Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting car sounds funny - extra air humming at idle?

my car is making a funny sound, its especially audible at idle. its sort of a humming sound, (not moosing, i've heard that before, and this isnt it) like theres extra air, or some escaping somewhere. it could be that cat recall i read about on the main page, but it doesnt really get louder when i open the throttle, which i would expect it to, cause theres more air escaping (if it is escaping air?) it does get a little bit higher in pitch if i get on the throttle, but its hard to tell, above about 2.5k its drowned about by the engine.

i recently (about one month ago) put in the throttle hang fix, i took it out today because i thought that might be causing the problem somehow, but the noise is still there. also, the first time i heard the noise the car was idleing really high, 1500 rpms instead of its usual +- 500. not sure if this is related? the high idle is intermittent though, its usually after spirited driving.

any ideas? (oh, 96 v6, mtx, 101k)

this may seem like a completely idiotic thing to say, but i had a similar problem once, and it was just that the air filter had somehow displaced itself a little bit. my uncle just straightened it out, secured the cover, and said he removed a few leaves that were also in there.. (?) and it was quiet afterwards.

i hope thats all it is. ill take a look. oh and i just remembered; another thing that makes me think its not the cat: theres no loss of power, car pulls as strong as ever(and i love it!)

If you have aftermarket induction kit that's probably what you're hearing. K&N might have the same effect.