Rattling vibration when at a stop

[erocuroc]

Hey guys. Lately when I've been at a stop light, soon after stopping I can hear a vibrating rattle coming from the upper corner dash area of the passenger side. It isn't the dash making the noise however, it is inside or under the hood area (I hope that makes sense). This noise is only when the brake is applied (when at a complete stop), when the car is in drive (If I shift to park or neutral the sound goes away), and doesn't happen all the time. I have never heard the noise while the car is moving. Any thoughts on what may be the problem. I know very little about cars, so any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I should add that I'm driving an automatic with no abs.

[pfc369]

someone reported a similar case recently. felt vibrating when the car at full stop. he took it in to the dealer and found out to be cracked engine mount. take your car to the dealer too.

[erocuroc]

Thanks for the response. Ya, I saw that post, though their issue seemed to be vibration felt in the brake pedal. This I can only hear. Could be the same issue though. Any other ideas? I'll probably wait until my next oil change is due (2,000 miles) before bringing it to the dealer. It is way too much hassle for me to get down there unless it is an emergency.

[WDRacing]

Watch the idle in drive with the brake on compared to when it's in park. It's probably 200-300 rpm lower. This isn't a problem in itself since it's normal, but at lower rpms vibrations become more apparent and often louder. The next time you here the rattle, hold the brake and apply a little throttle and see if it goes away.

This is just a method to see if it's something mechanical thats lose, or an electrical componant causing the noise.

WD

[erocuroc]

Watch the idle in drive with the brake on compared to when it's in park. It's probably 200-300 rpm lower. This isn't a problem in itself since it's normal, but at lower rpms vibrations become more apparent and often louder. The next time you here the rattle, hold the brake and apply a little throttle and see if it goes away.

This is just a method to see if it's something mechanical thats lose, or an electrical componant causing the noise.

WD

I tested this out, and the noise does disappear when the gas is applied while still holding the brake. So does this mean it's something that's mechanical that's loose? Thanks!

[WDRacing]

Well, it means something is loose or vibrating against something else...vague I know. This could still be a motor mount though. Since it would also change in frequency as the rpm increases or decreases.

Dealership and warranty FTW.

WD

[IrisLady]

I have a solution for your noise on the passenger side. Open your hood and look at the air conditioner hose with a clip on side of the fender, It should have rubber foam wrapped around it to cushion it. Mine had come loose and was starting to wear the hose. Replace with another rubber foam or silicone, or whatever to keep it from touching and your problem will be solved, No more noise....Mine would rattle sometime and vibrate.

[CopyChief]

This is probably crazy simple and not nearly as dire as the other problems listed here. I noticed this on my 07 Hatch and thought there was something wrong. It seemed to be worst when I was sitting at a stoplight, especially if the car was cold. Again it was just a noise and not a rattle I could feel. I looked around and felt around and swore it was in the dash. Turned out, my front license plate was a little loose, and the vibration at idle speed was just wrong to make it vibrate. Apply a little gas and the rattle noise stopped. Two turns of the screws and all was fixed. I hope your problem is this easy to fix!

[erocuroc]

Thanks for all the great responses. I'm still not sure where the problem lies, but the license plate is definitely secure. Also, the hoses near the a/c appear to be fine. It actually seems that the sound may be emanating from inside the dash area on the passenger side, possibly something rattling around in there. In any case, it's only happens some of the time, which makes it more perplexing in my mind. Like some others on this board, I have the issue with the a/c making the overly abrasive "grruuuump" noise when it first engages on some occasions (again, not always), so when I get my next oil change (1,300 more miles) I'll have the dealership check it our under warranty, since the problem doesn't seem to be too pressing. Even with these issues, I love the car. I'm sure it'll work itself out. Happy Holidays. I'll repost when I have some news. Any more thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

[erocuroc]

Brought it in to the dealer, they couldn't duplicate the problem, so I brought the car home, where it still has the same issues. will probably bring it back in when problem becomes more consistent. One word: frustrating.

