Terrifying Car Sounds
Car sounds?…
October is the perfect time to be scared when it comes to things that go bump in the night. It’s a completely different story when you hear shrieks, squeals, hissing, thumping, and other frightening sounds from your car.
Here are a few scary noises that you may hear from your vehicle and what might be causing them. If you recognize any of these, get to the mechanic as soon as possible. If you ignore it, the repair bill will be the most frightening thing you will see!
High-pitched screeching: It happens when the brake pad wear indicator makes contact with the rotor. It lets you know it’s time for replacement. Pad wear indicators are built into the pad for your protection.
Clicking and popping: This could indicate a bad CV (constant velocity) joint. CV joints are used to connect the transmission to the wheels.
Hissing: You may hear hissing if you have a slow leak in your tire. If you hear this sound, check your vehicle’s tire pressure monitoring system to see if the pressure is dropping. Get this patched soon or you could find yourself by the side of the road with a full flat.
Ticking: If the ticking is rapid and continued, the starter solenoid, which helps start the vehicle, is probably dead.
Tapping: Continuous tapping might mean you have a bad valve lifter. A valve lifter presses against the lobe in a camshaft that moves up and down as the lobe rotates.
Thumping: If you are a snowbird with a car you leave in your summer home garage for a few months, you may get a flat spot on your tire. It comes from the pressure of your car sitting around. There are different levels of flat spots.
When you start driving, you may hear thumping coming from the tires. If you drive it a bit and the thumping doesn’t go away, you may need to replace the tire.
Be specific when you speak with your mechanic about any of these sounds so they can diagnose and repair your vehicle correctly.
