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My Corolla made a grinding noise when I accelerated past 30 mph.
Car: Toyota, Corolla, 1997 - Back to Fix-It - Toyota Repair Manuals
Q.1997 Toyota Corolla made a grinding noise when I accelerated past 30 mph. Almost as if I was dragging something metal.
Answer i am wondering if you can make the same noise just by revving the engine a little when the vehicle is in park?
my guess from your description would be a loose heat shield that is rattling on your front headpipe or the catalytic converter heat shields,,
can you try to do a couple quick revs of the engine no more that 1/2 way down with the gas pedal quickly on and off and on and off again and see if you hear the noise.
Addition No it is not a rattling sound, it is a grinding sound. Almost like metal against metal.
Answer yes. The heat shields are metal and so are the exhaust pipes... were you able to duplicate the noise how i described to you?
and its while you were accelerating only correct?
Addition No, I just went and started it and accelerated w/o moving and it did not make the noise. Sounded good.
Answer ok .. then you will need to drive it again and try to duplicate the noise a few times..
try to notice if its happeneing only under acceleration,
or if its happening also when youre at or above 30 and have you foot off the gas?
so in other words if youre accelerating and then you take your foot completly off the gas does the grinding noise stop immediatley? Or does the car have to slow down to a certain speed before the noise goes away?
also it it the same or worse when turning in either direction?
and does it seem to be coming from the front of car or under the center or rear of car?
please let me know when you get a chance to drive the car and what happens i will be online a few more hours or early monday am..
Addition It does not make any noise at all and drives well until I accelerate over 30 then it sound comes, if I take my foot off to slow it disappears.
I tried to go to the store. I backed up and started to proceed. Everything fine until I started to speed up over 30mph and I thought either the tire was flat and hitting the rim or I was dragging something metal. Stopped checked and everything fine.
Went down another street to check if it would come back and it repeated as soon as I accelerated again. But when I slowed down it stopped. It seems to be the front.
Answer ok i am pretty confident it is either the heat shield on the front exhaust pipe or the heat shield on the catalytic converter..
you will need to bring it to a mechanic/exhaust shop and have them lift the car up to check to see if the shields are causing the grinding noise..
if it is one of the shields and the rest of the pipe is good they can just remove the shield from around the pipe..
let me know how it turns out..
Addition Is this a major repair?
I just want to make sure I am not taken advantage of and what would be considered too much.
Thank you, I kept thinking the wheel bearings for some reason.
I really appreicate all you help and reply.
Answer well if it were something dragging or a wheel bearing it would do it with your foot off the gas also. So thats how i ruled that out..
to remove the heat shield is not a major amount of work and should be about a half hour labor charge or less.. at my dealer we would charge anywhere from 21.00 to 49.00 .. if you can duplicate the noise for the mechanic and have them check the heat shields it should be pretty low cost..
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