I drive a Skyactiv 2013 Mazda 3 2.0 Liter MT 65,000 miles, and recently bought a 2023 CX-5 NA AT bought new, now at 10,000 miles. Over time I noticed pretty much the same noise with the same characteristics in both vehicles. I get to maybe 45 MPH ish, and I hear a whine that slowly raises in pitch with speed.
Both cars drive perfectly normal. Seems unlikely that it’s an issue since both cars do it. I’ve read a post or two where people took their cars to the dealership and they said it was a normal sound that the alternator makes. Interested to see if anyone else experiences this with their car, or has any thoughts on it.
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Mazda technician here. Couldn’t say for absolute sure that what you’re talking about is normal without hearing it for sure, but I can say every skyactive-G engine has a whine once you get past around 25 miles per hour. 100% normal and happens on brand new cars even.
My CX9 got a distinct whining like sound around 53-54 mph.
Awesome thanks for the response, is it normal for just the Skyactiv G or other Skyactivs as well?
I also have a faint whine on the skyactiv x on a 2021 mazda 3. It usually happens when accelerating hard at speeds higher than 40 miles per hour. To me it never sounded like something wrong but rather as a particularity of the engine.