So I have just recently started to hear a new noise I am trying to track down. It sounds like something really small is rolling around behind the front seats maybe in the roof or a door panel.

It sounds like something came loose as I have only heard this very sporadically for the last couple of weeks. It only happens in certain corners and only lasts very briefly. Nothing is loose in the car or any compartment. Just wondering if this is common or anyone had a similar situation occur.

 

Check under spare tire. I had a golf ball rolling in mine

 

That's funny. It's not coming from the trunk area though. I think it is something loose in the rear door on the driver's side. Sounds like something really small. I will have to have someone drive me around and sit in back to try to locate it.

 

Check the sunroof area. With the sunroof tilted there's a small channel that runs across right above your head, maybe an acorn or something fell in. I sometimes park with the sunroof tilted and find things in that channel from time to time.

 

Good call. I will check there too. That makes sense as I have had the roof open quite a bit recently. But I don't drive very slowly so that would be one determined acorn.

 

So I think I finally tracked down the noise by accident and it was in a spot I would never think to look- the rear cup holders. The previous owner must have had kids as I discovered 2 metal safety pins stuck between the leather and the cup holders.

I also noticed one of the spring loaded flaps in the cup holder was not returning due to a combination of spilled coffee (previous owner again) and a weak spring. So I took it all apart, cleaned it up, and bent the spring. Now it's as good as new- just in time for me to discover the rear cup holders are apparently pointless in this car. Haha go figure!

 

So I was wrong about the rear cupholders being the noise, although they could have been part of the problem. The annoying noise came back almost immediately. It sounds like it is coming from the floor boards left of the passenger seat. So I took out all the trim inside and did not find anything.

Then it dawned on me that the side sills might have rocks in them. I took it off entirely and a few little rocks came out. I thought I fixed it, but then it came back again. I thought I might have picked up another rock and took apart half of the side sill again, but nothing came out this time. Any thoughts?

 

The kids must have dropped something in the pillar where the seatbelt comes out from.. You are going to clean the whole car in process to find the issue....

 

I had no idea the side sills came off that easily. Never had cause to try before. Nice photo!

Here's a thought... what if your underside shift boot is loose and flapping against the driveshaft?

 

No kids, but it sounds like whatever it is slides the length of the car. I will check the B-pillar too. Last night I hooked up a vacuum to all the weep holes under the car, but that did not work either.


No shift boot issues. It sounds like a rock sliding the length of the car to the left of the driver. I tried opening and closing the front and rear door numerous times, but did not hear anything. I think I will take them apart just to make sure.

 

Sounds like a coin.

 

No it's smaller like a little pebble. I just need to find out where the damn thing is hiding.

 

So I had my wife drive me around in the car for a while and it initially sounded like it was coming from under the driver's seat. Then I put my head to the floor and it was definitely coming from underneath the car near the tunnel for the drive shaft. It sounded like something was rolling over a heat shield.

I got underneath and loosened the heat shield above the Y-pipe and shook it a few times and a number of small pebbles came out. I took it to run an errand and it was quiet so I thought I finally found it. Hooray! Then the last turn onto my street it came back?!? ARGHH!!!

So this time I used a vacuum on all the heat shields, weep holes, and anything else that looked like it could have something rolling around on it. Then I used compressed air to blow out anything else in the same spots. Hopefully, that does it. Fingers crossed! Damn this is annoying!!

 

This is a fantastic series of posts. Thanks for allowing me to laugh at your pain. Any update?!

 

I'm glad someone can get a kick out of this. It is pretty funny how stupid this is. It is definitely less frequent and quieter so I am on the right track.

I am doing some more stuff to the car tonight in the shop and while I have it on the lift I am going to use a much more powerful air hose to try to get any rocks I missed. I will probably take off both side sills as well as there were a surprising amount of rocks in the driver's side the last time I did it.

The sticky tires kicking up rocks are probably not helping my cause.