While it is possible I am losing my mind, I still wanted to run this by the .org to see anyone has seen/heard this. Came home from work, and as I'm walking away from the car, I'm hearing what I can only describe as something between a low pitch whine and buzzing sound coming from the rear of the car. For the life of me I could not pin point where the sound was coming from but it sounded like it was from somewhere around the gas tank. I went to back my car into the garage to get some lights under it and have a look and that time the sound was gone.

Any ideas?

 

A snake????

 

That could be the fuel pump still trying to run even with the power off (shorted to ground).

Not a very safe condition. I had one short out several years ago in an '89 Taurus...drove it for a week before I figured out what it was.

 

Yeah, I sort of considered that as a possibility, oddly enough I've driven the care several times and it hasnt happened again. I just hope it stopped for good, because if not, I know I'm going to have a field day describing this to the dealer if it doesnt make the sound again when I go drop it off.

 

Doh, she did it to me again. Got home from work. And the noise was there. Sounded like it was coming from the rear drivers side of the car. I turned the car on, then back off, the nose was still there. Again I went to back the car up into the garage to get her up on the ramps for a better look, turned the car off and the nose was gone. I think I'm going to drive it around one more day to see if she does it again. But if it continues, I'm probably going to take her back to the dealership.

Any suggestions?

 

The same thing happened to me yesterday. Did you ever find the problem? I shut the car off and there was that weird sound coming from the rear of the car. Hasn't happened again though.

 

It seems the few times I have heard it, it was always at 1/4 tank or less. And thinking back it started shortly after I ran a bottle of fuel injector cleaner through. After several fill-ups I haven't heard the sound come back. Yet.

 

I think it is probably your vapor control system, located behind the left rear wheel well. I think that it happens when your fuel level is low is the biggest clue . Make sure you "click" the gas cap after getting fuel. When the noise occurs check this area of the car to isolate the sound.

 

mine did it too... I hear it most where the vapor control box is... like a sound of air coming out.

 

Same thing here. I have a 2003 SE w/ 8k on it and I pulled in to the garage the other day. I had that same buzzing for about 5 minutes or so and when I came back out, gone. Now, I am also hearing a clicking noise when I am rolling in stop and go traffice and hit the breaks. It appears to be coming from behind the stereo console. What the f**k are these noises? They drive me nuts.

 

That's the park/brake interlock...

 

That buzzing noise you're hearing from the rear. It's the fuel pump. It needs to be check before they get shot. It happened to my mom Mercedes. The reason, I hope you have been putting in Premium fuel. If you were putting lower octane rating in your car than what the owner manual says then you're destroying your fuel pump. The pump has a diagphram that can tell change of octane from time to time. It's okay to use mid grade or low grade unleaded but only a few times or after several between Premium fill up. Let say if you were putting in lower octane rating consistently, then it's going to cause your diagphram to collapse. Once it's buzzing, then it'll eventually cause the pump stop working. It's going to cost you a pretty penny since it's inside the gas tank. They don't come cheap. Luckily for us, it's not a Mercedes cuz it cost my mom almost 500 bucks for it.

 

I have the same sound after shutoff, and have also assumed it was the vapor recovery system. Can anyone confirm this?

 

...vapor recovery system? Not sure if this is what you're referring to, or if a max has this...but I have seen some older cars (early F.injected cars) that have a small "fan" of sorts that clears gas vapors from the fuel tank when the car is off (essentially "depressurizes" it...kind of like when you have a boat, you have to turn on your bilge fan for a minute before starting the motor, otherwise a spark could cause a fire....could this be the same in a car?? Just a thought.

 

What is the fix? This is driving me nuts because it appears more pronounced.....probably because I now know where it comes from. I can feel it engage (the clicking) when I have my hand on the shifter and I am riding my breaks in Houston traffic.

Is this something that can be remedied by the dealer?

Also~ Fuel tank area hissing~ I use 93 Octane and the hissing has not stopped. Any idea why, or is this another "dealer fix it" kind of thing?