cold weather whine

[goblue]

Has anyone noticed a whining coming from somewhere on the new model QX during driving in extreme cold weather?

When temperature drops below 15 or so, I get a constant whine while I am accelerating. It sounds like a pump of some sort (I don't think it is the air suspension). It is loud enough to be noticeable inside the cabin.

Maybe it is the hydraulic motion control?

 

[dimapb]

I have a same problem on my wife's 2012. Took it to the dealer. They said it's a normal noise coming from the air suspension. I have air suspension on my Lexus and have never heard anything like this before. I think it's a complete BS.

 

[marctronixx]

the air expands and contracts in cold weather and this causes the rear to sag and the pump turns on. this happens across the armadas as well. warmer climates you dont see this really but in colder climates you will, especially if the car sits outside overnight in cold weather.

 

[dimapb]

This makes sense, however, I didn't realize the pump noise would be so loud and annoying.

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[marctronixx]

ive not heard the pump on the Q but i would imagine its the same as on the armadas and older q's.

i heard it a few times on my armada but i could not hear it in the car. outside it was a little nosy but not too much.. i guess we all have different levels of tolerance..

there is an adjustment arm under there you can adjust to raise or lower the threshold as to when the pump will come on... not sure that will help in this situation but wanted to mention it....

 

[dimapb]

Great info. Thank you.

 

[Gumbey]

I had this same exact problem with my 2012 QX. It was intermittent but was more pronounced when cold to very cold out side. The whining sound was (from what I could tell) coming from the front left side. It sounded like a transfer case or transmission gear whine as it would only make the sound in 3 and 4th gears.

I brought it in to Infiniti where they said they could not replicate the sound. I had to go with the Service Advisor who then heard it and said "That's a new one I have never heard that before" and promptly told a tech to go with me on another drive. Which I did and he heard it too. They tried to do a transmission flash which seemed to work for a few hours. The sound then came back and was now doing it in pretty much every gear and whether it was in MANUAL or auto. I had to go back - again. The QX was then in for an entire day while they tried to diagnose the issue.

They tried greasing the u-joints, changing transmission (this fluid was apparently overfilled by 1 litre from the factory) and transfer case oil. This did not correct the issue. They finally had Infiniti head office work with them to develop a vehicle specific PCM flash that only was created for my vehicle. This indeed worked and I am happy to say I have not heard or experienced this issue any further.

 

[Gumbey]

Just thought I would bump this back up as mine started to do this again...Time for another appointment.

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