I suspect that it is coming from behind the Nav Screen or perhaps the center channel speaker. I had someone else drive my EX while I crawled around the vehicle trying to geolocate the source of the high pitch and always came back to the center console. It sounds like it's coming from the top somewhere, but cannot be sure.

Taz, haven't noticed/tried with the headlights on to see if the noise gets louder, I'll let you know if I can replicate your finding. If so, perhaps the more electrical load is put on the system, the louder the noise gets...?

As usual, for the time being, it's more of the same that's got us looking like

So thus far, we know the noise does exist.
Not all the time.
Not in every vehicle.

Someone up above mentioned their noise was cured when their Bose speakers were replaced. I'm going to put this out there, a quick poll of those who have the ringing noise and those who don't....do you or do you not have the Bose system.

My EX does have it, and I have the ringing.
The G37 loaner I had did not have the ringing, and didn't have a Bose system.
The EX loaner I had a few months ago did not have the Bose and didn't have the ringing.

I've also had the G35x loaner with no Bose system and no ringing noise...

Maybe we're onto something here?

David

I've driven a loaner G35 that did not have the Bose and did not have the noise.

I REALLY hope you guys are on to something!! Although I still hear the noise when the radio is off. It doesn't sound like it's coming from the speakers - it's more like the center console area (behind the Nav screen). Is there a way to unplug the speakers, such as unplugging a fuse, to test this theory?

The other issue, as I've mentioned before, is that with age, we generally lose ability to hear higher frequencies. Interesting article:

http://saunderslog.com/2006/06...r-it/

Someone would have to do a test somehow to find what frequency the noise is that our cars are making, but there's a good chance it is in the 15+Khz range, which might be inaudible to people in their 40s+.

At the end of that article I linked to, are 4 pure sine wave recordings at 15, 16, 17 & 18Khz. I could hear them all, I'm 28. One of my colleagues in her 40s couldn't hear 16, 17 or 18Khz.

Again, clutching at straws, but this might be why some people can and some can't hear it.

I have a 2009 ex35 and heard the noise on the second day, like all of you i thought i was hearing things but the noise got louder and appears to be getting louder. I took it in to my dealer and apparently it is the fuel pump and infiniti has ordered a recall. So i should have mine replaced soon. Just to confirm it is exactly the same sound as all of you are hearing, and it appears to come from the back. The guy at infiniti said that the fuel pump is underneath the back right seat, if this is the case then it would explain why i can't hear it if i turn my head away from the back. I hope this helps, and i'm hoping to get it fixed next friday, i'll be sure to post the results.

cheers

I had a noisy fuel pump that was replaced and it wasn't the high-pitched noise being described in this thread. Nevertheless, I hope your noise goes away when you get your fuel pump changed.

Please post again once that's been done to let us all know!

Cheers,
David

I sure hope it's the fuel pump cause the noise is getting worse. I think it's the same as people here are describing it cause I've described the noise the exact same way. I spoke to an Infiniti tech guy and he said it had to do with one of the on board computers, it was the service manager who said fuel pump. I guess if it's not the pump (fingers crossed) then they'll have to look at the grounding for the wiring and computers. But one thing is for certain that sound has to go. I'll keep you posted.

There have been instances of silicone collecting*(see note below) inside the heater core causing a bottle neck when flow is increased during acceleration. This can actually be resolved by back flushing the heater core. Fortunately there is a TSB that addresses this, on the few that I have seen the noise typically occurs at higher RPM range or >1/2 throttle take offs. There is a decent chance that you may be experiencing this, I have seen very few issues with the audio units, although many are replaced as a blanket fix (they do control almost all AV functions these days).

Although without driving your car it's only a blind guess. I'll try to get that bulletin number Monday. It is theoretically possible if the debris collect at another choke point and cause a variation in pitch or volume.

* NoteI know some of you will read that and be mad about it, the fact is the coolant circuit is very much like your circulatory system. A small amount of plaque moves and can cause a heart attack or stroke, in your car it can cause a noise.

I'm going to go back and re-read this thread as IMO the Burr-Brown/Bose setup is tuned correctly with a proper digital file produces one of the best full range audio experiences you can buy. I don't think I have seen the Stereophile article in a while. If you are using the radio (unless is SAT with a perfect reception) or and AUX input your output will only be as clean headphone output, unless you have a direct link using the Firewire cord, although I think using the CF with 4 gigs of your favorite music. MP3 format CDs work very well too for storing a larger amount of music. Then there is also the Music Box with the ability to hold 8 gigs (it's not enough for some, but it's something). Before throwing out the premium package you payed extra for try all the features, and spend some time tuning (although basic) to soot the needs of your music. I have had a few people come in with this complaint, and a few adjustments and understanding the design is a true 2.1 setup so the rear seat passengers will not hear it correctly.

