Listen to your car

A moving car is a complex symphony of sound, most of it reassuring - tires humming, engine rumbling, tailpipes roaring. But every now and then a dissonant note creeps into the mix - and the driver attentive ears ***** up: Did you hear that?

Here's a guide that identifies those oddball sounds and helps you figure out which conditions you can let slide and what repairs do - and how fast you need to create them.


Thump Thump Thump Thump HUMPTHUMP
Where: From one or more tires.
When: At low speeds, particularly in the morning. Accelerates the car.
What: Flat-spotted tire. If the tape turns pounding the flat spot on the floor. Nylon cord tires will flat spot at night and making this noise until they warm up. It is usually worse in colder weather. You can permanently stationed on the flat tire by locking the wheels, grinding massive amounts of rubber from the tread in one place.
Urgency: Nada.
Fix: Replace your nylon tires with steel belted tires. If you land on your tires as a pencil eraser, you can live with the vibration reduces wear to the flat-spotting, or buy new tires.

Ffffffff ffff ttttFFFF ttttFFFFffff tttt
Where: Under the hood.
When: The most noticeable at idle.
What: An exhaust manifold gasket has failed, venting hot exhaust gases into the air.
Urgency is not getting better on its own. The burner of corrosive gases will eventually damage the manifold. Oh, can by the way: Carbon monoxide from the leak that you are sleepy or dead.
Fix: Replace the exhaust manifold gasket leak to eat a hole in the manifold.

Ticktickticktick
Where: In the middle of the car to the rear.
When: When in motion and varying the speed.
What: U-joint (RWD or 4WD only). A U-joint in your drive has finally run out of fat, prying, and is about to fail.
Urgency: This is really just an urban legend about cars pole vault over broken driveshafts when U-joints are not up to speed, right?
Fix: Replace all U-joints and the new greased regularly.

EEEEEEEeeeee
Where: Inside the wheels.
When: Delay, it is sometimes worse on damp days.
What: Your stroke of the brake disks as a bow.
Urgency: Sometimes they do. Your brakes still work fine.
Fix: Try new pads, adhesive pads to stick to the piston, the piston or shims to foreclose on the pads. Another option: earplugs. (Sometimes the sound is difficult to eradicate.)

SSSSSSSSSSSS
Where: Under the hood.
When: Anytime the engine is running, but it is especially noticeable at idle.
What: Vacuum leak. A rubber or plastic vacuum line or fitting has split or fallen apart.
Urgency: If you're wondering why your Check Engine light is and why your car idles bad, this is probably the reason why.
Fix: Connect or replace the line.

Clank
Where: In the middle of the car or truck, near the middle.
When: Beginning at traffic lights. Usually heard on pickups with automatic transmissions, not manuals.
What: The splines that allow the drive shaft in the machine where it connects to the tail shaft changes are binding if you slow down and then let go when you start.
Urgent: Annoying, but they all do - or at least some of them do some of the time.
Fix: Packing the spline area with special grease helps for a month or so. Or just sell the car or truck.

ThunkThunkThunk
Where: One or both front corners of the vehicle.
When: going around slow, tight corners under light throttle.
What: A CV that allows your front wheels to rotate and still be fed separately. The boat has failed and let out all the CV joint grease, or maybe it's just time to sell.
Urgency not leave the city. Do not use much gas around sharp bends. Your car will suddenly stop when the joint completely failed.
Fix: Replace the entire half-shaft ends off.