I have a 1995 Camry (4 door sedan, automatic). Last week, I went into a ditch. The front part of the car hit the ground. I had a cracked windshield washer tank, and I went in to have that replaced. Nothing else was wrong that I could see, besides cosmetic stuff. I told the mechanics to check over the car for anything else because I notice that when I am going up a hill or after accelerating from a complete stop or turn, there is a grinding/scraping sound. Not sure where it is coming from, but it only lasts a couple seconds. Seems to happen when my car is shifting (like I said, going up a hill or coming off of a stop), but not every time. The mechanics said they found nothing wrong. I don't know how well they looked it over.

Any idea what this could be?

Thanks,

Jenny

 

The washer tank tends to crack with age.

What area is the noise coming from, the side that the went into the ditch? It is a grinding like when some one trys to shift gears without using a clutch? Does the noise seem to be in sync with the tires rotating? It is a rattle/banging type noise?

Might be the exhaust pipe system is a little loose and now rattles at certain times, this type of noise can sound terrible but is not of that great concern.

 

I don't know what that sounds like, shifting gears without a clutch, that is. I'm a 22 year old female and I don't know much about cars.

I think the sound is coming from the back end of the car, so it could be something with the exhaust, like you suggested. The sound is hard to describe. It's like metal scraping. Sometimes I hear it when I'm making a turn, going up a hill, or when I first accelerate and the car is shifting gears. Otherwise, when I'm driving along, everything sounds fine. I've been driving it like this for about a week and a half now.

I'm making a 4 hour trip upstate this weekend. I'm not too worried about it, but I will probably have it checked out again when I get back.

 

I took my car in and had it checked over. The noise is actually a loose shield under my gas tank and its resting on my exhaust. But that's not the only thing they found. Turns out my radiator is staring to leak, head gasket, valve cover gasket are leaking as well.

 

The shield should be an easy fix. The plastic tops on the radiator tend to crack over time, valve cover gasket leak is pretty normal (try tightening the four large nuts), head gasket not that normal but does happen.

Make sure it is a head gasket and not something else. Keep in eye on the coolant level.

Remember shops are always drumming for business and even if you take the car in just for tire air they will make a list of items they think need fixing.

 

The estimate I got was crazy, adding up to almost 3000! I thinking about just getting a new car since I've had this one since high school!

 

This sounds a lot like what my car is going through right now (the grinding sound). I went to visit my cousin today (an hour away from me), car was fine when I got there. On the way home I ended up running on some very badly paved road, like hitting 4 inch potholes going at at about 65Km/h (40Miles/h). The three bumps were pretty hard, like shocks bottoming out, but not overly concerning bad. I did hit my breaks hard to slow down as I went over the potholes. I didn't realize it right there and then, but soon after that, when I was making a left turn (from a complete stop), I started to hear a grinding sound. Kind of like a slipping clutch grind, but without the high scraping sound. More of the low sound like metal on metal grind. Like jmaaske said, it's only for a couple of seconds then stops as I'm driving. I did notice that the RPMs was at about 2200 - 2300 when the sounds starts. Pass that or before that mark, no grinding sound.

It sounds like it was coming from the back when I was driving, so I thought it might have been my break drums. But when I got home, I put the car in park and revved to 2200, and there was the grinding sound again. So I realized then it wasn't my breaks. Having the door open, I noticed that the sound was coming from the front bottom end, but couldn't be sure. I opened the hood, and pulled the throttle cable to rev the car, but didn't really hear the grinding (it was faint). So I don't think it was coming from the engine. I sat back in the cab, revved and heard the grind more clearly, and still sounds like it's coming from the bottom front end. If I had to guess, between the bottom of floor board of front seats and the front axel.

I'm hoping it's a loose shield and not my tranny. Any confirmation would be greatly appreciated. As I drive to work everyday, and won't be able to see my mechanic till next week. I want to make sure that my car is safe to drive, and that I'm not making anything worse.

Thanks!

 

Yes, turns out it was the fuel tank heat shield. Went to my mechanic and he has removed. Got rid of a noise that I've been hearing for awhile too, it was very subtle so didn't pay mind. Guess that was the warning sign that the shield was about to fall off.