Hey guys and gals, whats up. Hope you all are having excellent days/nights (whichever time of day it is when you're reading this).


So here's what happened to me on my way back from school today. Everything was peachy-doke, enjoying the sunset and glad to be off for the weekend. I hop on the freeway, and hit my junction. Once I'm on the 210, I noticed a vehicle in the lane to my right pass over a black object which looked like rock, to tell you the truth. Wasn't huge or anything, but the piece of junk slipped into my lane just as I was about to pass it and BOUNCED at the perfect time right as I was about to pass over. At first I thought, bah, I didn't hear a thing and the grills in front of the car probably prevented it from going anywhere. Boy, I guess I was wrong. A few miles later, I can hear a disturbing rattling sound coming from the right side of my Z over the music. I turn down my volume and I hear a really fast rattling noise coming from under the hood on my passenger side. I actually cannot put my finger on it, it sounds like it comes from the hood OR the front fender. I instantly believe the object is the culprit. Ok fine, whatever, I'll just pull over and throw this sucker out. Shouldn't be too hard to spot considering it sounds like it's right at the top of the hood bouncing around in there. I pull over, pop my hood, and find absolutely nothing. I carry a flashlight with me, so I picked it up and shined the beam where the radiator is (in that little pocket where the hood release switch is). I don't find anything down there, and it's a pretty big hole to peek inside that wide area. i was shocked to find nothing. I proceed to shine the beam elsewhere, trying to find it. Still nothing. I looked all around my fender, nothing. I don't think something came loose under the hood, I know this because not only did I check a lot of the wires and bolts, but also because the noise subsides when I'm running on smooth pavement. As soon as I hit a bump or bump road, it rattles again like crazy, as if it jumps and continues to do so until it lands on its back or whatever.

So I'm lost. I'm thinking about jacking up the car and removing the under panel to see if it's scooted back there somewhere. But it doesnt make any sense considering the sound seems like it's coming from the top of the engine... hitting the bottom of my hood. Any ideas what to do guys? I'll try and upload a video later to give you all a better idea what this sounds like. It's definitely some kind of rock.


*edit* Bye bye Lebron James, you fail. Go Lakers =]

 

all i saw was your edit...so you gets no help.

 

Might be stupid question, but are you sure it's at the top? Perhaps the road noise among other things makes it sound like that.

If you have some bass, try turning it up and see if it will rattle while you're standing there.

 

Ha, I've got no bass! Just have the stock 03 base system. And yeah it definitely sounds like it's at the top over on the right side. That's why I can't put my finger on exactly where it's coming from. Sounds like it's just to the left of the passenger fender, somewhere near the top. Quite frustrating. I'm going to take a better look at it today, considering I have a lot more daylight. Could be a loose bolt or a small rock.... it can't be anything else. Just can't find the sucker.

 

Ok, so I re-diagnosed the sound. I paid more attention to how it works, and I realized that it only happens when the car is going at high speeds (65+). The faster the car is moving, the longer the "rattling" goes on. But then I thought, what if it's not a rock, and maybe something near my bumper/front end of the car is flapping around? It DOES sound like flapping, and the fact that on the street it doesn't make a noise tells me that it might be true. So I checked out my bumper, and I have the OEM front bumper on the 03 model, and I noticed there are two panels behind the radiator mouth/grill whichever you want to call it (or whatever it's called technically). One on each side of the bumper:




I checked out the one on the left (passenger side) and its pretty loose. Wiggles a lot. I then checked the one on the right, and it doesn't budge. I think I might have found my problem. It does seem like it would flap around at high speeds. I don't know how it came loose, and I tried to see if I could put it back into place but something may have broken and obviously I can't see it like this. I'm guessing I have to remove my bumper and try to fix it.... anyone else had this before?