Equinox Engine/Exhaust Noise

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wormwood1978

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Jan 2, 2015
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Maine
I cannot wait to get rid of our 2005 Equinox with 120K miles. For the short time being, gotta make do with it.

Somewhat recently, my wife and I noticed on acceleration there was a whine and kinda like an exhaust or diesel sound. I cleaned the throttle bottle, changed the drive belt, tensioner and two of the pulleys. The whine is gone but the exhaust/diesel sound remains, or might actually be getting worse.

The noise is only present when accelerating and goes away as soon as you back off accelerating. The sound sounds like it is coming from the engine compartment and is not heard when in park even when giving it gas. She seems to shift fine as well and the sound is steady as she moves through the gears. I was under the car last night and can't find any obvious exhaust leaks even after plugging up the exhaust pipe. Exhaust looks fine. No smell of exhaust on the interior or from the engine compartment.

Recent maintenance: LIM gasket, head gasket, differential fluids changed, transmission fluid changed at 100K, throttle bottle cleaned, new muffler (last year), new EGR tube (last year) new belt, new tensioner, two new pulleys, last tank of gas a bottle of B12 Chemtool.

Transmission, exhaust, EGR, something else?

Video:
http://vid121.photobucket.com/albums/o22...DCA11D653A0.mp4
 
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Wife's HHR had a growl and it turned out a foam rubber donut around the steering shaft where it meets the floor/ firewall worked itself up. Normal noise was coming in. Since the exhaust is on the firewall side, it was surprisingly growly.
 
I was trying to play "Place that Irving gas station".
wink.gif


It's hard with microphones with auto gain control to judge an exahust as being louder than normal if the pitch doesn't change much.
 
To me it sounds normal, our 2008 grumbles like that on takeoff/decel. I swear it's the noisiest V6 I've heard for a stock system. I do know the EGR needs replaced on ours. It's hard to hear from a video as say in real life.
 
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Originally Posted By: Delta
To me it sounds normal, our 2008 grumbles like that on takeoff/decel. I swear it's the noisiest V6 I've heard for a stock system. I do know the EGR needs replaced on ours. It's hard to hear from a video as say in real life.


The video does not do the noise justice. What is odd is that the engine seems less quiet if you see the vehicle driving down the road then if you're inside. The noise just become noticeable the last month, so "something" happened or is happening. Dropping the car off tonight to have it looked at tomorrow.

As far as you mentioning your EGR. Midas "replaced" the EGR tube two years ago and charged $89 for the part. I took at look at what they put in and it looks like hack job, two pieces of metal tubing welded together. I don't think I got what I paid for.
 
Originally Posted By: wormwood1978
As far as you mentioning your EGR. Midas "replaced" the EGR tube two years ago and charged $89 for the part. I took at look at what they put in and it looks like hack job, two pieces of metal tubing welded together. I don't think I got what I paid for.


Midas specializes in welded exhaust systems... when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail!

That EGR "fix" would be my first suspect.
 
Originally Posted By: wormwood1978
As far as you mentioning your EGR. Midas "replaced" the EGR tube two years ago and charged $89 for the part. I took at look at what they put in and it looks like hack job, two pieces of metal tubing welded together. I don't think I got what I paid for.


Don't know about yours, but on ours 3 bolts, one electrical connector, and it's out, looks to be a 15-20 min job. Although the vehicles' not from the rust belt. Never heard of the tube going bad though...

Ours has always roared and groaned along with another co-workers Torrent.
 
The EGR valve and tube do not look very difficult to replace. Together the cost is around $250 if I do it myself. With that said, other reading I've done suggest that if the EGR is the problem I would likely see some idiot lights, poor fuel economy, or loss of horse power.

There is groar or groan to the Equinox, a lot of road noise too, always has been. The difference now is the sound is much more pronounced.
 
Originally Posted By: HangFire
A small EGR exhaust leak can make a lot of noise, but may not trigger any codes.


How would I being a DIYer determine if that was the problem?
 
Originally Posted By: wormwood1978
Originally Posted By: HangFire
A small EGR exhaust leak can make a lot of noise, but may not trigger any codes.


How would I being a DIYer determine if that was the problem?


A DIYer would have to get his head under the hood and under the car while someone ran the throttle under load (in gear).
 
Originally Posted By: wormwood1978
How would I being a DIYer determine if that was the problem?


Feel for puffs of exhaust with your hand, listen using some aquarium tubing as a one-ear stethoscope, look for exhaust discoloration.

Frankly, if Midas had touched my EGR, I would just get another one and replace it out of the near-certainty that they messed it up.
 
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I'm trying out a fourth mechanic in my area who owns his own shop. I spun him up on the maintenance history. He says the motor mounts are toast and thinks replacing those will probably fix the noise. Waiting on parts. Today I'm trouble shooting what I think are issues with one or more of the ABS speed sensors. Issues due not seem to stop lately with this car.

As far as the EGR tube, I've attached a photo of what Midas did a few years ago along with what the part should look like if I purchased it from Advance Auto Parts. What I have looks like poop but the weld looks solid, I don't hear any noise coming from the EGR valve or tube. Would I expect to if either was bad?



http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/bwd-egr-line-egt59/10612213-P?searchTerm=egr+tube
 
If that copper tube Midas put in was leaking, you'd have an exhaust leak that you'd hear. That used to be called an EGR AIR tube, idk if it still is.
 
Originally Posted By: wormwood1978
I cannot wait to get rid of our 2005 Equinox with 120K miles. For the short time being, gotta make do with it.

Somewhat recently, my wife and I noticed on acceleration there was a whine and kinda like an exhaust or diesel sound. I cleaned the throttle bottle, changed the drive belt, tensioner and two of the pulleys. The whine is gone but the exhaust/diesel sound remains, or might actually be getting worse.

The noise is only present when accelerating and goes away as soon as you back off accelerating. The sound sounds like it is coming from the engine compartment and is not heard when in park even when giving it gas. She seems to shift fine as well and the sound is steady as she moves through the gears. I was under the car last night and can't find any obvious exhaust leaks even after plugging up the exhaust pipe. Exhaust looks fine. No smell of exhaust on the interior or from the engine compartment.

Recent maintenance: LIM gasket, head gasket, differential fluids changed, transmission fluid changed at 100K, throttle bottle cleaned, new muffler (last year), new EGR tube (last year) new belt, new tensioner, two new pulleys, last tank of gas a bottle of B12 Chemtool.

Transmission, exhaust, EGR, something else?

Video:
http://vid121.photobucket.com/albums/o22...DCA11D653A0.mp4


New auto shop I tried out thought the solution was new motor mounts. I was skeptical but went with it. I'm happy to say that with new mounts, the engine/exhaust noise we were hearing appears to be gone.
 
Originally Posted By: wormwood1978
New auto shop I tried out thought the solution was new motor mounts. I was skeptical but went with it. I'm happy to say that with new mounts, the engine/exhaust noise we were hearing appears to be gone.


If the old mounts allowed the exhaust to touch the firewall or underside, that can cause all kinds of noise.

Sometimes you have to trust your mechanic. We pay them not just for the shop and extra tools he has, but for the expertise.
 
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