Technical Loud chugging noise. Help!

[drsmoketto]

Hi all.

So the misses came home from work today and recorded this video of her 09 fiat 500 (75k) making a pretty strange chugging noise.

She was driving around 30mph and as you can see from the video was getting a chugging noise coming from the front of the car.

I took it out for a spin myself an couple of hours after she got back and could not replicate the sound. I checked the underside of the car and couldn't spot anything unusual and the engine bay looked fine.

Any ideas what this could possibly be?

comes in from 6 seconds...a loud grinding noise then it comes in even louder at 1:03 for a few seconds when breaking

[ame]https://youtu.be/udLyaU6LceM[/ame]

Cheers

 

[Twinkletwinklelittlestar]

Couldn’t make out the sound you’re talking about - but couple of questions. Did the sound vary with road speed or engine speed? Did it make more noise when the brakes were used? What engine? If it varied with road speed then something caught up in a wheel or brake, if with engine speed then again something caught but this time in the engine bay say auxiliary belt. Others - plastic bag caught somewhere.

 

[drsmoketto]

Couldn’t make out the sound you’re talking about - but couple of questions. Did the sound vary with road speed or engine speed? Did it make more noise when the brakes were used? What engine? If it varied with road speed then something caught up in a wheel or brake, if with engine speed then again something caught but this time in the engine bay say auxiliary belt. Others - plastic bag caught somewhere.

I thought the video caught the audio of the problem reasonably well.

Just asked her the questions as I was unable to replicate the sound on the drive but she said the sound was more noticeable in 2nd gear. As stated in the first post i did check under the car and bay and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. I will take a closer look tomorrow though

thanks for the reply

 

[typecastboy]

Sounds like it’s misfiring to me. Coil pack? HT lead or spark plug possibly?

 

[John202020]

Check the brakes rock or something trapped? might have gone now but you may see evidence on the disc?

 

[drsmoketto]

Thanks for the replies guys.

She took the car back into work today and 15mins into the journey the noise started again, more noticeable when breaking and at slow speeds.. lasted for around 10minutes then disappeared again.

Really frustrating that its so intermittent. Think im just going to have to take it into the garage to see if they can hopefully replicate then diagnose.

 

[John202020]

When was the last time the brakes were looked at in the video it seems to get worse when braking, it's possible the pads are worn the sensor is only one side though not sure why it's intermittent.

 

[Al D]

Probably not related but has car ever had belts and water pump done as should have been done at 72k or 6 years. As the noise could be the least of your worries. Car eligible for Scrappage Scheme based on age, but if you like Fiat's you don't want something Korean.

 

[306maxi]

Could be the diff.

 

[BigKev]

As a retired motor engineer I can tell you, without any shadow of doubt, that the noise is worn brake pads grinding against the brake discs!

The lining material has worn away, leaving the steel backing, which is grinding against the discs when you apply the brakes. It may also make the noise when cornering.

This will get progressively worse until the discs are destroyed, so you must not drive the vehicle any further until this serious situation is remedied, or you could end up with no brakes at all!

I am so glad I looked into the forum today - I may have saved a catastrophe...

Kev.

 

[renaultvation]

I have to agree with Kev, particularly about not driving the car until you have had it fixed. I am impressed with the roadholding of the car though on those Australian roads!