This has been baffling me for the entire time I've owned the Exige. I know it's a "normal sound", because the car has been trouble free and had multiple track and service inspections with a clean bill of health.

Pretty much every time I come to a stop (think traffic light) and then start moving again, I hear a "pop" sound

The sound is EXACTLY like the one these things make:


What the hell is this sound? It sounds like it's coming from the engine bay, but that could be my imagination. Master Cylinder? Clutch? I've thought about calling this one into Click & Clack, but I figured to give tdub a chance at it first

10/5/2009 7:01:19 AM

Ima go with midgets under the hood playing DROP POPZ.

10/5/2009 11:32:14 AM

So it occurs when you begin moving and not when placing the car from neutral into 1st quickly?

10/5/2009 12:36:10 PM

Quote :

"It sounds like it's coming from the engine bay, "

haha, no shit. how many moving parts does that car have that don't live in the engine bay?

10/5/2009 11:28:41 PM

Quote :

"coming from the engine bay"

Quote :

"midgets under the hood "

does not compute

[Edited on October 6, 2009 at 12:29 AM. Reason : lol]

10/6/2009 12:28:06 AM

Quote :

"haha, no shit. how many moving parts does that car have that don't live in the engine bay?"

It's got a not inconsequential number of moving parts up front. Namely brake and cooling bits. I thought it might be something in the A/C system, but it does it regardless of the A/C being on or off.

Quote :

"So it occurs when you begin moving and not when placing the car from neutral into 1st quickly?"

Yep. I don't speed shift into 1st gear anyway I thought if I have a hydraulic clutch, that could be the noise I hear, but I don't know if that's the type of clutch system on a Lotus or not.

10/6/2009 11:49:15 AM

are the lug nuts tight? dumb question, but applicable

other than that, could be strut bushings, cv axles, spider gears, diff, or any number of things


i would jack one front wheel up, put it in low gear and have someone rotate the jacked up wheel back and forth hard and crawl around until you find it

10/6/2009 6:29:48 PM

^ it only pops once when moving from a stop, so I wouldn't think it's anything to do with the drivetrain/axle/diff/shocks. When I get back to Seattle next week I'll try to pinpoint it better

10/6/2009 11:21:34 PM

CV shafts? Any vibrations when driving on the highway?

10/7/2009 10:42:37 AM

Hamster farts.

10/7/2009 11:45:47 AM

could be the brake pads loose in the calipers, the spring clips may be gone

10/11/2009 8:00:03 PM

^thats very possible, the pads are pretty near time to swap out based on the mileage on them. Guess I'll see if the sound goes away after I get new pads put on.

10/12/2009 12:09:32 AM

like i said jack it up in gear and rock the wheel back and forth, then do the same with the brake on, till you find the noise

10/14/2009 8:59:28 AM