I chased a phantom rattle in a minivan for three days straight.

It was a 2018 Honda Odyssey that came in with a noise the owner said was 'like marbles in a can'. I checked the usual stuff, shields, heat guards, even the spare tire well. I finally found it on day three, after putting about 15 miles on it myself. A kid's plastic toy from under the second row seat had rolled perfectly into a cavity in the frame rail. It only rattled on left turns over 35 mph! Has anyone else had a noise hunt that turned into a total scavenger hunt?

4 comments

4 Comments

quinnm771mo ago

Ugh, found a bolt in a door panel once.

brooke_taylor1mo ago

Oh man, that's the worst... it's like cars just collect spare parts. I swear every used vehicle I've ever owned had some random screw or washer rattling in the dash or a door. You find them years later and just wonder how it even got there.

danielr993d ago

Nah I gotta push back on "like marbles in a can" being the worst. That description is actually pretty helpful compared to what most customers give you. At least it tells you something small and hard is bouncing around in a hollow space. Try getting "it just sounds... wrong" and then having to drive 20 miles to finally hear a faint tick that only happens at one specific RPM in third gear. That's the real nightmare. Your rattle at least had a clear cause once you knew where to look.

taylor.william1mo ago

Like marbles in a can" noises are the worst. I spent a whole afternoon convinced a customer's truck had a bad wheel bearing, but it was just a loose lug nut in the center cap rolling around. Felt pretty dumb when I finally saw it.