Loud Grinding Noise

[ben12]

Noises problem
2003 Mazda Protege 4 cyl Two Wheel Drive Manual 140000 miles

I have a loud grinding/vibration noise coming from the front of my Mazda Protege 5. It sounds like it is coming from the passenger side under the hood. It does it in low RPM in every gear. It is worse on warm days. It almost sounds like a bearing is gone somewhere. It is a horible noise, and is loud enough for people I pass on the sidewalk to hear it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[slavrenz]

Sounds like your front wheel bearing is gone. Check for any play in your front wheel hub by jacking up the car and seeing if anything wiggles (even slightly). If you're not comfortable doing this, take it to an alignment shop - they can tell you real quick if your bearings are bad.

 

[ben12]

The weel bearings are good. I can make it make the noise while parked and reving the engine a bit.

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

Does it sound like something is loose, or is it coming from the engine? Get under the hood and rev the engine by opening the throttle body with your hand (don't stick it in the throttle body, there's a piece you can manipulate on the backside) and see if you can pinpoint it.

 

[ben12]

I have had that done by mechanics at my uncles garage. They are not a mazda dealership though. It does sound like something is loose. They thought it may be the clutch for the AC being seized after the winter and not being used. It sounds like it is coming from that area. They think there may be some corrosion in there. If I get the RPM up it goes away. It does it when I slow down, if I take it out of gear it stops. I heard another Protege 5 drive by one day and it made the same noise. I was hoping someone else on here had the same problem. I am no mechanic by any means. Thank you guys for all your suggestions, if you thinnk of anymore by all means let me know.

 

[slavrenz]

Unfortunately, noises are very hard to diagnose unless you can really narrow down the set of conditions that they occur in. I wouldn't rule out your AC clutch as a possibility, and you can also check your pulley bearings if you have your AC apart.

 

[ben12]

Sweet! Thanks for the replies guys. I will check all that stuff out.

 

[shadowncs]

I have a sound like this however I'd describe it like a resonant vibration, not grinding. Mine is the front heat shield for sure. Do this test with your car:

Get a friend to gas up/down the car while you are in front with the hood open. Purpose is to make the sound appear. Then with some leather cloth or screwdriver or whatever, press on the front heatshield the one that has that hands-off sign. Try multiple spots to see if it momentarily goes away . Mine does.
Warning! hot surface & don't get rolled over if car is in gear.

 

[RABID_MP5]

I have had that done by mechanics at my uncles garage. They are not a mazda dealership though. It does sound like something is loose. They thought it may be the clutch for the AC being seized after the winter and not being used. It sounds like it is coming from that area. They think there may be some corrosion in there. If I get the RPM up it goes away. It does it when I slow down, if I take it out of gear it stops. I heard another Protege 5 drive by one day and it made the same noise. I was hoping someone else on here had the same problem. I am no mechanic by any means. Thank you guys for all your suggestions, if you thinnk of anymore by all means let me know.

OK, so what does it do when you turn on the A/C? If the clutch visibly locks as it should and you still have the noise, then it's something else. If the noise is gone then it's it. If it fails to engage, then it'll take more work to tell.

 

[ben12]

OK, so what does it do when you turn on the A/C? If the clutch visibly locks as it should and you still have the noise, then it's something else. If the noise is gone then it's it. If it fails to engage, then it'll take more work to tell.

That's why I am thinking it is not the AC clutch. I can hear it engage, but it still makes the sound. No pause or anything. It could be making the sound, I turn on the AC, and the sound keeps going. I would think if it were the AC clutch the sound would stop for a second or be interupted when the AC clutch engages. Or even get worse for that matter.

Edit: I guess now that I think about it vibrating would describe the noise as well. It would have to be vibrating very fast though.

 

[slavrenz]

Thinking more far-fetched, maybe you have a motor mount that is bad, and the warmer temp causes the rubber to expand, which may just barely push your motor into contact with something that it's not supposed to touch.

