I've been getting this wierd high pich sound lately from my car. Happend about 5 times in the past 2 weeks or so, not sure if it's because of the really cold weather that we have been getting lately. Has anyone ever experienced this high pich sound that will fad in and out, can't even tell where it is coming from. I tried turning off the stereo and heater but I still get the noise, seems to go away when the car warms up though.

 

Ice i have been meaning to post the same exact question. Im in NJ and its been really cold here lately, 9-15 degrees in the morning. I get the same high pitch noise, seems like it only happens on mine when its not fully warmed up. Anyone have any idea what this is??

 

Mine does also of lately, and I'm starting to think that it might be the wind noise coming from my wipers in the "Winter" position (clicked up).

 

are you guys hearing the sound after your engine has warmed up? is it a fluctuating sound from the engine you hear? kinda pitchy rite? i brought my car to the dealer and they told me it's because of the timing belt getting old. as your timing belt gets older, it gets looser, so the timing belt pretensioners adjust more(move more) in order to compensate for the slack in the belt. that's the cause of the sound. as far as they told me, it's "normal" in our cars.

oh yeah, usually it only happens in "Park" mode.

 

Don't think that it is the timing belt, and in park I can't hear it at all. The sound seems to just fad in every so often. My wipers are not in the winter position, so am pretty sure it's not them. Sounds like a high pitch wind or frequency sound. I wierd thing is that i can't tell at all where this sound is coming from? oh by the way I have a 2000 GS 400.

 

I Have the same problem, It started just last week. It's been cold up here - 30 C. The problem seams to come in at around 2300 - 3000 RPM. Gonna have it checked this week?. Sort of sounds like a fuel pump?

 

I believe that high pitch sound is from the bearing on the belt tensioner. I had that sound too...it began initially fading in and out...eventually became more consistent....eventually i replaced the belt tensioner itself and problem went away. I think the cold weather accentuates the problem. Seems like the part is negatively affected by the cold weather.

 

Well I was driving to work today and the sound happened again, figured out that when stay at 60 km/h the sound is very noticable. Anything lower then 60 km/h or higher the sound seems to disapear.

 

i've actually had my belt taken OUT and ran the engine to see if the sound came from the pretensioner. NOPE, it's not the pretensioner. it's in the timing belt chamber. the tech at lexus dealer told me it's common for GS4's to have that sound as the timing belt get's older. my car is almost 70k miles already, figure i'll put 10k more on it and then change the timing belt. hope that fixes it.