# Louder than usual pinging on cool down **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** l, ls, saturn\ **Created:** [September 30, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/louder-than-usual-pinging-on-cool-down/37351 "2009-09-30T01:56:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![billbarbour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@billbarbour](https://community.cartalk.com/u/billbarbour)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/louder-than-usual-pinging-on-cool-down/37351/1 "2009-09-30T01:56:29Z")
Noticed today after parking the car in the garage from a 15 minute drive that the pinging cooldown noise you normally hear was louder and lasted longer. I was listening to it for a good 5 minutes before going in to the house. The frequency of the pinging did not change. Is this something to worry about? 2002 Saturn L200 with 73K miles on it ---
**Author:** ![billbarbour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@billbarbour](https://community.cartalk.com/u/billbarbour)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/louder-than-usual-pinging-on-cool-down/37351/2 "2009-09-30T02:19:35Z")
Attaching a recording I made of the noise. ---
**Author:** ![wentwest](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wentwest/32/6073_2.png) [@wentwest](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wentwest)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/louder-than-usual-pinging-on-cool-down/37351/3 "2009-09-30T05:36:17Z")
This sounds like a completely normal contracting sound of heat shields on the exhaust system. You should either 1. go in the house more quickly, or 2. find something better to worry about (war in Afghanistan and Iraq, health care, your job, leaking water heater, ear hair, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://community.cartalk.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/louder-than-usual-pinging-on-cool-down/37351/4 "2009-09-30T05:56:40Z")
I wouldn’t be suprised if have a heat shield starting to wiggle loose, but I agree that there’s no reason to worry about it at this point. ---
**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 9:41am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/louder-than-usual-pinging-on-cool-down/37351/5 "2009-09-30T09:41:51Z")
I don’t hear anything unusual in your recording. I suggest you ignore it for now. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 12:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/louder-than-usual-pinging-on-cool-down/37351/6 "2009-09-30T12:38:49Z")
You can count this as one more vote for this noise just being a very normal one that takes place as the exhaust system cools down. Even if it is a bit different from what you used to hear, it is still normal. Some cars exhibit this problem, others do not. Yours is one of the ones that does. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/louder-than-usual-pinging-on-cool-down/37351/7 "2009-09-30T12:50:25Z")
It’s NOT pinging. It’s the normal sound of metal cooling. You can hear the same sound in a house that has base board heating.