Hi,
My 05 xls outlander has a high pitched whistle noise when accelerating. It's worse at 80kph, but it's there all the time. When I take my foot off the accelerator the whistle stops. The service guy said the noise is normal in an awd, I'm not convinced....anyone help?
Also, the door or trim rattles on anything but the smoothest roads. The rattle is on the drivers side only where your elbow sits on the sill. When I push on the trim the noise stops. Sometimes it sounds like the glass is touching the frame. Mitsubishi had it for the day, took the trim off and couldn't fault it. Suprisingly, the noise is still there. Any other rattley outies out there? I'd appreciate any help I can get... :unsure:

Ive an 05 ls outlander, which I just got today, and no noise or anything out of the ordinary as of yet.

Congrats on the new outlander, I'm sure you'll have no problems. Apart from those 2 things, mine's a great car, I'm still really pleased, and I'm sure they'll work out the problems eventually. I'm hoping someone can tell me exactly what's wrong so I can let the service people know.

"The service guy said the noise is normal in an awd"

If the service guy thinks the noise is normal, get him (or better yet, the service manager) to go for a test drive in a similarly equipped model to yours. I currently own an '03 Subaru Legacy GT and I don't have the whistling sound you describe, so what makes him say the noise is "normal" (kinda blows his theory out of the water).

I've been reading comments on the Outlander and watching it's "progression" as I'm considering it for my next vehicle; one thing I've noticed so far is that, in general, the level of customer service by some Mitsubishi dealers leaves a little to be desired. Assuming there's one close by, why not take your vehicle to another Mitsu dealer and have them look at the problem, maybe you'll get a better response.

IMHO, unusual noises, squeeks, rattles etc. in an almost brand new vehicle shouldn't be there, and if they are, there should be a way to rectify them (and if the dealership was even half interested in providing a positive experience so you might recommend them to others, they would go a little out of their way to find a solution).

I have the same rattle in my '03 Outlander xls. I love the vehicle but the engine rattle/whistle is driving me crazy. It doesnt seem to be causing any performance problems but its pretty annoying. I took it into the dealer for scheduled 15,000 mile maintainance and told them to check out the engine noise. The shop manager told me to take him for a ride to hear the noise, and he too heard it. they looked at the engine until they closed and told me to bring it back for further diagnostics. They said its nothing serious, but they need to pinpoint where it is. Its all covered under warantee too.
Hopefully they'll find what it is. Ill let everyone know when I do. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Good Luck with your car & thanks for the reply. It's good to know I'm not the only one out there, I thought I was for a while. Not that I wish problems on you...you know what I mean! At least I can mention your message next week when I've booked my car in again! This'll be the third time for the rattle in the door, the whistle in the engine, and my drivers side fog light has water in it...again. They replaced it ( or at least, told me they did), two months ago! :thumbsup:

Update on my 03 outlander with engine whistle:

I just got my Outie back from the dealer today and they dont know what the noise is. They said the shop manager has been working on it personally and is as curious about it as I am. They think its either something with the air intake or a pulley in the engine. They arent sure what it is so they said theyre going to contact Mitsubishi and see if they know of any fixes for it.

As an aside the dealer said the service manager drove other cars on the lot with the same number of miles (16,000) and others had similar noises.
Its nothing major, just annoying but I am determined to get it fixed while the car is still under warantee.

The Dealer is supposed to call me when they hear back from Mitsubishi and know what do do. I will keep posting updates until the issue is resolved.

It's good to have my Outie back, I really missed her while she was gone.

Hi,
Had my car looked at today, they heard the whistle noise and then drove other outlanders and noted the same noise. They tell me "...this noise is normal characteristic of vehicle". They also told me the rattle in the door was due to 5 broken trim clips ( probably damaged last time they tried to fix it!), and a loose regulator bolt, which they fixed. Now the rattle is worse than ever...it sounds like the window is in contact with metal. Looks like I'll be back a third time, wish me luck! Oh, and the fog light was repaired for the second time, apparently the weather seal was kinked. I'll keep my fingers crossed next time it rains.

