2013 cx-5 low frequency booming noise ?

[tomnb]

I got a used 2013 cx-5 a month ago and there are 2 things I don't like about.
First is engine vibration when idle. It's pretty rough often times and sometimes the vibration gets die down.
Second issue is the booming noise that sounds like a continuous low frequency bass sound from a subwoofer speaker or something. This happens when driving at low speed (under 40mph). The noise is certainly different than road noise or engine revving noise.

Other than those issues, the car drives pretty well and smooth.

I took the car to a local dealership and got the car inspection done and the result was good, no mechanical issues found. They also checked the motor mount and there was nothing wrong with it.
They said the vibration is normal and it is because of 4-cylinder. I don't know if that is the real reason. However they didn't notice the booming noise while driving my car around inside the dealership. When I certainly heard the noise, the serviceman who was driving my car didn't know what I was talking about.

I again took the car to a local repair shop and asked the guy to test drive. He noticed the booming noise but there was nothing he could do because there was no mechanical problems.

I really want to like the car. Well, I can actually deal with the vibration but I can't stand the booming noise and it drives me& my ears nuts.
I didn't want to give up and I can't because I just bought it. So I researched a bit and found this one information below:

am.mazdaserviceinfo.com/mazdaesi/index?page=detail_pagelet&id=SH8655

It is about 2014 model, mine is 2013.
At this point, I would like to know if the booming noise is caused by non-existence of the balancer unit but I have no idea if my 2013 cx-5 has the balancer unit or not. If not, I guess that is the reason I am dealing with the booming noise then?

Or the noise can be cause by something else?

Any ideas what I can do to fix the issue?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mileage:43000
No accident.
Car was 3-year leased before I purchased.

 

[paris1]

I have a 2013 CX-5 with 30k miles and I have absolutely no idea what kind of low speed booming noise you're talking about. I have been on 2 CX-5 forums for almost four years and have never heard of such a thing. I'm not saying you're not hearing something, just that there are only two possibilities. 1. There is something mechanically wrong with the car that no one is picking up on or 2. You are particularly sensitive to a particular sound frequency.
I suspect the vibration you refer to may be at cold start-up for the first 20-30 seconds when the engine is in cold start mode and is supposed to be rougher/louder than normal. Read your owners manual to learn more about this.
And as for the balance shaft, the 2.0 ltr engine in your 2013 does not have or need this feature. Traditionally it is used on four cylinder engines (all of which, by nature, suffer from some degree of secondary imbalance) of 2.4 ltr or greater. Hence its inclusion on the larger 2.5 ltr engine used from 2014 onward.

 

[mazdadude]

What tires are on the car?
What tire pressures are you running?
Where is the booming coming from, inside or outside?
Windows down or up?

 

[davesxx01]

One window down = booming noise.

 

[tomnb]

The noise is kind of hard to explain. It is some kind of booming sound or maybe like noise from those modified muffler heavy low frequency noise with softened version I say? The noise is filled & trapped inside the car and kind of numbing my ears.
The noise is not always there when driving. I hear that noise mostly when I push the accelerator slightly but it kind of goes away as I put the pedal harder to speed up. It also usually happens when I take off my foot from the pedal to reduce the speed and prepare to stop at low speed(maybe around 15 ~ 40mph?).

 

[tomnb]

The noise is there whether window is open or not.

 

[wlong01]

The noise is there whether window is open or not.

I would have the exhaust system checked for any leaks.

 

[tomnb]

Front tires are Falken and they look almost new.
Back tires are Michelin and the tread is half worn compare to the front. It's been like that when I first got the car.
I did the tire rotation at the dealership but the noise has been there before and after the tire rotation.
I don't really know the tire pressures but I am pretty sure the technician at the dealership did check it because the service I got was 45000 service.
I believe the booming is coming from inside and does not sound like coming from any particular parts of the car. However I am not really sure because I don't really know much about cars.

 

[mazdadude]

Please do not assume anyone checked the tire pressures. (boom06)

Running different tire brands, different treads front to rear, and different tread depths is not really recommended.

I would like to put it on a lift and run it up to speed, and spin each wheel while in the air to see if all the bearings, etc. are noise free at speed.

Also, having someone else drive while you hunt down the noise can also help.

 

[tomnb]

If the exhaust system could cause this kind of issue, I might consider. I wonder the 45k service includes checking the exhaust system.

 

[tomnb]

I just checked my service report card from dealership and the exhaust system result is OK(green). I guess I can pass on this matter.

 

[tomnb]

According to my service report card, tire pressure check is not on the list and assuming it's not done yet.
The card also has information about tire tread depth as:
LF:4, RF:4 (These 2 tires have very tiny cracks on the surface and make me think they are old.)
LR:10, RR:10

Since you said it is not recommended to have different tire brand and tread depth, should I replace the worn out back tires to match the front tires with same brand?
If this can solve the noise problem, I am willing to buy a set of 2 or 4 tires. I just checked the price of 4 tires with Bridgestone for about $520 at costco. I don't know much about tire brand.
Or any recommendations about what I should do with tires?

 

[mazdadude]

I would first check your air pressure for your current tires...

What size are the front and rear brands of tires? Hopefully the same at least?

Is yours FWD or is it AWD?

Yes the best recommendation for rectifying your tire situation would be to get 2 more of the same of the NEWEST tires. I am not saying that this is causing your noise, but it can, and it can also introduce unwanted pulling, or handling attributes.

 

[tomnb]

I would first check your air pressure for your current tires...

What size are the front and rear brands of tires? Hopefully the same at least?

Is yours FWD or is it AWD?

