dmention7
Hater
Some of you may have seen this posted at mazdas247.com, but I haven't gotten any solid leads yet, so I'm hoping maybe someone here will have an idea...
I recently had my MSP into the dealer to have the turbo replaced under warranty (leaking oil and almost no boost), and I had them check on a noise I've been hearing since I bought the car in April, but had little luck diagnosing myself.
The best way I can think to describe it is a clunky rattling noise from the front driver's side corner that occurs whenever I am decelerating--coasting, braking, in gear, out of gear, clutch in, clutch out, always. The rattle seems to follow the speed of the wheels, as opposed to the speed of the engine--at 70mph it's a sharp rattling, and as I coast it slows to a more of a rhythmic clunking by around 30mph. It disappears completely below about 15mph. At any speed it's less pronounced if I pop the car in neutral, but it doesn't change the pitch/tempo of the rattle. It's much more noticeable with the windows shut, which leads me to believe I'm hearing the source of the rattle resonating through the floor or something. I can also feel it in the shifter.
So, back to the dealer--they wanted to pin it on my aftermarket catless midpipe banging on the cross-member, which sounded somewhat plausible to me since I've heard of that issue before. But I was still a bit perturbed by the other characteristics of the sound, and the fact that I had been hearing the noise when the exhaust was completely stock, so I insisted that a tech ride with me, and they take another look to rule out all other possibilities. The next day, they told me they had used some different nuts and washers to secure my midpipe a bit better, and installed new shifter bushings, but they were still convinced the problem was the midpipe/crossmember. I thanked them for taking another look, and took the car home. But when I popped it up on ramps to inspect the midpipe for myself, I couldn't find any evidence that it had ever contacted the crossmember--it's painted/coated, and there is a long scratch from when I was installing it, but not a single nick or ding that you would expect if it was rattling against the crossmember constantly.
(I should also note that I have installed street unit front/rear motor mounts, but had been hearing the rattle before those installs.)
Does this sound familiar to anyone? I've had no luck tracking down the source of the noise myself, and I have a feeling that any other dealers I visit are just going to try and blame the noise on my aftermarket parts, especially since I didn't report the noise right away.
Tentative leads I've gotten so far:
-CV joints (I've checked the boots briefly but didn't notice anything amiss)
-Exhaust hitting top of exhaust tunnel (pending investigation)
-Wheel hubs (pending investigation)
I recently had my MSP into the dealer to have the turbo replaced under warranty (leaking oil and almost no boost), and I had them check on a noise I've been hearing since I bought the car in April, but had little luck diagnosing myself.
The best way I can think to describe it is a clunky rattling noise from the front driver's side corner that occurs whenever I am decelerating--coasting, braking, in gear, out of gear, clutch in, clutch out, always. The rattle seems to follow the speed of the wheels, as opposed to the speed of the engine--at 70mph it's a sharp rattling, and as I coast it slows to a more of a rhythmic clunking by around 30mph. It disappears completely below about 15mph. At any speed it's less pronounced if I pop the car in neutral, but it doesn't change the pitch/tempo of the rattle. It's much more noticeable with the windows shut, which leads me to believe I'm hearing the source of the rattle resonating through the floor or something. I can also feel it in the shifter.
So, back to the dealer--they wanted to pin it on my aftermarket catless midpipe banging on the cross-member, which sounded somewhat plausible to me since I've heard of that issue before. But I was still a bit perturbed by the other characteristics of the sound, and the fact that I had been hearing the noise when the exhaust was completely stock, so I insisted that a tech ride with me, and they take another look to rule out all other possibilities. The next day, they told me they had used some different nuts and washers to secure my midpipe a bit better, and installed new shifter bushings, but they were still convinced the problem was the midpipe/crossmember. I thanked them for taking another look, and took the car home. But when I popped it up on ramps to inspect the midpipe for myself, I couldn't find any evidence that it had ever contacted the crossmember--it's painted/coated, and there is a long scratch from when I was installing it, but not a single nick or ding that you would expect if it was rattling against the crossmember constantly.
(I should also note that I have installed street unit front/rear motor mounts, but had been hearing the rattle before those installs.)
Does this sound familiar to anyone? I've had no luck tracking down the source of the noise myself, and I have a feeling that any other dealers I visit are just going to try and blame the noise on my aftermarket parts, especially since I didn't report the noise right away.
Tentative leads I've gotten so far:
-CV joints (I've checked the boots briefly but didn't notice anything amiss)
-Exhaust hitting top of exhaust tunnel (pending investigation)
-Wheel hubs (pending investigation)
