Whine at 60k

[ssjones]

My '08 2.5 SL/CVT recently started making a very slight whine at highway speeds. The car has over 60,000 miles. My OEM Continental tires were getting worn and I concluded the whine was related to tire noise.

No whine at idle, belt sounds OK and the whine persists in the car coasting in neutral at highway speeds. I had Sears put on a set of Kuhmo HP4's and do an alignment. The rear wheels were way out and I had unusual wear on the the inside and outside of the rear tires. This was odd, since I keep my tire pressure on the high side - typically 38 psi and check them regularly (1-2 lb loss takes 1 mpg or out of my 1k/week mileage results, which adds up).

Well, the car is aligned with new tires and the whine persists. It definitely increase as mph goes up. It is slight enough that with the radio on, it cannot be heard. My axle boots are not torn.

Just wondered if anyone else had this issue or if any of the Nissan techs on board had any thoughts.