Yes the best recommendation for rectifying your tire situation would be to get 2 more of the same of the NEWEST tires. I am not saying that this is causing your noise, but it can, and it can also introduce unwanted pulling, or handling attributes.

The size for both front and back are the same: p225/65r17
FWD

 

[erhayes]

Your engine should idle quite smooth after the first 30 seconds or so. Booming noise can be caused by open window or even the sunroof. Ed

 

[yrwei52]

The size for both front and back are the same: p225/65r17
FWD

With FWD, it doesn't matter if your rear tires are worn and your front tires are new. You can try to replace two worn rear tires with a pair of matching new Falken tires, or you can get a full set of new tires based on this New tire suggestions for 17" 2013 CX-5 discussion. By doing so, you could eliminate one of the possibilities which may cause "low frequency booming noise". You can even take advantage of 30-day return policy offered by Discount Tire, so that if the problem persists with new tires, you still can consider returning the tires if you want to.

Seriously with your low frequency noise happening sporadically, I doubt it's caused by bad tires or bearings as the noise from these should be consistent at certain speed or certain condition.

With 43,000 miles on your 2013 CX-5 FWD Touring, it's very strange on your tire situation. Your CX-5 should either have very worn factory Yokohama Geolandar G91A 225/65R17 100H tires or a fairly new set of tires. With 4/32" tread depth on a pair of Michelin tires at rear, it's hard to explain what happened to tire replacement history of this CX-5. That's one of the bad thing getting a used car, you'll never know what really happened!

 

[tomnb]

With FWD, it doesn't matter if your rear tires are worn and your front tires are new. You can try to replace two worn rear tires with a pair of matching new Falken tires, or you can get a full set of new tires based on this New tire suggestions for 17" 2013 CX-5 discussion. By doing so, you could eliminate one of the possibilities which may cause "low frequency booming noise". You can even take advantage of 30-day return policy offered by Discount Tire, so that if the problem persists with new tires, you still can consider returning the tires if you want to.

Seriously with your low frequency noise happening sporadically, I doubt it's caused by bad tires or bearings as the noise from these should be consistent at certain speed or certain condition.

With 43,000 miles on your 2013 CX-5 FWD Touring, it's very strange on your tire situation. Your CX-5 should either have very worn factory Yokohama Geolandar G91A 225/65R17 100H tires or a fairly new set of tires. With 4/32" tread depth on a pair of Michelin tires at rear, it's hard to explain what happened to tire replacement history of this CX-5. That's one of the bad thing getting a used car, you'll never know what really happened!

Yeah... I got the car from auction in Florida through a local small dealership and they show Autocheck report and CR rating(?) to customers before they buy from auction. Mine has 4.3 point out of 5.0 which represents the condition/quality of the car. But in reality, as you mentioned, no one really know what kind of car I would get. I am assuming that whoever sold the car switched the tires before they sold it and that's why I have a different set of tires.

Yes, the car makes the booming noise at certain speeds mostly around 50mph and under. The noise also goes away when I push the accelerator hard to speed up quickly.

 

[orally]

Booming noise from CX-5 Engine/Transmission

I have the same issue with my 2013 AWD CX-5. Around 1100 to 1800 rpm the car will emit a low frequency "booming resonance" noise. The car has 23,000 miles and it started the resonating noise at 19,000 miles.
The noise is very noticeable and it seems to be
getting worse.
I'm guessing that a header exhaust gasket may be leaking. There may be a crack in the exhaust manifold or broken nuts/bolts. It may be the "lightness" of SkyActive showing its age and flaws.
If anybody has a similar problem please throw out some ideas or fixes.

 

[mazdadude]

With FWD, it doesn't matter if your rear tires are worn and your front tires are new. You can try to replace two worn rear tires with a pair of matching new Falken tires, or you can get a full set of new tires based on this New tire suggestions for 17" 2013 CX-5 discussion. By doing so, you could eliminate one of the possibilities which may cause "low frequency booming noise". You can even take advantage of 30-day return policy offered by Discount Tire, so that if the problem persists with new tires, you still can consider returning the tires if you want to.

Seriously with your low frequency noise happening sporadically, I doubt it's caused by bad tires or bearings as the noise from these should be consistent at certain speed or certain condition.

With 43,000 miles on your 2013 CX-5 FWD Touring, it's very strange on your tire situation. Your CX-5 should either have very worn factory Yokohama Geolandar G91A 225/65R17 100H tires or a fairly new set of tires. With 4/32" tread depth on a pair of Michelin tires at rear, it's hard to explain what happened to tire replacement history of this CX-5. That's one of the bad thing getting a used car, you'll never know what really happened!

I agree 100%... if it is FWD, your are most likely fine with your odd tire setup, it just makes me scratch my head how it happened, and is not optimal...

There are also times when you can have loose plastic shielding under the car, and it can vibrate or resonate at speeds... The whole underside of the car is an assortment of different shields to make aerodynamic...

 

[tomnb]

I have the same issue with my 2013 AWD CX-5. Around 1100 to 1800 rpm the car will emit a low frequency "booming resonance" noise. The car has 23,000 miles and it started the resonating noise at 19,000 miles.
The noise is very noticeable and it seems to be
getting worse.
I'm guessing that a header exhaust gasket may be leaking. There may be a crack in the exhaust manifold or broken nuts/bolts. It may be the "lightness" of SkyActive showing its age and flaws.
If anybody has a similar problem please throw out some ideas or fixes.

I am glad that I am not the only one who has the same issue with the car.
When I went to the local dealership for the 45000 service, Exhaust System(leaks, visible damage, loose parts) was marked in green circle out of red, yellow, green on the service report paper. But it still is possible that they did the inspection as a mere formality especially if they were busy.