Grinding and scratching sound

[bislag]

I am not sure if this is an issue, or just a sound I need to get used to but I have to ask to be sure. Tried doing some searching here but didn't find anything relevant (at least with the search terms I used).

Minor details about car before getting into the details: 2016 GT w/PP 300 miles. No other options.

When pulling into my driveway, which is a little steep, there is a very noticeable grind/scratching sound as I progress up slowly. It is coming somewhere from the front of the car, possibly in the center or towards the passenger side. It does not happen while stationary, and it does not happen when trying to replicate on flat ground. It does go away if I am a bit more liberal with the throttle as I climb the hill(but that's excessive and annoying in a driveway).

I have noticed the sound, or at least one similar, briefly occurring while driving around town. Particularly when I transition between engine braking, and being on the throttle(the order doesn't matter). It is also possible that it is occurring between gears, but with the noise of shifting itself I can't accurately make that claim.

Below is a video of the sound as I pull up my driveway. Three notes before you watch. 1. You'll need to turn it up a little bit. 2. At the end of the video I pull the hand brake and it is loud because the phone is next to it. 3. You'll notice a quick "chatter" a second before me pulling the brake lever- that's just me pressing the clutch pedal quickly.

[ame]

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[bislag]

To add, I heard it this morning when accelerating from a stop in first. Only lasted half a second and not during shifting.

 

[mustang_guy]

Got your pm asking to view this thread. Its hard to say without the car being up on a rack for inspection. I would need equipment to hook up under the car in suspect areas to record and monitor them on a hill or your personal driveway. Sorry i cant be of help.

 

[wildcatgoal]

Mine makes what I think is similar noise when going up a hill in reverse... like the clutch is just chattering against itself. I've had 3 manual cars plus numerous rentals (in Europe) and none have made the noises my car makes. I'm told everything I hear is normal...

If this has nothing to do with engine RPM then it's a different noise.

 

[GT Pony]

Might be your exhaust system moving around some and 'chattering' when the engine gets bogged down a lot.

 

[Jetboy]

Your not rubbing the front splitter are you? Maybe you have two thing making similar noise?

 

[bislag]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I know its tough to come up with ideas without actually being there and I appreciate the effort. I can eliminate rubbing the front splitter, but I can see where that sounds similar. The exhaust is an interesting suggestion I hadn't considered.

Here's another video. Outside the car, passenger side. Kept the part where I backed down the driveway in to show that it doesn't happen when simply rolling not in gear (in reverse but with clutch pedal pressed). Definitely hear a grind followed by a sound similar to dragging something once I started to climb driveway. Definitely wasn't the front splitter.

[ame]

Also tried to get a video from the driver's side but it wasn't as clear. Going to be swinging by a dealer tomorrow, but not expecting to accomplish much since it isn't easily reproducible without something like my driveway.

 

[Jetboy]

Does it make the same noise on a different hill or driveway?

 

[GT Pony]

The exhaust is an interesting suggestion I hadn't considered.

Will it do it when the exhaust system is cool? ... like right after a cold start-up? Put on some heavy leather gloves and with the car off crawl under the rear end area and grab the exhaust system and shake it side to side in a quiet area and see if you hear the sound at all. you might have something loose inside the resonator or mufflers when the system is hot.

 

[bislag]

I had a much larger reply written on my phone, but before submitting I decided to run out and shake/smack the exhaust a little bit per GT Pony's suggestion.

GT Pony, you may be today's lucky winner.

Using a rubber mallet, tapping the front of the resonator towards the engine results in a very distinctive rattle. If I tap anywhere on the passenger pipe, including the cat, still rattle without any change in intensity. If I try the same on the driver's side, the rattle starts to go away the closer I get to the cat. No sounds when tapping either muffler or pipe just before.

I wasn't able to pinpoint the exact location of the rattle, but it sounds as if it is between the resonator and passenger cat. Hopefully this is the whole issue!

 

[GT Pony]

^^^ Nice ... bring that info to the dealer and see if they can replace whatever is the source. If it is the resonator, might be a good time to replace the resonator with and H-pipe or X-pipe.

 

[bislag]

^^^ Nice ... bring that info to the dealer and see if they can replace whatever is the source. If it is the resonator, might be a good time to replace the resonator with and H-pipe or X-pipe.

Most definitely. An X or H pipe is definitely in the plans, though I'll probably have them just sort this out with OEM parts since I've barely passed 300 miles. Don't want to change the way anything sounds until I'm sure what it's all actually supposed to sound like lol.

I'll update this thread with the results once a dealer has taken a look. Hopefully this is all it is and they're able to resolve it quickly.

Thanks again for the advice, and thanks to everyone else for taking the time to look.

 

[bislag]

TLDR at the bottom for those that don't want any details and just the result.

Brought my car to the local dealer, told them everything. They initially couldn't replicate sound and asked me to drive and point it out. Shop foreman gets in with me. I make it happen for half a second and he immediately says, "that's the transmission" and has me recreate it a few times including forcing the consistent grind going up a small hill. He grabs another tech, gets in the drivers seat and he recreates it with him driving and that tech listening. He checks oasis for all TSBs and finds nothing relevant based on what he had seen so far. They want me to leave the car so they can start on it.

This dealer is within 5 miles of my house but had no loaners available for a several days. I call the dealer I purchased at and they have me come on down."

Drive an hour and go through the whole thing again. Show their "transmission guy" the sound. He seems less interested(apparently he was backlogged with crap and they interrupted his pulling of a trans from another car) but confirms the sound is present. They get me set up with Enterprise.

Right as the rep from enterprise shows up to pick me up, another tech practically runs out of the back and says "are you the guy with the mustang, let me hear it." I recreate it for him, and he tells me that there's a bulletin for a friction modifier to added, it's totally not a performance issue, just noises. They'll get the fluid and sort that out. I'm having one red flag here, since the first dealer found no relevant TSBs, but I don't really care as long as it's fixed.

They have to order the fluid since it's not from Ford and it'll take a few days, so I'll have to come back again. Decide to have the first dealer do the work since it's just fluids and they're 5 min away instead of an hour. Get back there, tell them everything and they're a bit skeptical, check oasis again and find nothing, so they're going to call the other dealer Monday morning and try to sort everything out.

TLDR: Two different dealers think it's trans. Local dealer found no TSBs but wants to get working on it. Buying dealer's tech claimed there's a bulletin to add a friction modifier and that it's not a performance concern. So basically :headbonk: :frusty:

 

[GT Pony]

Right as the rep from enterprise shows up to pick me up, another tech practically runs out of the back and says "are you the guy with the mustang, let me hear it." I recreate it for him, and he tells me that there's a bulletin for a friction modifier to added, it's totally not a performance issue, just noises. They'll get the fluid and sort that out. I'm having one red flag here, since the first dealer found no relevant TSBs, but I don't really care as long as it's fixed.

Strange, because the Mt-82 manual transmissions in the S550 already have dual clutch fluid with a friction modifier in it from the factory is the info I've heard. I'm wondering if that Tech is referencing a TSB for Mustangs prior to 2015.

https://www.fcsdchemicalsandlubricants.com/main/quickref/mantrans.pdf

NOTE 6: For total fluid change add 27mL of XL-18, MT-82 Transmission Additive

 

[bislag]

That's what popped into my head when he first mentioned it. I was thrown for a loop once they mentioned the additive was sourced from a 3rd party chemical company though. I just assumed that the additive Ford normally uses would be easily sourceable from Ford. I didn't push him on it too much because he went into enough detail that it seemed plausible.

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