Hi all, today i kinda backed over a pretty big curb and bottomed out pretty good.. And now whenever i hit a decent bump, theres a rattle that was never there before. Any suggestions as to what i should look at first when i get a chance to size it all up? Any advice would be great!!
Ouch. First thing I would check is the exhaust hangers. Make sure you didn't break a weld or have the hanger come off the hook.
Also noticed today that when the car has just been started, and you go out and nail it a little bit then let off, theres a small whining/grinding noise for only a second. But when you run the car for a bit and do the same thing, no whining/grinding. This only started happening after the curb fiasco, or at least i only noticed it after.. Any ideas on what that could be? And thanks guys for suggestions so far..
You almost certainly tweaked your exhaust. The reason you're getting the whining/grinding only when cold is that the exhaust expands a lot when it's warmed up. My exhaust tips stick out about an inch or more when the car is warmed up than when it's cold. it's vibrating against something. When you gun the engine or accelerate or put it under more load the engine is torqueing against the motor mounts and rotates a bit and your exhaust goes with it. Inspect the exhaust for obvious dents, bends, squashed bits. If it's not welded a joint or more maybe have been compressed or slipped out. It's possible (although I think unlikely) that you tweaked a hanger. Mine has taken to making a slight noise (vibrating against something) when dead cold AND making a slow speed fairly sharp right turn. Three or four minutes of running and it doesn't do it any more.
K that don't sound as bad as I expected it to be, was kinda worried for a bit there haha. Im putting my cat-back on here shortly so hopefully that would clear up any rattles correct? Thanks Dave! If i see anything major when i put it in my garage tomorrow ill take a snap of it and post it,
Well... probably not bad... Exhausts can drive you nuts for rattles. The prescribed method is to get the entire exhaust in place with all joints, collars, clamps, etc. loose. From the headers back. Get everything in place checking for clearance and alignment and then tighten clamps. Then test for rattles. If it's touching some place when cold or hot then start adjusting clamped joints and keep your fingers crossed. If you actually bent something then it may not be adjustable without straightening what was bent. Thing is, that you can be pretty sure that it's right when you clamp it up but you can't be positive until you drive it. both cold and hot and inbetween.
K, took a look this morning and heres what i found: The crossmember deal directly under the stock x-pipe was pushed up just a little bit, just barely enough to touch the pipe when you hit a good bump. So, after some prying to get to the nuts, i backed off one nut on each side (2 on each side) and this seemed to fix the rattle. Took it for a test drive, no rattle, good as new. The x-member is still attached tightly and cannot be budged by hand, so this shouldnt hurt anything in the long run right? I also checked over everything i could for scratches/dents, and all looked well, so hopefully everything else is in good shape. Thanks again guys for the feedback, appreciate it! Heres a shot parked in front of the lake:
