Hey everyone so today I started up my Monte and noticed a strange noise come out of the exhaust. So I shut the car off and went around to the back and use the remote start so I could listen and it sounds like it is coming from the left pipe. When my camera gets done charging I will make a quick video as I'm sure hearing it will help you guys help me determine what the problem is. It is really strange. I have never heard this sound until today. It also had a strange tone when you actually drive and like I said, it is only out of the left side. It's strange, but I'll post a video up here in just a couple minutes.

 

So naturally when I went to go take a video of it the car didn't do it. I'll keep an ear out and see if I hear it again. It was strange though. It was almost like a pop or a crackle type sound but it also didn't quite sound like a backfire or anything like that. It was a strange sound. At first I thought it might have been a hole in the exhaust that just came through but if it was you would think it would be doing it more often and more constant. My car was a northern car, that made it's way down south which is where I got it, so it does have a pretty big amount of rust on it which is why I thought it may have been a hole. But now that it isn't doing it anymore, I have no clue. If anyone has any ideas I'm all ears. I know it's hard to give a diagnosis when you can't hear it. but if anyone has an idea I would appreciate it. Thanks

 

there is nothing worse than the intermittent noise without hearing the problem it is hard to diagnose or offer too much information on how to fix the problem. Could be a loose hanger on the exhaust causing a rattle, but it sounds more mechanical from your description. I would start by checking the plugs and wires (personally) just in case one of them was loose causing a mild misfire or one of the plugs is bad. If it is running smoothly and idling fine this may be a waste of your time, but with the intermittent problem the hardest part is actually diagnosing what is causing the problem.

 

Where do you live, could something have climbed up in there?

 

I looked at all the hangers and they all appear to be ok. I did bang on the left muffler and you can almost hear something move around. It almost sounds like metal sliding up against the muffler. Could I have rust in my muffler? or as JC said, is it possible something crawled up my muffler? maybe I'm hearing some twigs and things like that rattling around in there, or maybe it's rust, I have no clue. I'll keep an ear out and see if I hear that sound again when I turn it on. So far I havn't heard it again but I still hear the change in the exhaust not. I'll take a look at my plugs and wires. But my car does run fine, only thing I have noticed is that my gas pedal almost feels "mushy". And by that I mean that there is not really any gitty up and go. I feel like when I first got my car when I wanted to get on the gas it would go, it wasn't laggy or anything. Maybe I was just used to my old car which was about 100hp lower then my Monte. But who knows, I'll take a look at everything and I'll keep an ear out. Thanks guys

 

Mine started the same thing last week. Almost a "chuffing" sound. When I looked under the car, there was excess carbon everywhere. It looks like the top of my right muffler has rusted completely out. The hangers were fine. I had to feel the top of the muffler to discover that it was damaged.