[jawoo]

Greetings to the greatest car forum in the world!
I have owned my 2014 Volt for about 1.5 months now and I am enjoying every minute of it. A couple of days ago whenever I have the climate control on, I noticed a sound which only sounds like vibration/a motor spinning. This only started a couple of days ago and since I live in the SF Bay, climate has been pretty mild. This happens when the car on or in remote start mode.
Last night I did some poking around the hood with the hood latch in the closed so the engine didn't start and I can hear it is coming from the lower portion of engine compartment but I could not nail where it was coming from exactly.
Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[freshcut]

it's possible you're hearing the A/C compressor running. It's a 360V electric compressor so it's not dependent on the engine running. It's located low down passenger side front when you open the hood. If the sound you're hearing is from that area, it's almost certainly the compressor. I will run periodically for battery cooling as well as when A/C is selected (temp setting low enough) or defrost mode. With your screen on the climate page, look in the lower right hand corner and see if the snowflake is set to on when this vibration occurs. This indicates the compressor is turned on.

 

[jawoo]

freshcut, I have noticed the vibration is when both the A/C and the heat are on. It's odd that this only started to occur 3 days ago because I haven't heard it when the weather has been colder/warmer with remote start.

 

[freshcut]

At this point, I'd just keep an eye on things. My compressor was quite loud when I first got mine, although it was August down here in the Central Valley so quite warm. I figured it was having to work harder than normal. It hasn't been so during the winter, but will monitor again when temps start to climb again. I believe the compressor is covered under the Voltec warranty since it's crucial to the battery temperature system so if it does turn out that your compressor is developing a problem, it should be covered if you're out of B2B warranty.

Heat itself shouldn't cause much vibration since only a small circulating pump and heating element is active as far as I understand. I'm not certain where that pump is located so can't direct you to what area that may be. I do know however that for the most part I've gotten used to hearing sounds that aren't typical of a traditional car with all the pumps and fans coming on without the sounds of an engine in the background. If it really is unusual and not typical or louder than you believe it should be, by all means I would suggest a trip to have it checked.

What may sound normal to me because mine does it, may not be for yours or may actually be indicative of an existing issue that has gone unnoticed since "it always sounded that way".