Has anybody noticed a hissing sound in their car?

It seems to come from the right - rear portion of the car. The noise is intermittent. I've noticed it in 2nd, 3rd, 4th gears, while accelerating, cruising, or decelerating.

At times it sounds like it's sucking in air. Other times, it sounds like it's expelling air. In a way, it sorta sounds like the air brakes on a transit bus but not as loud and not as fast.

A search of the forum found the Mazda bulletin below, but that noise is at idle. My noise is during driving.

Any ideas?

WHINE OR SQUEAL NOISE FROM ENGINE AT IDLE
Applicable Models
Model Starting S/N Ending S/N
2004 RX8 00000000 ZZZZZZZZ

Some customers may complain of a high-pitched whine or squeal noise fromthe engine at an idle. The noise can be eliminated by raising the engineRPM slightly above idle. This is most likely caused by the primary port jet air nozzles and / or the metering oil pump air ports. The jet air nozzles are located in the primary port of each rotor. The jet air flow is acheived by using air flow from an area prior to the throttle plate. The metering oil injection nozzles also use this airflow prior to the throttle plate to assist oil flow into the engine. This creates a metered vacuum leak into the engine and may cause a high pitched whine at idle. This noise is considered to be a normal characteristic of the RENESIS rotary engine. Use the procedure outlined in the repair instructions to confirm noise is from the jet air or metering oil pump nozzles. 1.Confirm noise. 2.Remove engine cover. 3.Locate both air supply hoses for jet air nozzles and metering oil pump nozzles. Hoses are attached to the air duct located between the MAF and throttle body. Disregard hose that attaches to the oil filler tube4.Confirm noise is caused by jet air or metering oil pump nozzles by temporarily pinching off air supply hoses using pliers. 5.No repairs should be attempted if noise is reduced or eliminated.

Yeaaa!!!!!!! I have that same sound!!!! So i'm NOT GOING CRAZY!!!!! Thanks for clearing this up for me :P

But i have no idea how to stop it, normally happens when i'm on the highway.. And it does sound like a "wooowooowooo" sound, very high pitch. and i'm not going to ask the dealer to look at it. Every minor issue i've had with the car they've come back with "didn't do it for us so it must be fine!"



MrJynx

Are we talking about the same sound? I wouldn't describe mine as a "woowoowoo" sound. Mine sounds like "hisssssss"; lasts for about 2 seconds.

Is your noise coming from the right rear as well?

I'm not trying the dealer route either. I don't think it's "broken". I think it's probably a normal function of the car, but I have no idea what. The dealer will likely say "That's normal", or "Didn't happen for us". :rolleyes:

mine sounds like i have a turbo "tssssssss" and gone!.. i like it .. so im not going to tamper with it.. i dont feel it effecting performance in any way either... :)

it's really odd.. it is high pitch, i can't really put it into words.. wooowooowooo seemed close enough :) I wish i could record it somehow but i doubt my digi will pick it up.. And it is comming from the right rear as well.

I used to hear it all the time and would ask my passenger "do you hear that!" they'd be like no, you must be crazy.. But it happend the other week and my friend finally heard it.. :) and looks like you have the same sound.. Kinda annoying but if you push on the gas it goes away.. i'll try and figure out where on the rev line it happens.


MrJynx

My hissing sound seems to come in a variety of RPMs. I think I've heard it anywhere between 3000-6000 rpms.

I'm sure it's probably the same noise. Maybe we'll meet up one day and compare noises. :p I'm not too concerned about it. But I'm just curious as to what's making the noise.

mine sounds like i have a turbo "tssssssss" and gone!.. i like it .. so im not going to tamper with it.. i dont feel it effecting performance in any way either... :)


yeah mine sounds like that ssshhhttt lol

I hear a slight hissing/shhhhing sound if I'm in highway traffic and I let my foot off the gas. It goes away as soon as I pick up the RPMs a bit.