Sound frequencies are very highly subjective as the above link illustrates. The ability for everyone's brain to process sound waves is never going to happen no matter how much research they do. The Bose units of the past are changing in extreme ways. For the people without the Audio Stage option there are limitations to the OE stereo system, but the audio unit cannot be removed or disabled without compromising several key tech features.

So, i had the fuel pump replaced today and it did not work, even though infiniti has recalled them due to this problem. The service people at my garage are great! They've been really helpful and are doing there best, so hats off to them. So we have all decided to keep at it until the problem is fixed. i'm taking my car in next week, and we'll go from there. Once we figure it out, i'll post the solution and hopefully it works for others. Good luck!

bstroh~ I do not know what to tell you. I have replaced many of these in the past two + weeks with the updated part and have seen absolutely no issue. I would bring it back to the dealer and ask what the issue is. That is much easier than checking to see if has be replaced.

EVer since this thread I have been paying close attention to all the EXs I've had come through my bay. I think I may have found one that makes the same noise as yours. This one exhibits the noise under the same conditions (partial throttle from a stop and low RPM range). I verified that was indeed the fuel pump (one of the only components on this car that emits such a frequency), I put the car in drive and lightly power braked it just enough to increase the command to an off idle level. At ~1200+ RPM you can hear a destinct change in the pitch as pump output is increased.

I would be willing to put money on this noise you have either being FP related or as I mentioned above a heater core being partially clogged.

thanks Ron!

Steve, noise is electrical in nature, not mechanical. You can definitely tell the difference. Happens consistently when car is under acceleration.

Will let everyone know what the resolution turns out to be. Not sure why I'm bothering though, going back to Lexus. Probably to help y'all out.

I'm done with this car, Infiniti corporate and their lack of desire to resolve a problem that obviously spans platforms, is affecting a decent percentage of customers and all the other problems I've had with this damn car in 12 months of ownership.

Not the fuel pump.

The heater core noise is indeed coming from the center console area, the high frequency noise I mentioned to SG77 seems to be coming over the drivers ear, upon further inspection it's coming from the back seat. The heater core noise sounds like a lower pitched buzzing noise from the dash.

tazdevl~ I'm sorry to hear about your misfortunes with your EX. Consumer Affairs is usually pretty good about coming to a fair resolution to your concerns. Keep in mind all cars have their issues and Lexus is not immune from that. What went so wrong with your EX?

Actually Infiniti Consumer Affairs was horrible to work with and has turned me off to the point that I may never buy one of their cars again. The chance of me recommending an Infiniti to a friend is also slim to none. Read a couple earlier posts and check out the responses others received.

Agree to a point, many cars have their problems, but I've owned a lot of cars that have been problem free for years. In the end, that isn't the issue. The issue is how customers are treated when they reach out for assistance. I've been pretty reasonable about the whole thing from the get-go... folks at the dealership didn't make the car and are just trying to fix it, folks at consumer affairs pretty much take the problem report and pass it along.

I had to get a lawyer and threaten to sue Infiniti for them to do the right thing and take care me. My car has been in the shop 5 times for this noise, which gives me a migraine and 5 times for other issues (all seats replaced, stereo replaced, fuel pump replaced, steering column replaced, ringing noise, and a couple others that I can't remember. FYI these were identified before they became TSBs. The headliner/driver's window rattle and the whole seat shifting under sudden braking and acceleration still has not been fixed after multiple trips. These issues occurred in the first 6 months of ownership. Totally unacceptable in a Japanese built luxury/near luxury automobile.

I work in product management/marketing and you cannot claim your car has the highest initial quality on your website then not take care of your customers when the vehicle they own doesn't meet that description. It just doesn't work that way.

In either case I am staying as far away from that as possible. I wish you the best of luck and I hope you get the desired outcome.

That's great to hear
There is a new internal component of the pump assembly that resolves the "priming" noise heard in the early models. You shouldn't have an issue with this again.

Thx Steve. I work on product development in addition to downstream marketing and can tell you that if any of my customers have a problem, I do my damndest to get things resolved... I'm talking about pulling in material scientists, clinical experts, mechanical or electrical engineers.

Bottom line the number of things that have gone wrong and time the car has been out of my possession is entirely unacceptable. At 12 months, the car had 5K miles on it... if the car had 30K, I might be more understanding but I had to take it back for the first of many issues within 48 hours of taking possession and all the issues presented themselves in the first 6 months of ownership.

