I have a 2014 Mitsubishi outlander. This week it started making a very annoying sound. It sounds like audio static, like when a speaker has a loose wire.
But it doesn’t seem to be related to the stereo.
the noise generally starts when I hit 35-40 mph and then keeps going as I drive down the highway. Sometimes it’ll keep making the sound a bit once I slow down but its loudest and most consistent at highway speed.
when I stop the car, the noise stops entirely (making it difficult to troubleshoot)

the sound does not change depending on any of the stereo or heating settings. I’ve tried driving with everything on and everything off and every combination of settings and the sound doesn’t change

the only thing that affects the sound is whether the car is moving and how fast

so it seems to be vibration or an air thing (?)

I’ve tried putting my hands all over the dashboard while driving to see if I can silence it, but there’s nothing I can touch (hold still) that has any effect.

its not a very loud sound but I hate it.

listening carefully it sounds most like it’s localized near the passenger side of the dashboard. Near the glovebox; possibly to the passengers right of the glovebox.

has anyone experienced this or does anyone have any ideas for things I might try to make it stop?

The car is otherwise in good shape. I just changed the oil. The lights don’t work on the gear shift **** anymore. And I found this screw (photo attached) in my driveway last week and have no idea where it came from (I don’t know that it came from my car)

im just sharing this in case it’s potentially relevant at all although I don’t really think it is.

normally I’d bring it to a shop to get it checked out but I literally just lost my job on Monday this week and like an hour later my car starts making an obnoxious noise. I’ve had a few people listen to the sound and no one gets the sense that it’s a… problematic sound. So I’m not rushing to pay someone to look at it. But am willing to fuss with it myself and am hoping that someone might have an idea of where to start. I’m going to replace the cabin air filter when I get a new one but

I don’t know how likely that is to help