Hi everyone,

Please gimme some much needed advise.

I was driving my RX8 and hear this rolling dice sound near the glove box of my car. Seems like a screw came loose and tickling around somewhere.

But when i was in 1st gear, the rolling dice sound seem to come from the wheels and sometimes below the car. It becomes really loud when its in low gear.

Does any one have similar experiene?

Best Wishes,
Wei.

 

Yup, it's been heard plenty before. It's known as MIAC or Marbles in a Can. Search around for that and read up on it.

 

Could you tell me if its a serious problem?

My gear and handbrake was quite hot yesterday. Are these 2 problems related?

thanks for ur help!

 

Offhand, if you have serious heat coming from your center console, you need to check your cat RIGHT after driving. Take a look underneath and see if it is glowing at all. If it is, your cat is clogged and needs to be replaced ASAP (if you are in the US, you have a federally mandated 8yr 80,000 mile warranty). Continuing to drive with a clogged cat can damage your O2 sensors, your engine, the underbody of the car, and in worst cases will set fire to you car (it's happened quite a bit).

The MIAC sound is the intake valving malfunctioning, which CAN have the effect of running way too rich, which can quickly destroy the cat, so in that sense they might be related. But they are 2 separate issues. Classic example of how 1 un-addressed problem leads to further problems and further failures, driving up the total cost of repair.

 

hey RIWWP,

Thanks for your much needed tips but I do have a couple more question, which I hope you can help.

I asked a mechanic to have a look today. I could not reproduce the sound and so he can't find any problem. He used a computer to test the engine etc and there was no problems. But I am not too sure if this mechanic is reliable.

The MIAC sound went away for 2 day but came back a tiny bit (very soft) when i go up a hump today. It happens only in low gear as opposed to many forumers, who experienced it in high gear. Any ideas what is really happening? Does it mean something is malfunctioning?

Thank you!