[jfanaselle]

Brought it in to the dealer, they couldn't duplicate the problem

That's the dealer's standard response for "it's obviously a problem, but we don't know how to fix it."

I kept getting this response when I had a Chevy HHR in the shop 3 times for the same noise in the steering column. The splines in the steering shaft were rattling against the teeth of the steering wheel. Everytime you would rock the wheel back and fourth or drive over bumps at low speed, it would sound like someone was playing a kettle drum in the column. I finally forced them to work on it, and they replaced the lower steering shaft and the steering rack twice, which didn't fix the problem.

It was just a design flaw with this particular Chevy model, and they basically told me "what do you expect from an entry level GM vehicle?"

That's when I bought my Versa.

[erocuroc]

I have a solution for your noise on the passenger side. Open your hood and look at the air conditioner hose with a clip on side of the fender, It should have rubber foam wrapped around it to cushion it. Mine had come loose and was starting to wear the hose. Replace with another rubber foam or silicone, or whatever to keep it from touching and your problem will be solved, No more noise....Mine would rattle sometime and vibrate.

After some more troubleshooting at home, I contacted IrisLady via e-mail and asked for a photo of what she meant by the a/c hose. Sure enough, mine was loose as well! Took it to the dealer, pointed it out, they fixed it, no more noise. Thanks again IrisLady!

[ilcapo21]

Ive had the problem with a loose axel seal also

[mberberian]

I have the SAME problem as described in the original post. My car never does it when I take it in to the shop. Just in Drive and with foot on the brakes.

BUT, I figured out how to duplicate it and I'm taking it back in today.

Try tapping on the passenger side, inside front wheel well (the black part) towards the front of the wheel well......bang it with your hand. This exactly duplicates the sound mine is making. AND it even sounds like it's coming from near the dashboard!! Confusing

I'll let you know if the shop will handle it if I demonstrate this to them. It sounds like a hollow plastic rattling (BTW, the washer fluid reservoir is right there below the headlamp). Definitely inside the bumper near the passenger wheel well, just below the headlamp.

[mberberian]

Well, found out the rattling was because the shop used the wrong sized plastic clips to attach the wheel well and bumper.

I had taken it in to have work on the bumper done a few months ago and when they reattached it they used the wrong ones.

Yesterday, they replaced them with the correct size, took about 20 minutes. So far the sound is gone.

It doesn't make that weird rattling sound when stopped at a red light/stop sign.....nor does it make a noise when I tap on the inside wheel-well.

[dtcarmy916]

I know this post is really old, but I was hoping someone could post or send me the picture of where the ac line vibrates against the wheel well/ firewall on the passenger side. Someone mentioned there is supposed to be foam around the ac line as well? I've had this vibration for almost 2 years and had no luck curing it so far. Just hoping someone could point me the right direction here.

Thanks,
Dan

[Dave-Beast]

I found this thread because I have exactly the same problem. The problem started after I replaced front brake discs and pads at the workshop a week ago. It is getting worse and worse.

I used to experienced a click type of noise when applying brake, nissan lubricated the caliper guide pin for me and the noise disappeared right away. But this time is different. I am certain the rattle vibration noise is coming from both front wheels.

Any idea why? Much appreciated.

Went back to the work shop, they did not seem to agree with me.

[NissanAltimaS]

I have a solution for your noise on the passenger side. Open your hood and look at the air conditioner hose with a clip on side of the fender, It should have rubber foam wrapped around it to cushion it. Mine had come loose and was starting to wear the hose. Replace with another rubber foam or silicone, or whatever to keep it from touching and your problem will be solved, No more noise....Mine would rattle sometime and vibrate.

After some more troubleshooting at home, I contacted IrisLady via e-mail and asked for a photo of what she meant by the a/c hose. Sure enough, mine was loose as well! Took it to the dealer, pointed it out, they fixed it, no more noise. Thanks again IrisLady!

I know that this post was a long time ago. I was wondering if you can send me some pictures (if you still have them) where the a/c hose is. Thanks.

