WeinerDog

My car has done this since it was new (May, 2009) and I have had it to the dealer who reports they can find nothing wrong.

Often (but not always, of course) after accelerating hard in 2nd or 3rd there is a sound that seems to emanate from the passenger side of the engine that sort of sounds like a noisy compressor (best way I can describe it). Sort of a scraping, squeaky sound. It also somewhat resembles the sound of a squeaky power steering belt but not nearly as loud or high-pitched. It will last for a few seconds up to maybe 30 seconds. During this time, I can accelerate/decelerate, declutch, change gears, rev the engine, etc. and it persists with no change of pitch. In other words, engine speed is irrelevant once the sound starts.

It will go away on it's own but I have learned that if I put it in 5th gear and then shift to neutral it will usually go away instantly. It does not matter if the AC is on or off. This does not happen in 1st gear and requires high RPM's (5K or higher).

Any ideas? It's not a major deal to me unless this leads to an actual problem. Although, I am sure it would be a deal breaker for anyone who might be interested in buying the car when I sell in the future.

Nuke

There are a number of noises similiar to what you're describing and those emanating from the front end of the car sound to me like a heat shield vibration or the tranny seperator plate (there's a TSB for that) issue. Other similiar noises from the rear have been related to exhaust pipe clamps needing retourqing and exhaust hanger-to-frame contact.