I've noticed a few problems with my car recently (nothing that would require an incredible amount of knowledge of my car though, just general things), and I wanted a second opinion..I had a mechanically inclined friend of mine take a look yesterday.

- When I go over speed bumps (or any bump really), my suspension creaks. I don't know much about hydraulic suspension (at least I believe it to be that on my Malibu...used to make that distinct compression sound), but creaking isn't good. My friend said it could be my rear springs (as that's where the noise comes from), but what do you guys think?

- At idle, I notice a ticking sound, and I've isolated the area where it's coming from - the right side of my engine seems to be the spot. Now I know that's not really helpful to you guys, but I can say that it sounds like something is a bit loose or shaking. I was thinking that it could be one of the engine mounts.

- The last one is a bit difficult to describe, but: when I accelerate, there's a sort of swishing noise coming from the left front (aside from normal wind noise). I was thinking a bearing might be loose, but once again I was curious to see what you all say.


Note: I'm taking my car to the dealership in about 6 weeks anyway, but I wanted to see if I could give them any sense of direction on where to start - and no worries, I bought an extended bumper-to-bumper for this kind of situation.

 

1. Look into the rear sway bar bushings. They caused a creaking problem w/my 3 too. If that's the culprit grease them w/silicon (or "green") grease.
2. Ticking is usually valve train related... especially at idle.
3. ??????????????

 

Yeah, the third one wasn't something I originally noticed. It was something another friend pointed out while we were driving...he said something odd though - "did you install a CAI? It kind of sounds like that."

If anything, I think he's an idiot - I know what my car's exhaust sounds like. [8D]

 

Okay, I got my car back today (and I forgot to take a picture of my auxiliary ride - the Corolla [:'(]).

The idling sound I heard turns out to be part of the defroster system...mech said I'll only hear it in cold weather. The squeaking turned out to be my parking brake line...it was greased - no more squeaking.

 

'Sounds like you and they got it all sorted out. Good Job, VB!!

What ever happened to that third noise you said your friend heard? Was it just a temporary gremlin?

 

I still hear it, but only at WOT...which is fine with me, because it's just the sound of the exhaust.

He doesn't notice things like that in his car because it makes his ears bleed at WOT. (79 Trans Am, with a 440 I think. I'd have to ask him.)

 

Update 1: Over the summer, all the bushings in the rear suspension were replaced, under warranty. A few were cracked. What a mess.

Update 2: Now that I actually know a thing or two, that ticking isn't defroster or anything stupid like that. Why I listened to mechanic BS on that one is beyond me...I'm 90% certain it's just valve lift/tick or noisy injectors. Common on 3100-based engines. No worries there, just an idiosyncrasy.

Update 3: Stock airbox and baffle caused that odd sound. Ripped that out a put a regular cone filter in place. Job done. Sounds good, too. I should get a video for you guys.