WOT runs from a dead stop. CVT's really don't like being pushed, lol.

88birdman

Kickinwing

If the noise mainly occurs at high speeds, or increases with speed, it is most likely the differential (final drive) internal to the CVT. The final drive acts like a rear differential in a RWD car, in that it is the large cluster of gears that actually spins the CV axles. It spins at the same speed in relation to tire speed. The faster your tires spin, the faster the final drive will spin. It sounds like bearing noise and I don't think a drain and fill will fix this issue. I could be wrong, but as a dealer tech I have never seen a drain and fill fix bearing noise.

Birdman, your whine sounds more like a control valve/fluid pump issue and not a bearing noise based on your description. A bad bearing wouldn't cause the CVT not to downshift.

jommbi

You may wish to connect the car to a quality scan tool. Just because a (MIL) lamp isn't active does not mean there aren't any problems with the vehicle. Check for stored codes, in this case stored trans codes. Could give you a heads up on past or possibly imminent issues.

si_maxima

im not sure if im having the same problem or not but when im is Ds or manual mode and I floor it, shes fine. but after a couple times of flooring it then I would hear a weird whining sound. but when im in D and floor it I don't hear it. maybe something to do with Ds or manual mode

sjfrank

Sure its not a shroud rubbing. I went nuts trying to find my noise, and it turned out a eat shroud would rattle sometimes when flooring it.

alexdi

I've had this problem since about 15K miles. It's audible at 2000 RPM and above, when the car is warm, and over 40 MPH. Doesn't have to be in drive. Quite loud and obvious, it sounds like a badly tuned electric motor on top of the usual engine note.

My dealership replaced the transmission three times and the power steering pump once. No improvement. They gave up.

At one point in this odyssey, I was given a loaner Maxima with 1K miles. I took it on a long mountain roadtrip. No whine initially, but aggressive driving eventually brought it on. Similar driving with a V6 Murano did the same. In both cases, the volume was much less than my car.

The upshot of this is that I don't drive the car aggressively anymore because I hate the sound.