Dark, growling sound intermittently when idling?

[jwatte]

When I have power on, but not driving -- either two pushes on power button without brake, or full-on but in park -- there is a dark, growling sound.
I'm kind-of curious what this is. It's hard to tell where it's coming from, because it's intermittent for 3-6 seconds, every 20-60 seconds or so.
At first, I was parked in the garage, and thought it was a chopper driving by one street over (it's pretty subtle). But it also happens even when I'm out driving, and stopped for a red light or railway crossing.
It's chilly around here these days (seldom going over 60) so the AC probably shouldn't be engaging.
If I were to point at a location of the sound, it would be below, perhaps somewhat to the back, but it's dark and intermittent enough to be hard to locate.

Ideas?

 

[TonyWilliams]

Coolant pump?

 

[trentr]

If I were to point at a location of the sound, it would be below, perhaps somewhat to the back, but it's dark and intermittent enough to be hard to locate.

what this before or after lunch? :mrgreen:

 

[Spies]

Cellular radio?

 

[Nekota]

Emergency brake motor is my guess.

 

[gbarry42]

It may not be the AC, but why not push the climate control off button, and see if it stops happening? Then, you'll know for sure.

 

[turbo2ltr]

Probably the A/C. It seems to engage no matter what the temperature. See some of the other HVAC threads, they may shed some light.

 

[aqn]

When I have power on, but not driving -- either two pushes on power button without brake, or full-on but in park -- there is a dark, growling sound.
I'm kind-of curious what this is. It's hard to tell where it's coming from, because it's intermittent for 3-6 seconds, every 20-60 seconds or so.
At first, I was parked in the garage, and thought it was a chopper driving by one street over (it's pretty subtle). But it also happens even when I'm out driving, and stopped for a red light or railway crossing.
It's chilly around here these days (seldom going over 60) so the AC probably shouldn't be engaging.

It may not be the AC, but why not push the climate control off button, and see if it stops happening? Then, you'll know for sure.

x2

And remember that "A/C" in LEAF terms does not necessarily mean only "make the air colder" as in the classical meaning of the term. "A/C" can also mean "heating up the air", "changing fresh air from/to re-circulation", etc. Specifically, changing air distribution involves servo motors moving flaps in the air distribution plenum, which definitely can be a source of noise.

 

[jwatte]

It does happen with A/C off.

Also: Turning off A/C does not turn off the heater. The only way to turn off the heater is to turn off circulation entirely. This drives me *nuts* right now, when it's cool outside, and you can only set the temperature down to 62, but I'd rather have fresh air and not spend 1.5 kW on heating. But that's a tangential issue