First CVT - Noise Question

Tomyabo225

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Hey everyone,

I have always driven with the windows down and/or music blasting, but I drove in silence for once and heard a weird sound for the first time that I think is the CVT.

When accelerating from a stop at half-ish throttle I get this weird winding/whining sound between 1500-2000rpm. It gets higher and lower in pitch as the rpms move in this narrow range. I haven't heard the sound when accelerating slowly at less than half throttle.

If I'm already moving above 30mph or so and speed up I can't hear the sound, which makes me think it's just the CVT belts moving around changing ratios or whatever. That, or the engine and road noise block it out!

This is my first CVT too, so I'm thinking this is just a normal thing. Is it a normal thing?

Another question I have is what the signs that a CVT is having problems. I've never had one before so this noise thing is bothering me. It would be nice to know what a problem would look like.
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Hey everyone,

I have always driven with the windows down and/or music blasting, but I drove in silence for once and heard a weird sound for the first time that I think is the CVT.

When accelerating from a stop at half-ish throttle I get this weird winding/whining sound between 1500-2000rpm. It gets higher and lower in pitch as the rpms move in this narrow range. I haven't heard the sound when accelerating slowly at less than half throttle.

If I'm already moving above 30mph or so and speed up I can't hear the sound, which makes me think it's just the CVT belts moving around changing ratios or whatever. That, or the engine and road noise block it out!

This is my first CVT too, so I'm thinking this is just a normal thing. Is it a normal thing?

Another question I have is what the signs that a CVT is having problems. I've never had one before so this noise thing is bothering me. It would be nice to know what a problem would look like.
Sounds normal to me unless you are in L or S mode. Do you have a turbo? Could be the turbo building up ...
 
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Tomyabo225

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Sounds normal to me unless you are in L or S mode. Do you have a turbo? Could be the turbo building up ...
Haven't tried L or S. And yeah, have the 1.5t.

Does your CVT make acceleration whines?
 

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Haven't tried L or S. And yeah, have the 1.5t.

Does your CVT make acceleration whines?
I think I know what you're talking about and it happens to me too when the car hasn't warmed up. It goes away after it warms up and/or going above 2k rpm. Was going to have it checked up when I get an oil change but it's going to be hard to replicate because by the time I get there, the car will be warmed up. My car is only 2k~ miles 2019 sport hb cvt. Mine is more of a low rattle though, a whining sound should be normal.

I also don't hear it as much cause it's summer and the car is always hot.
 
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caspar21

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ahhhh.. enjoy the music of that turbo!
pull up the boost gage on the dash and hear it spool up from -1 up to the max.
hold the throttle around 1psi to hear the blow off valve sing its merry song.
this is not your grampa's old civic guys!
these got some teeth!
:drive::drive:
 


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Tomyabo225

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I think I know what you're talking about and it happens to me too when the car hasn't warmed up. It goes away after it warms up and/or going above 2k rpm. Was going to have it checked up when I get an oil change but it's going to be hard to replicate because by the time I get there, the car will be warmed up. My car is only 2k~ miles 2019 sport hb cvt. Mine is more of a low rattle though, a whining sound should be normal.
Hmm.. I havent thought of the warming up part. I definitely hear it more when I first start driving compared when I've been driving a while. I'll see if I notice a difference in the whining after work, it may be harder to observe since theres more cars on the road at 6pm than at 6am though!
 

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Does your CVT make acceleration whine?
Totally normal behavior for CVT.
Kinda disappointed... I don’t even get to hear the turbo spooling on my Civic.
Just hear the engine rev out like there’s not even a turbocharger on the car.
 
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Tomyabo225

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Totally normal behavior for CVT.
Kinda disappointed... I don’t even get to hear the turbo spooling on my Civic.
Just hear the engine rev out like there’s not even a turbocharger on the car.
Phew. I'm glad at least one other person has the whine and says it's normal.

You can hear the turbo a little better when you're driving between buildings!
 

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My CVT whines allot under hotter conditions and it was checked by the dealer. They said all was normal. Most CVT's do it, i think it is because of the belt system. Subaru actually wrote about the noise on an official site. My other post about CVT whine has the link.
 

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i roll down my windows when the weather is nice just to hear the turbo spool up. But my trans does make some weird noise when i put it in L or S and it goes above 2k rpm.
 


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Tomyabo225

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Update: The whining noise at the beginning of my drive is noticeably louder when the engine is cold vs after I've been driving around for a while. Still can't hear it with the windows open or music playing though.
 
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Tomyabo225

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My CVT whines allot under hotter conditions and it was checked by the dealer. They said all was normal. Most CVT's do it, i think it is because of the belt system. Subaru actually wrote about the noise on an official site. My other post about CVT whine has the link.
Did they say anything about signs and symptoms of when a CVT could be going bad? That's still one part I'm in the dark about
 

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FYI - this noise is also present on manual transmissions as well. I hear it on my vehicle.
 
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Tomyabo225

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FYI - this noise is also present on manual transmissions as well. I hear it on my vehicle.
maybe it's not a cvt sound and it's actually an engine sound. Could be the case because I never drove a manual 10th gen
 
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Tomyabo225

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don't worry about it,

if its showing any signs of problems, its too late to do anything about it,

a fluid change is not going to solve a problem, and that is the only maintanance you can do to it
Ye
don't worry about it,

if its showing any signs of problems, its too late to do anything about it,

a fluid change is not going to solve a problem, and that is the only maintanance you can do to it
Sounds like any real problem would be unmistakable due to it driving weird then. I haven't experienced any weird driving behavior at all, whine or not.
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