Hey guys!!

I really hope someone can help me with this. I have a 2002 protege es. This past week i have noticed a buzzing noise when i accelerate from 0 to around 30 mph, same thing happens when i reverse 0 to 30mph. Once i get to speed it stops.

Also, theres another problem...when my car is idling, i hear a knocking sound coming from underneath the hood, when i accelerate it stops.

If anyone could help me with this that would be great!

 

Hello there.

It's sometimes a bit of a guessing game to figure out what certain noises are! So here are some of my guesses as to what you have:

The buzzing noise during accelleration could be a worn out catalytic converter in your exhaust. The matrix in the cat could have come loose due to corrosion. When under load (High flow of exhaust during accelleration) the loose matrix will vibrate and rattle inside the cat housing. This happened to me with my 93 Protege!

The knocking under the hood could be a number of things.
First I'd do the obvious thing and check your oil level! - too low, valves could knock. Check this immediately!
Second, check your serpentine belt for wear or looseness. Also have the various pulleys and idlers driven by the belt checked for wear.
Third, does the knocking increase during a turn? It could be a worn CV joint on either of the drive shafts to the front wheels. Put the car up on jack stands and check the rubber boots over the outer and inner joints and look for any tears in the rubber that has let dirt in.

Anyway, these are my best guesses without seeing or hearing the vehicle. Perhaps some other members could chime-in on this as well!

Good luck with the search!

 

You reverse @ 30mph?? dayem! You better slow down. LOLz!!

Like Uke said, a guessing game, but I would look into engine (motor) mounts as a possible culprit. MM's seem to be a weak link in these cars and yours is now 9 yrs old. 'Might be worth a look.

It is common that an outer CV joint will make noise when turning if its gone (worn out.) The inners are a little harder to diagnose w/o putting the car up on a lift.

The knocking noise could be engine mounts, or... I hope you have your oil and filter replaced regularly? And by regularly I mean no more than 5k miles if running traditional oil and no more than 10k if using full synthetic. If you haven't been doing this you may have gunk built up in the oil pan that can starve the engine, especially at low speeds.
that would require a tear-down to correct and it could get quite expensive unless you know someone or can DIY it.

 

thanks guys for your help...

I def. know its not my oil because i change that quit frequently, probably every 3 months for the amount i drive.

I will def. look into the pulleys and belts, to see what needs to be change, I did replace the catalytic converter a couple years ago, but it has been rattling again.

-Also i have noticed that my car has no power climbing steep hills, it just gradually climbs at a pace the car can handle, I tried putting more gas but it would kick into a higher gear. So i dont know if that gives anyone a direction of what it may be....im sort of leading toward the exhaust system.