In many countries, owning a personal car is a necessity. Cars come with instruction manuals but they’re really meant to help with routine maintenance. If you don’t know what’s under the hood of your car, the manual is a good place to begin learning. That said, the manual isn’t going to help you much with car maintenance. That’s something you learn over time. The basics include knowing when and how to change your tires, when and how to change the oil, and how to jump start a car, among other things. It doesn’t take too long to get the hang of it. What’s not as easy to learn is what certain problematic sounds coming from your car mean. You could describe the sound to your mechanic and they can maybe figure out the cause. Alternatively, you can diagnose car noise with My Car Makes Noise.
My Car Makes Noise is a library of car noises. The website sorts sounds by location i.e. where is the sound coming from. The sound can come from under the hood, under the car, or from outside the car. If you’re not sure where the sound is coming from, you can listen to the entire sound library.
If you know where the sound is coming from, i.e from under the hood or outside the car select the sound library for it. The library divides the sounds into different problem areas. The ‘Under the car’ section contains three other sub-sections; Noise of Suspension, Brake and Wheel Noises, and Exhaust System Noises. Expand each section and click the different sounds listed.
Each sound has a diagnosis right under it. For example, the sound your car makes when there is a problem with the battery e.g. it’s dying, is labelled as such.
You need to be slightly familiar with the correct name for car parts to understand the diagnosis. A quick Google search will help you out.
My Car Makes Noise is a good place to diagnose car noise. You can perhaps even share it with your mechanic. What you shouldn’t do is try and fix the problem yourself. You should also listen to what your mechanic says. The sound library serves as a general guide but your mechanic is looking at your car and can still diagnose it more accurately. My Car Makes Noise can point you in the general direction of the problem but your mechanic is the car doctor.
You can submit your own sounds to My Car Makes Noise. If you decide to contribute to the website, make sure you get an accurate diagnosis for the sound you’re submitting.