Hi maglander,
i hope this will help,as i did encounter the same problem when i have my new airtrek ,i will hear the rattle noise come from the driver side during sharp cornering ,i send in to the mits dealer for checking and guess what happen ?,
remove door panel , side step ,check safety belt assembly,screw tigthening etc..
but still noise. :( after give up they call in their engineer from the head office to come and check the problem,so he tested my car and without assembling the panel ,and side step he still hear the sound and eventually find out the problem and fix it ,he told me that the rattle is actually come from the spot welding inside the side step ,this only can be seen if you remove the plastic cover and see the two metal plate spot weld together .i guess he widden the gap in between so it doesn't sqeak or rattle.
for the noise from the engine ,since the fan belt run on auto tensioner bearing it might contribute to this problem.any how,hope everything will be fine.

Hi Pmitart,
Thanks for your reply, it's good that they sorted your car for you. I had my car looked at yesterday and they still couldn't fix the problems. The fog light they had replaced and fixed 3 times has been replaced again. The door was packed with insulation along with the B pillar area, but the rattle in the door persists. I suggested the door trim, but they said that was unlikely to be the problem. The service guy thought " ..the whistle noise(from the engine) was worse today than last time.." but they still don't know how to stop it. He's now put in some sort of report to Mitsubishi and he will let me know if/when they can fix it. He also said that other people have complained about the whistle from the engine. Overall, a pretty disappointing result I'd have to say. :angry:

My 04 AWD has the engine whistle/whine. I bought used with 14K on it. I now have 20K and the noise hasn't increased or decreased. I asked the dealer shortly after purchase about the noise and was told it was due the configuration of the engine, something to the effect of the way the variable valve timing works, but it is normal. If you come across another answer from mitsibishi, I would love to know how to get rid of the noise aside from turning the radio up!!!

Hey! every1 i own 05 mitsu outlander xls. its been 7 month now with 3000km :57: LOL !

So far i have no problem on the car, like i heard alot from people that outlander have rattling noise and suspension noise, But the weird thing i never experience it :thumbsup: .

And in idle engine sound so quite and i almost cant hear anything from the inside, and sometimes i hate with quite engine is i turn the key of ignition again even when the car engine is on :P.

When i accelerate the car to about 6000rpm the sound of the engine is SO MADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDdd :grin: it is So bassy and when i let go of the pedal it make some kinda of small noise like "SHH" like turbo car. ITs so GREAT i love it and the performance of this SUV can kick any brand such as HONDA, etc ^^ * wink wink * hehahahahahah =D

Hi,I have 05 VR-X, I like the cars sound as what "Windyz" said..

But unfortenately, I have the whistle/whine noise too :(

Also,I just came back from the dealer and I have another problems : the first one is when I start the car engine after driving and keeping it for arronud an hour, I can hear a really annoying whisteling sound . . the second problem,there is some "water" inside the rear light and it really looks ugly,so I told the dealer about the problems and he told that he will order the parts and he will replace them BUT,he told me that he couldnt hear any sounds so,he told me to come back next time because they are closing now !!


Wish me good luck :)

Hi,
Whew, at least I am starting to feel I am not a nut case. I hear the same noise in my 2003, and it does seem to become more noticable after it is warm, usually with mine its only 30 minutes or so. My dealership just looks at me now like "dumb blonde" oh well,,
Thanks

Hey everyone,
Thought I'd update you on the continuing saga of the whistlin & rattlin outie! Had her in for the 15k service and they promised to replace the door trim, they assured me this would fix the rattle. When I mentioned the whistle in the engine they quickly changed the subject! They also had to replace the sunroof rubber as it had perished, and replace one of the bits of cardboard trim in the back section that had broken. I rang 2 days before the service and was assured that all the bits were available etc etc. Anyway, when I went to pick up the car, they tell me that the wrong door trim had been sent, and they didn't do the other 2 things either. Now they want the car for another two days, it's been over 10 months now so I've decided to cut my losses and trade it in...picked up an 05 Holden Commodore SV6 ( 4door Pontiac GTO ) with 5speed semi auto & 190kw DOHC 3.6 V6 today. Still keeping my magna ( diamante ) though.... Good luck to everyone experiencing similiar problems, hope they do the right thing by you....

I have a 2004 AWD and it has the whistle too..not really noisy though...you have to really listen for it.It must be a normal sound for this vehicle.