Weird Noise on 01 Impala

My 2001 Impala has been running great (knock on wood) lately! I have a weird noise however that is only intermitent and wondered if anyone else had heard it.

During fast accelerations (pulling out on a busy highway for instance) at intial acceleration a sound like a "dragging chain" is heard just until gear shifts down. Sometimes when coming to a stop a similar sound, more like a baby rattle is coming from up front.

These are both intermittent and infrequent. Just curious if it is something more serious to check out now before it gets worse. Hope not, finally got everything working and the car has been great the last couple of months.

Thanks in advance for your posts! :smile:

AW

AW,

I've had a baby rattle sound from the front of my car for a few years now, or maybe I should say a sound that is somewhere between a baby rattle and a fluttering sound. Mine is very, very faint. I hear it only when I drive somewhere really quiet with all my windows rolled up. I've told the dealer about this a couple of times but they say they can't hear it. The sound hasn't got louder or more prolonged over the years.

I do have a sound that bothers me but doesn't seem to bother the dealer. When I get out of the car, I hear this sound from underneath like the rapid-fire ticking of a clock. It has something to do with heat, they tell me, but they don't see it as a problem. And, no, I don't think anyone's out to get me.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, my rattle sound is very faint and I can sometimes hear it with the windows up, but it is not loud. I just turn the radio up a little and ignore it until someone tells me otherwise.

The clicking you hear when you turn off the car is the super heated metal under carriage probably associated with the exhaust/cad converter which pops when it cools. My neighbor was a master tech for a Goodyear service station and said that it was normal and nothing to worry about. I trust his judgement since I have known him for years and he has helped me with many issues with my cars and trucks.

The one the bugs me though is the pinging during a hard acceleration :screwy:. While the car was still under warranty a faulty fuel infector fouled a spark plug up and both had to be replaced. I guess every new engine noise makes me nervous :eek7: now that the warranty is out.

Thanks again,
AW

Speaking of noises, I can hear a "fluid flowing" noise on my 04 impala whan going slow. Sounds like the power steering. It also changes when turning the wheel. I'm not sure if it's normal and I'm just hearing the PS pump because the car is so quiet or there is a problem (??). No problems with operation, just the noise. Anyone else notice this?

I wondered about that "dragging chain" sound on my '01 Impala LS for about a year. I first noticed it about 37k miles, but since I was out of warranty and the car seemed to be performing just great, I decided not to worry about it. Lo' and behold, at 45k miles, my transmission died. The frontal planetary gear SHATTERED, took the torque converter with it. As soon as the tranny went, I started wondering about that sound. I took it out on the highway with the new tranny - no weird sound. $2500 later, I'm wishing I'd had it looked at, and wishing I'd opted for the extended warranty.