2009 Vibe Makes whining noise as I drive

[Vibanator]

Hello all, I have a Front-wheel drive 2009 Pontiac Vice that I bought in 2011. I have been way up in northern BC where it is -15 Celsius for most of the winter. I plug my car in, and give it ten minutes to warm up each morning. We had a warm period for about two weeks (warm as in 0 Celsius, it's not warm, but warm in comparison to -25), and then now we're back to the cold.

As of last night I started to hear a whining noise coming from my car. It only makes this noise when driving slower than 40 miles/hour, and occurs whether or not I am turning the steering wheel. It does not occur when I am driving backwards or when the car is on but stationary.

I am curious for your input before I take it into a mechanic. I know next to nothing about cars besides how to change the fluid levels before a road trip, so I am worried that I will take it to a mechanic and they will gouge me for everything I have. This is why I am looking for input, so I don't get sucked into a bunch of BS.

I also couldn't determine if I have power steering fluid in my car. I looked but couldn't find any under the hood (I found my brake fluid, oil, windshield washer fluid, and coolant). Do I have powersteering fluid or have they evolved to non-fluid technologies for power steering? And if I do have it, where might the power steering fluid be under the hood?

Thanks a lot in advance for any help or advice!

Edit: Oh, and the intensity of the noise is low, and sometimes non-existent. It seriously varies hour by hour. I will go back to work after lunch and it will whine, but four hours later when I go home it doesn't whine. This is why I think it is an easy fix, it should just be low on a fluid, or maybe a line snapped? If it was something more serious I think it would be a more consistent noise, adn most likely louder too.

[XRVibe10]

Hi - for starters, your Vibe is equipped with electric power steering assist, so there is no fluid for this system (supposed to help with fuel economy, one less pulley to turn) - as for your noise, what engine do you have? 1.8L or 2.4L? I've had a few 1.8L's with water pump noises come thru where I work (noise can change with engine temperature) - also I have driven a few automatics (4speed) with the base 1.8 & they would make a weird whine noise @ low speeds/idle when driving (on that note I have heard the same noise in a few Toyota Corolla's as well) - without hearing it, its hard to say - before you take it in to get checked out try to have all the information you can on when it happens (does it change with vehicle speed/rpm, warmed up, etc) check your trans. fluid level/condition as well just to cover all you bases before getting it checked out - good luck & hope you get it fixed

[lannvouivre]

also I have driven a few automatics (4speed) with the base 1.8 & they would make a weird whine noise @ low speeds/idle when driving (on that note I have heard the same noise in a few Toyota Corolla's as well)

I think the autos whine because the sun/planetary/ring gears at the end of the transmission are spur gears usually...at least they are in the 4L60E used in GM cars. No idea for the Toyota 4-speeds. It's just a theory, though.

Another thing that whines in my car at certain RPMs is the A/C compressor when it is engaged. It doesn't whine when I'm idling. I didn't check to see if it whines if I change RPMs while in park/neutral, though.

[Kzoo5spVibe]

[/quote]As of last night I started to hear a whining noise coming from my car. It only makes this noise when driving slower than 40 miles/hour, and occurs whether or not I am turning the steering wheel. It does not occur when I am driving backwards or when the car is on but stationary.
[/quote]

Did you ever get this figured out? If so, what was the cause/fix?

[Kzoo5spVibe]

As of last night I started to hear a whining noise coming from my car. It only makes this noise when driving slower than 40 miles/hour, and occurs whether or not I am turning the steering wheel. It does not occur when I am driving backwards or when the car is on but stationary.

Did you ever find out the root cause and what the fix was?