Dear Car Talk
In late 2016 we bought a 2016 Buick Enclave with very low miles from a Buick dealer. It had a clean Carfax report.
Occasionally (not daily or even weekly) as we are driving (all but one occasion always above 40 or 50mph. The other time was starting away from a stop sign). We don’t know how often it happens, as its my husband’s car…he hears it rarely but with the radio always on and his slight hearing issue, he doesn’t always hear it when I do.
Because this sound is quite loud but so brief, its difficult to describe. It lasts just 2-4 seconds but sounds like… what? Well, it sounds like a giant metallic zipper yank. Or a huge socket wrench, being wildly spun around. Or a gear or bike chain being stripped or slipping. Nothing else happens other than that noise… no transmission shift or anything else at all. It’s always “WHAT WAS THAT???”
It “sounds’ to me like it is in the drivetrain under the console area between front seats, it seems slightly louder on the driver’s side. But I can’t really say where it’s coming from. Certainly does not sound like its outside the car, or the wheels .
Dealers and mechanics say that unless they can hear it they have no way to ID it. Fat chance; there is no way to predict it, record it, or make it happen on demand.
What’s your thought? I wonder if we should think about getting rid of it before something dire ( or expensive) happens, as we suspect may have been the reason it was traded so soon.
Hoping you can solve this, thanks!
Kris