[amc49]

The a/c hose is right in the front passenger corner of the under hood opening where the front of the inner fender joins the front radiator support. On mine the foam had deteriorated enough to turn into dust and I made a new cushion collar using car heater hose sliced to get it on over the pipe.

As an aside, after working on several 4 cylinder FWD cars I have learned to quickly suspect the passenger side engine mount of causing vibration in various ways, they have to be perfect to not make noise as all 4 cylinder engines are out of balance and tend to shake that mount a lot. If the noise is worse cold or quits with engine raised in rpm at all above idle or makes the noise or vibration with a/c on but not with it off then always look at that mount. It is pretty much designed in to make noise with the now popular hanging engine/trans mounting fashion, where the engine/trans hangs in the air from the top like a kid in a swing and then only locked down to stop the swinging by one trans rear mount. That design makes vibration noise easy as spit, and can rattle the dash or inner fender on that side and even the pass side floorboards very badly depending on how the mount fails.

[NissanAltimaS]

The a/c hose is right in the front passenger corner of the under hood opening where the front of the inner fender joins the front radiator support. On mine the foam had deteriorated enough to turn into dust and I made a new cushion collar using car heater hose sliced to get it on over the pipe.

As an aside, after working on several 4 cylinder FWD cars I have learned to quickly suspect the passenger side engine mount of causing vibration in various ways, they have to be perfect to not make noise as all 4 cylinder engines are out of balance and tend to shake that mount a lot. If the noise is worse cold or quits with engine raised in rpm at all above idle or makes the noise or vibration with a/c on but not with it off then always look at that mount. It is pretty much designed in to make noise with the now popular hanging engine/trans mounting fashion, where the engine/trans hangs in the air from the top like a kid in a swing and then only locked down to stop the swinging by one trans rear mount. That design makes vibration noise easy as spit, and can rattle the dash or inner fender on that side and even the pass side floorboards very badly depending on how the mount fails.

Thanks. From your description, the a/c hose looks fine (all the foam and clips looks intact). From the second description, it sounds like that the vibration noise can be a normal thing for 4 cylinder cars. The vibration noise only occurs when my foot is on the brakes and is in drive. (No other gears make the noise, just drive.) It is opposite of what you mentioned regarding to the a/c. When I turn the a/c on, the vibration noise goes away. The vibration does rattle my dash and my inner fenders, so I am assuming you are correct about the mount fail because the noise does sound like it is coming from the engine mount side.

[amc49]

Grab the a/c hose and see if it is loose in the bracket, it CAN look fine.

You may well be right about a/c being on but consider this. You have software that determines the amount of bump-up in idle speed for a/c on. On a fairly new car it may well come up enough to not rattle but once the cars get older the software is still locked into that same bump-up amount yet older engines due to ring and valve wear do not cycle with as much power at idle and it leads to idle rpm drop and then the a/c often SLOWS the engine down a bit more than having it off because the car often needs a software change to make up for that phenomenon which occurs to all cars on the planet. I ran into it bigtime on Ford Focus cars and had to artificially fake that effect to a certain amount to make things better. You think the ECM will hit an exact idle rpm amount regardless but no, there is some slide room in there.

So, it's no surprise the a/c now makes it better, you'll just have to see later what happens. Maybe yes and maybe no. I myself tend to own every car I have until it hits the scrapyards, the only way to get max value out of them now.

[gsf1200s]

Sounds like the same issue we had with my wifes car, ended up being a broken heat shield under the car.

[amc49]

Yes. The cars tend to vibrate with fours and anything light like the heat shields can magnify the harmonic to make noise themselves. Many is the time when I crawled under a car to simply rebend by hand an expanse of heat shield that had struck something to deform and simply rebending it by hand fixes the noise until the next time my significant other strikes an object in the street...........

That harmonic on Fords is such that it will produce a syncronized action that lands in parallel with the belt tensioner spring give/take to even make the tensioner rattle at idle. You can clearly see it and hear it and raise the rpm even 100 only and it disappears. Like said higher up, the lower the rpm the stronger the out of balance pulse is, it has time to develop more amplitude then.