My car goes to the dealer next week to have the parking brake cable replaced. While there, I thought I'd ask them to check a few things in hopes they'd stumble upon a cause for this "tinkling noise" thing.

Aside from asking them to look for loose heat shield connections (they'll be under there anyway) etc., any other easy things to check?

Again, it's a faint, airy tinkling noise seemingly coming from the engine compartment...

- Only occurs when in gear
- Sound does NOT vary with engine or transmission speed. It's the same sound, same pitch whether 2,000 rpm or 5,000 rpm
- More noticable under light throttle, but still there when coasting or full throttle
- Never happens when just revving the engine in neutral, whether clutch in or out
- It's been making this (faint) noise for years, with both the original engine and now the "new" one
- The car starts, idles and accelerates wonderfully

updates?
 

I tried recording my sounds but there is too much background noise, but i will keep trying... I have MIAC and thats under the dash by the A/C and is coolant flow from what I read on this forum. To me that coolant sound is more like sand in a can, where as this tinkling sounds more deep like marbles or popcorn and its underneath the car.

It does very much sound like detonation, but I have brand new plugs coils and wires from Mazmart... I have read the various threads on here that say detonation at low RPM is not an issue with this engine, so if this sound is considered normal, I can breath a sigh of relief because its been bugging the $hit out of me...

Reading back, and the more I think about this, it probably IS gear-lash from the straight-cut stationary gears. When the engine is cold & oil is thicker, no noise. As it warms up, the noise gradually becomes more apparent. My car has almost 50,000 miles on it now, and the noise has never changed. If it is gear lash noise, it may be more or less apparent in different cars, due to variability in manufacturing tolerances and other variables.

I'm guessing it is relatively normal and benign.

My car does this also and only recently noticed as I replaced the engine and was "paying more attention". I have new coils, new plugs, new wires, reman engine, new o2 sensors, new maf. Its been doing this for 8,000 miles.

My 2011 makes the same noise, and has since the day I brought it home.
Only happens under light throttle, in pretty much any gear, and is more noticeable when I have the windows down.

Honestly, I've always just attributed it to being the apex seals sliding around the housings. A little bit more throttle, and they seal perfectly which eliminates the ringing. Back off the throttle a bit, and the ringing returns.

Charles' idea that its the rotor's stationary gears is both interesting and scary.
To have that much play, while under full oil pressure trying to prevent metal to metal contact while allowing the gear teeth to literally ring is really scary on brand new engines, like mine.

I guess the easy way to prove or disprove that is to increase oil thickness to see if it decreases or vanishes with thicker oil.

BC.

If it is gear lash, a little rattling from it is likely harmless. My car has almost 60,000 miles on it, and the sound hasn't changed since it was new. Actually, almost nothing has changed since it was new...

My 2011 MT has the same noise and I only have about 6K miles on it. It has always seemed harmless to me.

Soo i know this post its very out dated but i was wondering if anyone actually figured it out i have this problem but have no idea even how to narrow it down it seems like such a random thing like i cant ever repeat it and my driving habits are usually the same when it does happen only when im driving it slow seems to happen cold or hot...

Hey old thread but I have the same problem. Isn't causing any issues so far, but this guy was spot on when he said it sounds like pouring screws in a jar. I only notice it in 1st and 2nd, usually when I'm turning it sounds like little pieces of metal sliding around. Anyone figured this out yet or its just an 8 thing?

Run a search...it has been discussed as nauseam on this forum. Search before posting

typical MIAC sound heard to me here

Hi everyone I have a 04 also I was experiencing the same thing. I came to find out there was just air bubbles in the coolant reservoir. I took the cap off and added coolant, left the cap off and started it an ran it with the cap off for awhile, put the cap back on after a few minutes and it was all gone.

My car has only 3000 miles and this noise is driving me crazy!! I've changed my coolant but didn't burp it according to the FSM. I'm gonna try burping the coolant system. Hopefully it's that.