That's why there's a Lemon Law and I encourage everyone to use it where applicable to hold companies accountable, especially when an auto manuf is being unresponsive or you feel you should be compensated.

I do understand that a certain percentage of products fall outside the bell curve but those are the customers that need to be taken care of, not ignored. If Infiniti had stepped up and got me in another car or offered to buy the car back like I requested... I would be singing a different tune.

Let me put it this way... I think I would have had fewer problems with a German car.

-when i start the vehicle for the first minute or so i can hear the noise.
-when i'm driving i hear the noise anytime the gas pedal is pressed, doesn't matter how much rpm's.
-while in park i can only hear the noise when i rev'd up the rpm's to about 1800 and up.

i have an appointment with the dealer on monday but the last time i took it in they couldn't hear it even when the tech rode with me.

The frequency at which this noise occurs cannot be heard by all people, and the in fact I was surprised I could hear the kid cell phone ring. I don't know what that says about me but after years of working in a load shop I was impressed. This is a really interesting problem as the people who are supposed to fix this may not actually be able to hear this noise. Interesting.

Good Luck.

Ron

Quote, originally posted by SteveTheTech »

ask the tech to go into active test and cycle the fuel pump while sitting the car and lightly power braking the car. If the noise goes away while the pump is momentarily disabled than the pump is the culprit. You will only have a short amount of time <30sec of time before the engine starts to die to perform this test... For this I recommend leaving the car in gear with the parking brake applied, with the manual brake applied lightly depress the accelerator until the noise is heard.

I'll try this next time I bring my car in for service. I'm curious about a couple things:
Why do you suggest being in Drive with the brake on, instead of just being in Neutral or Park and revving the engine? To put more load on the engine?
And when you say "cycle the fuel pump", do you mean the tech will turn it on/off/on/off.. quickly, or turn it off for up to 30 seconds? Is there any risk of damaging the car by doing this?

Quote, originally posted by sg77 »

And when you say "cycle the fuel pump", do you mean the tech will turn it on/off/on/off.. quickly, or turn it off for up to 30 seconds? Is there any risk of damaging the car by doing this?

There is an active test using the dealer computer that will cut the ground signal to the fuel pump, if you were to just disconnect the pump assembly it will trip a DTC as the pump circuit, fuel level sensor, and fuel temp sensor are al routed through one connector and they run detectable circuits. The reason I mentioned to perform this test for <30 seconds is primarily due to the fact that while the engine is loaded fuel demand increases so the engine will stall once the fuel that is in the line is used. This will not damage the engine (if performed correctly) and is an invaluable tool for diagnosing some noises.

That is however only really usefully if you know that the noise is coming from behind the driver. As RollerEX mentioned he knows that his noise is eminating from the dash somewhere. This is the "fun" part of tracking down sqeeks rattles, and noises, finding their point of origin then seeing what needs to be done to fix it.

Funny... even though I had my steering column and fuel pump replaced before there ever was a TSB or recall... have to do it again. Oh well. Back to the dealer which seems to be par for the course for my EX35 ownership experience.

I'll let y'all know if another solution pops up when they look at it again, though I'm hoping I'll be in another car before that happens.

My line of thinking was if its something to do with the speakers, we need to isolate the speakers somehow....I don't know why I didn't think earlier, I just yanked the 15A fuse for the Audio. This has the effect of not just audio, but the whole center console stopped working. No nav, the main screen didnt work, the a/c controls didnt work, nothing around there.

And yes....the noise was still there!

Back to the drawing board.

this might be stupid question but does the climate control have to be on for it to be a noise coming from the heater core?

its really hard for me to tell but the noise could be coming from the glove box area but its def coming from the center to front right of the dash...is there anything near the glove box that could make this noise? any kind of amplifier?

There are a few things you can derive from your test.
-First off it's not an accessory
-Second blown speaker coil or failed amplifier.

There is actually a high frequency self test you can perform in the Confirmation and Adjustments menu (under speaker test). This is actually a great test it uses a high frequency tone to verify that all the speakers are working.

I have a feeling that your noise might be something different. You may have a fuel pump issue.

Quote, originally posted by RollerEx35 »

this might be stupid question but does the climate control have to be on for it to be a noise coming from the heater core?

No, we encourage all questions here
What causes the noise that I was describing is an issue in the coolant circuit so there is nothing that can rule that out short of blocking the inlet hose (passenger side of the fire wall, using a long pair of needle nose pliers)

Quote, originally posted by RollerEx35 »

its really hard for me to tell but the noise could be coming from the glove box area but its def coming from the center to front right of the dash...is there anything near the glove box that could make this noise? any kind of amplifier?

There are several things that have the potential, if you can find a function that effects the noise that will point you in the correct direction.