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Accelerate whistle

2238 Views 13 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  snydmax
2015 3.5 EB. Happens only while moving under load, starts noise about 2.2k rpm. Hot or cold engine does not matter. Seems to come from driver side under the hood. Turbo spooling?


Side note it just started overheating when towing my camper (4,500 lbs) up ANY incline this weekend. Slight loss of power too. It was 90+ with A/C on but I have pushed this truck way harder than that in the past with no issue with power or engine temps.

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Could be a warped exhaust manifold leaking.
4500 pounds gross weight ?
Shouldn't tax the engine at all.
If it's not the manifold, it's the turbo.
(according to what I hear)
KSA
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Ouch.. that dentist drill sound is not good.

Miles on the truck? Any modifications, or is it 100% stock?

Miles are visible in your video... 127k and some change.
Stock engine, had passenger manifold replaced two years ago. That was a lower exhaust leak sound when that was going. Nothing like this.
Stock engine, had passenger manifold replaced two years ago. That was a lower exhaust leak sound when that was going. Nothing like this.
I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in, but to me that sounds like an issue with one of the turbos. If you downshift manually to build RPM instead of boost does it make the noise?

If it were me, I'd pull the intake pipes to the turbos and check the compressor wheel for excess play. They have a bit of play that is normal, but an issue with the rotating assembly may show itself there.
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2015 3.5 EB. Happens only while moving under load, starts noise about 2.2k rpm. Hot or cold engine does not matter. Seems to come from driver side under the hood. Turbo spooling?


Side note it just started overheating when towing my camper (4,500 lbs) up ANY incline this weekend. Slight loss of power too. It was 90+ with A/C on but I have pushed this truck way harder than that in the past with no issue with power or engine temps.

Man, that doesn’t sound good. Sorry, I don’t mean to scare you. Boy, I’d definitely do what my bro @bentruby said and I’d check the compressor wheels on the turbos. It could be exhaust manifolds again, but it kinda goes along with the turbo spooling. That’s odd.


Does that sound get louder as rpm increases? Cuz in your video you let off or the truck shifted so I can’t tell if it continues to whine the higher the rpm goes.
The sound gets faster and more high pitch with higher RPM. Basically the sound occurs on start up at idle (slower sound for maybe 10 seconds or so after a start when the truck has sat for a bit, turbos building initial pressure or something?) and anytime the RPM are 2.5k and higher with acceleration. I can be cruising at 3k+ RPM with know extra sound and then accelerate and it will begin until I either cruise or slow down.
Tha
The sound gets faster and more high pitch with higher RPM. Basically the sound occurs on start up at idle (slower sound for maybe 10 seconds or so after a start when the truck has sat for a bit, turbos building initial pressure or something?) and anytime the RPM are 2.5k and higher with acceleration. I can be cruising at 3k+ RPM with know extra sound and then accelerate and it will begin until I either cruise or slow down.
That sounds like it’s one of the turbos or both honestly. But of course that’s just a guess, but I’d definitely pop the inlet tubes off and see if there’s any play in the turbocharger shaft.
Did you ever find out what it was? My 2016 Ecoboost is doing the same thing right now.
That's exactly what mine sounds like until I beat on it. Mine is originating from the passenger side rear of the manifold where the broken stud is at.

What you're hearing is the steel gasket acting like a kazoo.
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^^^ funny but very helpful
What you're hearing is the steel gasket acting like a kazoo.
Geez.... that's EXACTLY what mine sounds like now that you painted the picture.
I'll start saying "that's just the kazoo" now and think of it less as a problem.
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Don't be fooled, as it is a problem, but some context helps 🤣. It means one or more parts of the high pressure exhaust has warped and opened up a gap.

Turbo failure usually comes with some smoke and a more scratchy noise IME, though I've yet to experience it on this platform specifically.
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OP’s video is almost certainly exhaust manifold leak… a fairly decent one! If yours sounds this way, my money would be on manifold(s.)

i ran for several years with a slight leak… mostly just whistling when cold and under load… took a turn and made that sound at all times when accelerating, even slightly… found out when replacing manifolds that a second stud had given way
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