Pinging sound from the engine bay

Tiny
JORDANNGIAU
  • MEMBER
  • 2011 TOYOTA ECHO
  • 1.3L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 191,000 MILES
Recently when the engine is cooler, as I drive at lower speeds where the engine does more work therefore vibrates more, there's ' a pinging sound from the engine bay. When I further suspect the engine bay, I realized that there's a very noticeable ping when I shake the car sideways. I'm suspecting this is the same ring I've heard when I'm driving.

Update: Vehicle listed above is a 2004 not 2011.
Sunday, October 11th, 2020 AT 3:29 AM

6 Replies

Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Unfortunately that is considered a one off sound. Clearly the OEM makes these vehicles to be just like another but each individual vehicle develops its own quirks. So this noise is going to have to have to be figured out rather then us just telling you what it is because it could be many things.

What the noise sounds like is two pieces of metal hitting each other. So that means we need to inspect suspension and anything in the engine bay that you see just hanging down.

The good thing is that you can get it to do it so easily. That means the way I would tackle this is to have someone else shake the vehicle to make the noise, and lay down there or crawl all over the engine putting pressure on things to find out what makes it stop. Then you can zero in on the area and then the component to find what the noise is.

Sorry, I can't just tell you what would cause that but with this method and a lot of patience, I am sure you will find this.

Let me know what questions and how you make out. Thanks
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Sunday, October 11th, 2020 AT 6:40 AM
Tiny
JORDANNGIAU
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  • 34 POSTS
Thank you so much for the reply, definitely will use your method to try to find out what causes this sound.
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Sunday, October 11th, 2020 AT 6:56 AM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
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Awesome. I can't stress enough to just be patient with it. You will find it if you take your time and don't give up. The fact that just shaking the vehicle gets it to act up is the best thing we can hope for on these issues.

Let us know what happens. Thanks again.
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Sunday, October 11th, 2020 AT 11:11 AM
Tiny
JORDANNGIAU
  • MEMBER
  • 34 POSTS
Finally found the culprit to the ringing noise! It's a loose bolt on the exhaust from the engine, the sound comes from the washer on that bolt hitting the bolt. Not sure to be happy or worried as to why that bolt would be that loose.
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Wednesday, October 14th, 2020 AT 9:26 PM
Tiny
JORDANNGIAU
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  • 34 POSTS
Here is a video of it:
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Wednesday, October 14th, 2020 AT 9:28 PM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
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That is great! It is not too common for them to be loose but it does happen. The reason is the exhaust heats and cools so much which causes the metal to expand and contract. This can cause the bolts to loosen and create an exhaust leak or make noise as you have found.

I would tighten them back up and then just keep an eye on it. If it loosens again, I would replace it and the use some high temperature thread locker. Just make sure it is suited for exhaust bolts because you don't want to use the permanent locker because if you need to remove the bolt it may break off in the head and that is not fun.
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Thursday, October 15th, 2020 AT 7:06 PM

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