Gear Whine getting loud

Mid last winter I noticed a whine at certain speeds. Since then it has gotten louder and all the time, although it is sometimes louder than others. It is a gear whine and not an electric motor whine because it happens in neutral coasting down the driveway. It has gotten loud enough that people in the car have asked me "when does the turbine turn off?". I did a few searches and found little mention of anything other than a very faint whine. I always turn off the VSP although at anything over about 5kmph the gear whine drowns it out. I would take it to the dealer but the dealer in my city is not certified and says "We will never get certified until they force us". The closest certified dealer is almost 400km's away which means I have to trailer the car.

Do you have the Bridgestone Ecopias? The whine from those tires became progressively worse as the mileage increased even after rotating them. I finally replaced them at about 20,000 miles. The car was quiet again with the new Michelins,but they even get a little noisy when it is time to rotate at 7,500 miles (quiet again after each rotation).

Gerry

OP, can you add the model year to your signature?

From your post, I'm guessing your Leaf is an '11, as the switch to turn off the noisemaker was removed on '12+ Leafs, at least in the US.

I do have the Ecopia tires, but I also have a separate set of winter tires (Cooper weather master II). The whine is there with both sets of tires.

I have been reading this forum since before getting my LEAF and have not read of problems with the final drive--it is certainly not a common problem. It may be best to take it to a certified LEAF dealer if it is still under warranty. You could try changing the final drive fluid (USA models use synthetic) in case someone put the wrong fluid in it.

Gerry

A simple check of the final drive fluid would tell you if the noise is associated with those bearings or gears. This is what I would do if it were mine. Find the refill hole for the final drive fluid, open it, and put your finger in it to get some fluid on the end of your finger. Step onto the sun and look at it. If there is "glitter" in it, you will have found your problem. Given the time this has been occuring and the level of noise, it will be obvious if that is your problem. It will look like hundreds of little specks or flakes of metal floating in the fluid. The bigger the specks and the more there are, the bigger the problem.

I would check sooner rather than later as that metal is destroying everything it is grinding against.

The next thing to check is wheel bearings. Rear wheels will be easy. Just raise off the ground and spin. They should be smooth. Front wheels I don't know about as I believe they are directly connected to the drive train even in neutral. Even so, give each one a spin and listen. Smooth and quiet is the order. You might get some brake noise but it will be obvious that is what it is.

Hope this helps!

I am getting down to the last couple months in my bumper to bumper warranty so I may have to bite the bullet and load it on a trailer and haul it to the the dealer and get them to give it a good going over before the warranty is over.