Sweet Holy Mother Of God. I'm a wreck.

My new 2004 xB, which I've had for less than three months, with a grand total of 2000 miles on it... is making a noise. A bad noise. From the engine. Now, I'm no mechanic, this thing is starting to sound like a friggin diesel truck, and something tells me that ain't good.

My dealer can't be bothered until tomorrow to look at it, so my question is to you guys, who possibly are mechanics, or have met mechanics, or can spell "mechanic"... what's it mean when you have a loud rattling sound when you hit the gas? As I mentioned, it brings a diesel engine to mind. It seems a little underpowered too, but that could be my imagination or the fact that xBs are underpowered.

Any relatively intelligent input would be much appreciated.

 

Could be any # of problems. Pre-ignition due to a spark plug issue or the vehicle running in a lean condition could be the problem, but so could a valve problem. I would take the vehicle to your closest Scion dealership ASAP.

 

If you're going to have trouble, now is the time while it's still under warranty.

Nasty noises can be caused by relatively small problems. They can also be caused by fatal problems! The only way to know is to have someone with an educated ear listen to it.

If the sound is continuous and getting progressively worse, have the car towed to the shop. You don't want to do more damage to the engine. If you can drive in a way to avoid the noise you can probably safely drive to the dealer.

George

 

I'm no mechanic...but I can pray for you! :D

 

have you tried checkin the oil? i didn't read the thread

 

ditto.

 

Maybe it's like that one guy with bad gas...or that other guy that had a spark plug break off in a cylinder.

I'd take the engine cover off and check the spark plugs just to see if I could. When you take it in ask to speak to the mechanic who will be working on your car if possible. If incoming jobs come to first free hands, make a special request for yours so that they absolutely know your concern. That way, the tech won't assume anything and check out what you want.

 

Thanks for the replies, folks. And the prayer.

 

You get your Scion yet?

 

The xB is at the dealership this morning. Just dropped it off. Crossing fingers.

 

Good luck man.

 

If you've hit the underside of your car with anything while driving.......you could have busted up the catalyst inside your catalytic converter. That'll make a nice rattling nasty sound whne you gas it.

KiL

 

likewise!

 

I was thinking the same thing....I remember I mest up the catalytic converter on my VW and it sounded awful like a mac truck, vibrated like a ****, and had almost no power.

 

So, I'm still hearing this sound every day when I drive. Sounds like valve knocking, it's especially audible from inside the car. When I took it to the dealer, they insisted on sticking their heads in the engine compartment to hear it, but it's not as evident from there.

I've heard from at least a few people that they have this sound too. But apparently not everyone does.

BTW, I've tried high octane gas, and that made no difference. It's driving me nuts not knowing if I have a problem on my hands or not. The dealer excells at not hearing things, but so far they're not great at offering explanations.

BAH!

 

Have you tried drving another one? Sometimes, what people think is a problem with their car is just a natural sound for that vehicle. Ask your dealer to let you drive one of their Scions to see if you hear the same thing. If not, keep on the service guys to figure out what it is.

 

i know this may sound stupid but my xB had the same noise and it was the hood. all it took to fix it was to unscrew the bump stops. the hood was loosley fit and did progresively get worse. :?

hope it gets fixed, good luck.

 

It doesn't sound like it's coming from the hood, but who knows? Hell, that would be great if it was the hood. Sounds like valves, though. But I'll certainly test your theory.

 

Well, it ain't the hood.

I took it back to the dealer again yesterday, showed them the sound a few dozen times, and the mechanic continues to act like the sound just isn't there. It's quite loud. How come everyone BUT the mechanics at this dealership can hear it? My friends hear it, my wife hears it, but they just act like there's nothing there. He had it over in the shop for a minute, across a parking lot from me, and I could hear it. He brings it back over to me and says "I couldn't hear anything" WHAT?

Anybody in Ventura County have an xB I can listen to? Seriously. I'll give you a dollar.

 

Does the dealership have any other xB models in stock? Ask to drive it and see if it makes the same noise. It probably doesn't and then you will have one for the "mechanic" to compare it to.