2015 Volvo XC60 has a High-Pitched Dog Whistle

Victory60 · Post by **Victory60** » 03 Nov 2019, 05:03

This high-pitched noise is on for 3 seconds then off for 3 seconds and then back on the 3, off for 3 - intermittent like that - for as long as the car is on.

It is not coming from the engine compartment. It is on whether the A/C is on or off. We have tried to see if it stops or changes if you turn on/off various things in the car. You can hear it even if the radio is playing (obviously not, if you turn up the radio volume enough).

It seems like it is a beacon - as if the car is searching for a Bluetooth or WiFi signal to connect with.

The Service Advisor has listened to it, and put his ear close to various components. He has ruled out the engine compartment and the A/C. The Service Advisor agrees that it seems to be coming from somewhere near the media controls in the center console. He has not run into this problem before and is as baffled as me.

This is like a Chinese water torture. Any suggestions to resolve this will be greatly appreciated.

mrigmo · Post by **mrigmo** » 20 Nov 2019, 11:26

That sound is called coil whine and it's usually caused by transformers that have to step power down into very high frequency electronic devices. Something could be shorting out your USB port or somehow causing a computer to draw high amounts of power. Vacuum leaks tend to be not as high pitched as a dog whistle.

Victory60 · Post by **Victory60** » 25 Nov 2019, 04:33

Update: SOLVED! Working with the Service Advisor, we learned that the vehicle was behind on software updates. I choked at the price, as it was over $600. SA claimed that Volvo actually charges the dealer for these, so he could not mark them down. (We also learned that other major car manufacturers, like Audi, also charge their customers in this manner.)

In attempting to initiate the downloads, it was discovered that the USB port was bad. Another $128.

Bottom line: High-Pitched whistle is gone! Not sure which fix solved this problem.

Post by **darrylrobert** » 06 Apr 2020, 19:42

I would have guessed that it was something electronic like the USB port making the noise not because of a software. Often low quality electronics will make those noises. Was the Sevice agent from a Volvo dealership?.was the car under some kind of warranty??