Hi,

I was just wondering if anyone knows the reason why I am hearing a wierd noise when I am driving my car. At a parked stance there is no noise or at idle; but upon accelerating and cruising; it is audible. It sounds like (sorry for the $hitty description) a water bottle is loose in my trunk and the water within the bottle is hitting the container . Or kinda like a piece of paper flapping in a bicycle spoke . Yeah it is wierd to describe; I will try to get an audio recording.

It only started after some raining last night. I have inspected the tire wells and it looks like nothing is in there but for good measure I blasted my tirewells and my wheels with a pressure washer. It comes from the rear and is slowly driving me crazy. Thanks.

 

There's a rear axle problem that is common with our cars it could be that?

For me I had something similar to what you're saying and it was because I had stripped bolts on my hub and they weren't hold the rim tight enough resulting in popping sounds........

If you can find a dealer that is willing to diagnosis the problem without charging you that would be ideal, thats what I did......

 

Nice to finally find a post on a problem which may be similar to the one I am having with my G35 2004 Sedan.

I have noticied the following with the problem I'm having:
- Noise occurs at slow speeds
- Does not occur at higher speeds such as 60 KM/h
- Noise does not occur when accelerating or at least it diminished
- Noise occurs when going slow and not accelerating.
- Noise will immediately go away when you apply the brakes
- Noise come from the read passenger side wheel

Noise description:
- Frequency of noise coincides with tire rotation (maybe less frequent) but there is a definate rythm with tire rotation.
- Noise is does sound like as if you had someting in the trunk and it kept boucning on the walls in the trunk and making a noise.
- I would like to call it something in between a thump and a click.

Tire observations:
- Inner tread of the rear tire is much more worn out and looks shinny bald
- Outter tread of the rear tire has more tread and does not look bald.
- This uneven wear is probably due to the factory negative camber setting.
- I haven't dropped by car or changed the factory suspension and I don't have an after market camber kit.

My remedy ideas:
- Re-balance the rear passenger tire
- Remove the tire and flip it on the same rim since it is non-directional

Those options are the cheapest for now...the other thing which I have doubts about could be causing this noise is the known TSB regarding AXL clicking noise...

Any expert opinions on this matter will help us both greatly.

 

TheCrescent:

LOL, I'm no "expert" by any means but I believe that you need a rear wheel alignment. The wear you describe is probably due to an out of alignemnt condition, and not to the OEM camber (which will affect both sides not just one.)

If the alignemnt is off and corrected, the tire that is worn badly will need replacing. You can't correct for that abnormal wear.
Put the balancing $$$$ into rebalancing the other tires to eliminate any possible issue there.

Since that tire is so badly worn, it's probably the source of your noice issues.

G/L and keep us informed.
Colin.

 

Asad, I believe that NETCBC has a handle on your issue and it could also be related to alignment and balance.

B4 any diagnosis tho, clean everything out of the trunk.......everything! -- and test again for the noises.

Failing that and if you're still under warranty, have the dealer check for an issue with the axle and go from there.
He may discover that the axle is fine and that it's alignment and balance for you, but I think he's as good a place as any to start.

G/L and likewise let us know what you find out.

Colin

 

I think you've pegged it Colin. As a result mis alignment/wear some tires get badly scalloped and they really howl.

 

How long has it been doing that? Is your seat belt hanging outside of your car? LOL

 

Ha thanks for the response you guys. I forgot about this thread! Well the wierd noise went away by itself after two days. Pretty wierd; I just realised about it on Sunday and was driving and didn't hear it before. I am not sure if it was something else; but Winnipeg got hit with some heavy rain (so maybe it was dripping out somewhere or something)? I am still on my winter tires (yeah I know; haha) so I thought that was the issue; wear on my tires is around 90%. Will let you guys know if I hear the noise anymore.

 

LOL. I think it might have been but I never noticed anything hanging. I had to drop off my mom that same week and she never reels the seatbelt thing back.

 

I've had it happen to me a few times years ago! I had dropped someone off and the belt didn't retract. It was pouring out and I had to get out on the highway. Damn thing was slapping around big time. It took a minute or two before stopping to figure it out.

 

I know your noise went away now, but I had something like that recently too. Mine was more of a roaring sound that got louder the faster I went. I took it in and my rear wheel bearing needed to be replaced. Changed it and the noise is gone.

 

I have the exact same problem as OP, except my noise never went away. It sounds like water swishing around in a bottle and only happens when I accelerate from 0. It lasts for 5 seconds. it's driving me nuts. The swishing water sounds like my trunk is a giant gas tank and I only have 1 gallon of gas in it. I'm in southern california and it happens regardless of temperature outside.

 

I have the same issue as Asad, its been going on since June and the noise has remained constant. I plan on getting it checked out this week.

 

I guess my noise is a little more serious them most of yours. I took it to my mechanic and he said that a something hit my undercarriage and slightly bent a metal plate behind my rotor. It took him 5 min to fix it.