A Question About A Noise

[Longbottom]

Hi everyone!

I have a question about something that might not be a problem, but still has worried me a little. I have an Auris (petrol 1.33) from 2009, bought used some months ago. A couple of times during the last months I have had the impression the car makes a sort of "high", or revving noise for a couple of seconds when going in quite low speed, second or third gear. I have heard it two or three times, and only for a very short duration (and so low you would hardly hear it if you have the radio on). It kind of sounds like the motor was revving, a bit higher pitched than the ususal motor noise in that speed. And after two or three seconds it is gone. At least two of the times has been while not touching the gas pedal.

Otherwise the car works fantastic, so there really doesn't seem to be anything wrong. But being totally lost at mechanical things, I can't really say. And as I have had it for a short time I don't really know what noises it usually makes, and I have been driving for a short time as well, so it could just as well be mishandling...

Well, I got a year warranty on the car, so if there is anything wrong I will get it fixed. But I would like to ask here before checking with the car shop (since it it a bit away from here). Have you ever experienced anything similar?

[TomdeGuerre]

OK Thomas, I'll kick it off and welcome to the board if no one else has said so already. You haven't given us much to go on there. I've never owned the 1.3 Auris but I've had a couple of 1.6's and driven a few as demos and courtesy cars and can't say I've ever come across this.

Do you get this noise only when you're slowing down or do you get it when you're going up through the gears? Off hand the only thing I'd say is these cars have 'drive by wire' accelerators ie there's no conventional linkage between the pedal and the engine, so has the accelerator pedal ever felt stiff or springy? There was a recall on these accelerator pedals so might be worth seeing if yours was done. btw what kind of mileage has the car done?

Don't be embarrassed about trying to describe the noise, we had a woman come into the garage once saying that her car was making a noise like a shirt in the tumble drier. Turned out she had springs gone in the clutch plate and you know what - it did make a noise like shirt buttons in a tumble drier!.

[Longbottom]

Thanks for the reply! The noise is kind of higher pitched than the normal acceleration sound, but a bit more "robust" (kind of similar to when accelerating fast at high speed). Difficult to describe though, but as I wrote, it is only heard like a few seconds. The car has gone 110,000 km (I live in the Czech Republic at the moment, so everything is in km). I bought it from Toyota, not a local dealer, and they said the pedal recall shouldn't be an issue for my car (i.e. they've fixed it). The accelerator pedal feels kind of normal, neither stiff nor soft. Since I have only heard the noise a couple of times I'm not sure what triggers it, but as I can recall it has been when going forward slowly without pressing the accelerator pedal (latest today, when rolling out of a service station in third gear, no foot on the pedal at that precise moment). Before that, it has also happened when my wife was approaching a roundabout and geared down to second gear (although driving perhaps slightly faster than that gear likes). I know that the spark plugs are starting to reach the point when they should be changed, but I'm not sure if that could cause such a sound - but then again, I know very little about cars. So I'm sorry for being a bit vague, but as I said, I'm rather a beginner at these things.

[Miseryguts]

Hi Thomas,and welcome.

Have you got the air con on when you get the noise?

If you have it might be worth turning it of to see if you still get it.

[Longbottom]

Ken: thanks for the answer. I do think I have had it on (well, the heating and air circulation anyway) - but I can't swear on it. But I haven't felt any changes to the driving when it has happened (and the normal engine noise was heard at the same time), so it's not impossible the a/c has something to do with it. I will drive with it off and see if the noise comes back.

[Longbottom]

Hello again. The noise came back today again. It is not the aircon that causes it. It seems to come when going forward in low speed, with no pressure on the accelerator. Kind of seems to come from the right side of the car as well, but I'm not sure. It didn't change when I pressed the brake, and the duration was too short to test the other pedals. I never heard it before I had winter tires put on. Perhaps that could be part of it (a loose lognut that causes noise? - I´ll check that tomorrow).

[superfast808]

Could be a (one or more) tyre(s). I had to replace a noisy tyre on my Auris which made a sound similar to a wheel bearing running dry (a mixture of whining and humming).

When I'm fault finding, I tend to work backwards - "Did anything happen right before the noise started" so in your case, tyres could be a good bet, and are very much known to make noise depending on what they are/condition etc.

[Longbottom]

Thanks everybody for the answers. I have finally found the problem. And I am a bit embarrassed... Yesterday I suddenly remembered that the oil level was quite low when we bought the car. So I checked it and saw it was balancing on the "min" mark. I topped it up, and now the sound is gone. I've been driving all day today and couldn't hear it at all. I'm damn happy I remembered the oil and checked it though... Well, it's a new experience (as I mentioned, I'm an absolute beginner at cars), and I'm going to keep an eye on the oil regularly from now.

[Miseryguts]

Checking your oil is a MUST DO.

No oil,no engine.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Best thing to do is to get into a preventative routine - oil, coolant, tyres. Depending what mileage you do, preferably weekly.