2006 Vibe "moooooooing" noise

[campb292]

I have a 2006 Vibe with about 170k on it. For about 10,000 miles it has been occasionally making a strange noise when slowing down. The best I can do is describe it is 1 second of cow moooing if that cow was a bit more donkey than cow. Attached is my best cow-donkey hybrid impression of the noise. The noise comes from the front end.

When it does occur usually it is during the final downshift around 5-10 MPH. It happens about 25% of the time when coming to a stop. There is no clunk, no vibration, just a single iteration of the noise. On a rare occasion it will occur around 35-45 MPH right after I take my foot off the accelerator - again just a single iteration of the noise and no vibration or clunk. It only occurs when slowing down and it doesn't matter if the brake is applied or not.

Questions or more info requests are welcomed. I also don't mind critical review of my cowdonkey impression skills.

http://webpages.charter.net/campb292/mp3/Recording.mp3

[Caretaker]

My 2003 used to make a similar noise, but this is how I would describe it:

When coming to a full stop, there would sometimes (not all the time) be a 3-4 second whirling noise ending with a click. The noise sounded like a humming fly stuck between two panes of glass trying to get out. The noise would increase in pitch during those seconds and then end with a click (as if I just put the fly out of its misery with my swatter.

[kc6yot]

Well the original post was some time ago, did you find out what was making the moo sound?

[Platinum76]

i been getting that same noise for years... never an issue... to me it always sounded like a really weak sounding horn. It does it as soon as I shift into park, and will go away as soon as I rev the engine a lil. My best guess... noisy electronics in the transmission, not faulty, just noisy... this is the same car who's fuel injectors sound like a sewing machine... if it aint broke... don't fix it.

[lannvouivre]

Just curious: Do the people experiencing these noises have traction control or ABS at all? The Imba Impala makes an UUUUUUGGGGH sound pulling up to stops apparently. I need to go take it for a drive, actually, and see what exactly is going on. My instructor said that TCS and ABS can make noises when engaging, but I can't guarantee this is an accurate statement.