Don't ask me to elaborate - I'm just throwing out ideas here.

 

[shadowncs]

^^Good point on the motor mount, it might also add to the tension on the exhaust pipes which might increase the chance of rattle. Likely candidate is front MM, you can see it above the bumper shield, from under the car.

 

[ben12]

Motor mount eh? That actually sounds like a possibility. Its like it only makes noise when there is torque on the engine. So maybe it is coming into contact with something. Is there an easy way to check motor mounts?

 

[slavrenz]

The front one is easy check by just getting under the car and looking with a flashlight. You should be able to see the passenger mount by just looking from the top of the car. As far as the other two, I'm not sure unless you take them out.

 

[VP222]

Noises problem
2003 Mazda Protege 4 cyl Two Wheel Drive Manual 140000 miles

I have a loud grinding/vibration noise coming from the front of my Mazda Protege 5. It sounds like it is coming from the passenger side under the hood. It does it in low RPM in every gear. It is worse on warm days. It almost sounds like a bearing is gone somewhere. It is a horible noise, and is loud enough for people I pass on the sidewalk to hear it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have a same problem also. I bought this car about month ago and do not know what previous owner has done it. Mine is a squicky noice like a pulley is binding or something. It happen when I put the car from park to reverse or sometime when I am driving in slow speed. As soon as I increase the RPM it goes away. It happen yesterday when I changed from Park to reverse but as soon as I got out of the car and open the hood noise went away. I know it is not the AC compressor because when it happened AC was not ON. It does not happen all the time either. Don't know what to do ? I am thinking about open up the hood next time it happen Might have to stop in the middle of road. If you find the problem please keep me posted.

 

[P-Funk!]

If it is stock motor mounts they are waaaay shot. Replace. It may fix the problem as well.

 

[VP222]

If it is stock motor mounts they are waaaay shot. Replace. It may fix the problem as well.

Is it easy to DIY or it is a big job. I have most tools and jack and jack stand. Is there any information how to do it. Thanks, this forum is great.

 

[VP222]

I have had that done by mechanics at my uncles garage. They are not a mazda dealership though. It does sound like something is loose. They thought it may be the clutch for the AC being seized after the winter and not being used. It sounds like it is coming from that area. They think there may be some corrosion in there. If I get the RPM up it goes away. It does it when I slow down, if I take it out of gear it stops. I heard another Protege 5 drive by one day and it made the same noise. I was hoping someone else on here had the same problem. I am no mechanic by any means. Thank you guys for all your suggestions, if you thinnk of anymore by all means let me know.

Ben12,

Did you able find solution to this problem ?? since I have the same problem. It happen yesterday in my driveway and that time I opened the hood to pinpoint the area but I could not find it. It was not motor mounts since engine was not vibrating and when the hood was open I heard the sound like pulley don't have bearing and it just grinding. My AC was not ON either so do not think it is AC compressor making noise.Could not able to investigate more since few seconds later noise went away and everything was good. I was just curious if you have still this problem or you have fixed it. If it is fixed then what did you do to fix it. Thanks.

 

[P-Funk!]

A skidding bearing (soon to fail) could do that. Metal in the motor oil/filter?

When it is doing it again (Carefully!!) hold a 15" socket extension to your ear and at each each rotating component (alt/comp/etc) until it is loudest.

Cool thing to do just to hear valves, injector pulses. etc..

 

[ben12]

Ben12,

Did you able find solution to this problem ?? since I have the same problem. It happen yesterday in my driveway and that time I opened the hood to pinpoint the area but I could not find it. It was not motor mounts since engine was not vibrating and when the hood was open I heard the sound like pulley don't have bearing and it just grinding. My AC was not ON either so do not think it is AC compressor making noise.Could not able to investigate more since few seconds later noise went away and everything was good. I was just curious if you have still this problem or you have fixed it. If it is fixed then what did you do to fix it. Thanks.

Yes I still have the problem. I am starting to think it may be a bearing in one of the pullys. It is coming from that area anyways.