I have a 2003 Ford f150 and when it is cold out you can here a high pitch whistle when driving at highway speeds. I had the same thing happen with a '99 Ford expedition and the alternator went out shortly after that. Is there a correlation between the high pitch whistle and the alternator going bad?
High pitch whistle from f150
- Thread starter 5slednx
- Start date
jim_golding
New member
I have a 2005 F150 with the 5.4L which does the same thing when it is cold out. I am not sure where it is coming from but it has done it for many years. I have 45K on it. It would be nice to know what it is.
legend02
Active member
My 04 F150 has been doiing that for at least 5 years when it's cold out, goes away when it's warm out, my truck has 109,000 on it, I always thought ti was the alternator but everything checks out okay. I have replace one idler pulley and the whole tensioner / pulley as you need to remove it to replace the pulley ( stupid design).
I have an 08 f550 that did the same thing when it was cold outside. It ended up being the windshield leaking air on the top left corner. You could put your hand outside while driving,and push on the glass and the whistle would go away. We have a bodyshop guy where I work and he put a very thin bead of black rtv on the seal and that fixed the problem. Before this the whistle was so loud inside it hurt your ears at 55 mph.
Same here, but I have had it in several different vehicles, not just Fords. It's not under the hood, it's the frozen seals around the windows. Typically it's somewhere around the windshield. Mine was right in the center/top of the windshield, but I'm sure it can be anywhere around the glass. Drove me nuts, then it warmed up.......
Check the alternator 1st, then the window seal. Speaking from experience.
snowmobiler
New member
i have a 2001 f-150 with 132,000 miles does that to me when its cold out and i have never replaced alternator or and pulleys on motor. once i warms up no problems. i know this doesnt help but buddys truck did this and it was belt tension pulley and it stoped after this was replaced
Last edited:
snowmobiler
New member
buddy truck did that and it turn out to be belt tension pulley
michaeladams
New member
my01 dodge ram does that.must be something about air density and as it passes a sharp edge or point it whistles.there is also a splice in the electric line on the pole in frontof the house that when it is cold out it sounds like bird chirping.crazy.
chicagosledder
New member
I would check the tensioner.
whine
my wifes 02 explorer V8 had a whine in it for over a year thought was the p/steering pump and figured just live with it, decided to do some maintenance, struts, tires,brakes all the way around may as well replace pump turned out it was just one of the idler pullys wasn't loose but sealed bearing was dry surprised it didn't come apart in 35,000+ miles & over a years driving, easy fix $17.00 one bolt fixed noise. than of course the tensioner assy went bad 2 wks later oh well!!
my wifes 02 explorer V8 had a whine in it for over a year thought was the p/steering pump and figured just live with it, decided to do some maintenance, struts, tires,brakes all the way around may as well replace pump turned out it was just one of the idler pullys wasn't loose but sealed bearing was dry surprised it didn't come apart in 35,000+ miles & over a years driving, easy fix $17.00 one bolt fixed noise. than of course the tensioner assy went bad 2 wks later oh well!!
Switchy600
New member
I have an 02 f150 and have noticed the noise as well. It does go away when it warms up or when its warm outside. I beleive that the noise may be coming for somewhere in the intake. Like the plastic shrinks when it is cold then expands when it warms up. Since the truck runs fine I havent looked into finding the source of the noise.