Popping noise under the dashboard

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Volusiano

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Messages
1,461
Location
Phoenix, AZ
My LEAF has recently started having random popping noise (for lack of a better description) that seems to come from under the dashboard somewhere. The noise is only when the car is moving, and is very random. You can go over a hump or pothole and not hear anything, or you can hear it while driving on a smooth road with no bump. It's almost as if something is loose and swinging around (like a pendulum) and randomly hitting against something.

To add to the mystery, I recently had to replace my original windshield which was cracked by a rock. After that, I started to notice the popping noise, but I can't swear that it couldn't have happened already before the windshield replacement. It really doesn't seem like it could have been caused by the new windshield, but you never know. The popping noise (only one pop at a time, very random, but sometimes can be spaced out a second or two apart) seems to come from under the dashboard.

Anyway, I thought I'd throw it out there to see if anybody has experienced the same thing or not. Mine is a 2011 LEAF (June'11 delivery) and has 24K miles on it already. I'm from Phoenix.
 
Have you looked under the car? Sometimes something as simple as a loose plastic cover can be the culprit.

Given the recent work it wouldn't be surprising if someone had dropped a tool -- check to see if anything loose is laying ontop of the belly pan.
 
I've looked under the hood but not under the car. Not sure what I'll find there but I guess it's worth a look. The windshield replacement is all above the car and I was there watching the whole thing from beginning to end and don't think they left anything behind. I didn't want to take apart all the plastic edging that goes around the windshield to inspect because I'm afraid I don't know how to do it right and may make it worse. But I'll look under the car just in case. Thanks.
 
Volusiano said:
I've looked under the hood but not under the car. Not sure what I'll find there but I guess it's worth a look. The windshield replacement is all above the car and I was there watching the whole thing from beginning to end and don't think they left anything behind. I didn't want to take apart all the plastic edging that goes around the windshield to inspect because I'm afraid I don't know how to do it right and may make it worse. But I'll look under the car just in case. Thanks.

I would just take a look inside the front of the car with a flashlight for anything that looks out of place (an errant screwdriver, wrench, socket, etc... The front of the car also has a flexible pan attached underneath for aerodynamics. From under the car you can get a look to see if anything may be resting on top of that pan. If you drop a tool or part it will often drop down through the compartment and come to rest on that pan where it can bounce around. Alternatively you can tap on the pan from underneath to check if something loose is laying on top of it.
 
By inside the front of the car, you mean under the hood? If yes, then I'd already looked around there.

I've also already emptied everything out of the compartment and it didn't help.

I'm considering pulling out the casing that wraps around the navigation screen (like what you'd have to do if you were to do Phil's heater mod") so I can inside there for anything loose.
 
How about crawling and looking underneath the dashboard on the inside of the car on the driver and/or passenger side to see something is dangling.

Ian B
 
MrIanB said:
How about crawling and looking underneath the dashboard on the inside of the car on the driver and/or passenger side to see something is dangling.

Ian B
Yes, I did that, too. Didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

I also just opened up the navigation panel (per Phil's heat mod instruction) and looked inside and couldn't find anything unusual either. Then I popped up the hood again to look around, and I leaned on the driver side's headlight assembly, and it makes some popping noise every time I put pressure on it. I'm not sure if this is the cause or not, but I loosened and re-tightened a couple of bolts to eliminate the popping noise.

I have yet to drive the LEAF again to see if that did the trick. It's being charged right now. Will report back if it fixed it or not.
 
This could be caused by thermal expansion/ contraction. For instance, i've heard this once after pulling the Leaf outside in the warm sun after being in the cold garage. The plastic panels expand and something somewhere slips suddenly resulting in the audible pop.

-Phil
 
Could it be something in the compartment for sunglasses? A year or so ago someone here noted that sounds above your head were hard to pinpoint. It may be worth a look.
 
91040 said:
Could it be something in the compartment for sunglasses? A year or so ago someone here noted that sounds above your head were hard to pinpoint. It may be worth a look.
The sound is not above my head. It seems to be coming from under the inside dashboard.

In an earlier thread, I said I found that my left headlight makes a similar popping sound when pressure is exerted on it. I readjusted the bolts with some extra spacers to eliminate the noise. But as it turned out, it wasn't it when I took my LEAF out for a drive. The same sound is still there.

I think I have to learn to ignore it by now and not let it drive me crazy. The thing is that electric cars are so quiet that any kind of unexpected sound can be intruding.

Either that, or my final option is to take the car into the dealership to let them figure it out. Question is whether this would be a warranty item or not.
 
Do you have a smartphone? Install a recording app and place the phone at various locations. Maybe you can get a good idea as to it's location. You could also upload the file so we could try to help you ID it.

-Phil
 
There have also been a few occurrences of the sun visor not being latched. It is above your head, but sounds can be reflected. Anyway, it is easy enough to check.
 
Ingineer said:
Do you have a smartphone? Install a recording app and place the phone at various locations. Maybe you can get a good idea as to it's location. You could also upload the file so we could try to help you ID it.

-Phil
Good idea, Phil. And thanks for the offer. I will try to do this next time and post the sound up for diagnosis help.
 
Ingineer said:
Do you have a smartphone? Install a recording app and place the phone at various locations. Maybe you can get a good idea as to it's location. You could also upload the file so we could try to help you ID it.

-Phil

iTalk works well (and is free). You can transfer via wireless or extract the audio file with something like DiskAid.
 
I have an AIFF audio file of the popping noise from the iTalk recording on my iPhone, but I'm not sure what's the best way to post it here. Do I need to find a web hosting site first to post it there, then post a link here? Can somebody suggest a free web hosting site for audio files only? Thanks.
 
I finally got around to recording a Youtube video for your viewing/listening. Of course the video is immaterial, only the sound track is.

Here's the link. You can hear the popping noise throughout the clip randomly. Ignore a one time left-turn signal clicker sound at 0:15. Some examples of the popping sound is at 0:02, 0:04, 0:06, 0:10, etc.

The popping sound may sound faint on the video, but it's pretty clear and annoying from inside the car. The iPhone just didn't pick it up very well.

If you have any idea what it may be, your opinion would be very much appreciated! Thanks.
 
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