Loud and consistent sound...any ideas what it is? Recording included

trewaiomb

Hi everyone.

My 2010 Scion xD started making a loud and consistent noise yesterday. I recorded it for a bit while driving; the recording is here: https://vocaroo.com/1bRHOhFDE8Nl

You might have to turn your volume up to hear it.

Any ideas? If possible, I'd like to get an idea what I'm dealing with and how much it'll run before I take it in.

Thanks all

thecardoc3

It's usually unlikely that just hearing a noise is going to lead to figuring out what the source is. Things like the direction the sound is coming from, how the sound is related to engine or vehicle speed, and more are important clues. In many cases these clues simply provide information for where to start looking for the annoying sound. That being said, this scraping sound appears to change with the vehicle speed even though I don't have that information in front of me. It also appears to pulse in a way that suggests wheel rotational speed during a light acceleration. At this point the "best guess" or where I would start looking is the splash shield behind the brake rotor (possibly drum) touching the rotor or drum.

trewaiomb

It sounds to me like it's coming from the left side when I drive, but I sit on the left side so that's probably not saying much. I just turned it on and sat in it for a minute; it doesn't make that sound at all while it's in park. It definitely increases in both loudness and speed the faster I go. While I was sitting in it while it's in park, though, the vehicle slightly shivers. Like a mild murmur, slightly more than a normal car when it's running in park. Does any of that change your opinion?

Thanks for your help by the way. Is checking the splash shield behind the brake rotor something an average person can do, do you think?

thecardoc3

Yes, you could check it by pulling the wheel off and just looking to see if the shield is touching the rotor or not. With the wheel out of the way, you could put a screwdriver or something like that between the rotor and the shield and just push the shield away from the rotor ensuring that there is some space in-between them and then see if the noise is gone. It would be much easier on a hoist especially if spinning the wheels creates the noise. I have a large hook tool that allows me to do this with the wheel on from the outside. But that would only be after I actually confirmed the sound was the rotor rubbing on the splash shield.