gavin68

I went to get my car inspected yesterday at a local chain shop. I've been there before without issues. They called me to tell me that one of the front axles were broken, so they had to replace both front ones to pass inspection. I said "ok" and they replaced both. As soon as I got the car back and started it, I sound hear a distinct low pitched sound eminating from the engine bay. It kind of sounds like one of those fart can exhausts you might see on a ricey Honda Civic, but not as loud. I didn't think anything of it, but the noise didn't go away.

Today, I drove about 15 miles and the noise was bugging me. It feels like there's a slight loss of power and trouble accelerating. I noticed that the engine no longer idles around 700-800, but is now closer to 500-600. Acceleration on the highway seems a little laggier than usual, and the noise gets louder as I accelerate. The deep noise is most blatantly noicable by the front driver side wheel.



My guess was a vaccum leak. I jacked up the car and looked everywhere for disconnected wires or hoses, and I looked for holes in the exhaust system. I did not find anything. I did also look online, but I can't find anything about this particular issue. I will contact the shop tomorrow if it doesn't improve. There is no CEL (yet). All of the fluids are good. I should also mention that the noise is loudest while idling, and when turning it on or off, I can hear the engine fumble. Anyone know why this is happening, or where it could be coming from? I'm stumped

Here's the video: (embedding isn't working)

(the video did not pick up the noise very well. It's really only audiable when I had the camera near the driver side wheel).

tosheto

iTrader: (5)

I am not sure what the issue is, but if you did not have that issue before, take it back to the shop and ask them to fix it.

venturous

If a front axle was broken, you could not have driven to the shop. Something sounds real fishy here.

gavin68

Apparently they were scraping against something, because it caused it horrible scratching sound everytime I made a sharp left turn. That noise is gone, so I guess one of the axles really was malfunctioning.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

I can't think of anything on the driver's side that would make a hissing sound from just replacing the axle. The vacuum lines are up above on the top and any work done on the axle would be done from the wheel well or from underneath.

If they had difficulty with the center support bearing on the passenger side axle, they might have removed the exhaust y-pipe and put it back on without using new gaskets. A small exhaust leak could explain the "fart can" sound. The only thing is, if you know what you are doing, there is no reason, no advantage to be gained, to remove the y-pipe even if you had the problem.

In general, a hissing sound is a vacuum leak. Maybe they were messing around in the engine bay and there is a disconnected vacuum hose. There are metal tubes that run down the firewall and along the floor of the car to the rear along the driver's side rocker panel. Some of those tubes are vacuum. Could one be damaged? It will take a lot of careful investigation to figure this problem out.

Gemner

iTrader: (4)

why you would let them replace the axles is beyond me, but nonetheless I would bet they gifted you an exhaust leak

gavin68

I really hate that place. The one time I take this car to a mechanic, they break it . It's like there are no competent local mechanics. I always drive all the way to Scranton just to have any service done. I made an appointment to go back Monday, but I really don't want to.



Anyways. I removed the front driver-side wheel today to inspect the noise further. I could not find the source of the problem. The hissing noise is gone, so maybe I was just hearing the air intake. I also found that, after the engine warms up, the noise only occurs when I have it in Drive or Reverse. In Neutral or Park, it goes quiet. Shifting between P, R, N, and D causes the RPMs to dip and the engine to go sporadic for a second. This leads me to believe it's probably not an exhaust leak (anyone disagree? I could be wrong). The deep humming noise seems to originate from the bottom of the engine, possibly near the transmission.

gavin68

Ok I heard back from the shop today. Apparently it was an exhaust leak (Gemner got it right lol). They told me that a lot of stuff needs to be replaced, including the cat converter an o2 sensors. I know they're taking me for a ride (no pun intended) but I was going to replace those eventually, so I just said ok. And since they're insisting it's not their fault, they're charging me for it.

Before I went back, I did jack up the car and look at the exhaust system. I was surprised because it was all dented and bent. I am convinced that shop did something to cause this, but I can't prove it.