[[email protected]]

Hi there,
I am new to the community and this is my first post, please let me know if I am missing any important detail.

2015 Mazda6 Grand Touring is my first car, I love this in its Glorious Soul Red color and I want to keep this forever running.

I recently had a road trip of about 2500 miles within 12 days (Bay Area, LA, Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Zion NP, Vegas, Bay Area). Odometer reading at the start of the trip was around, 54000. I had no issues before or during the trip. After returning from the trip, withing a week I am hearing this noise when speed is less than 10 mph and mostly while accelerating from full stop at a traffic signal. Also, it is not very frequent, so very hard to record again and again.

Please listen to the attached audio file (blinkers are running and around 6 second time is the noise) https://soundcloud.com/hardik-senjaliya-393561875%2Fjensen-dr-mazda6-gt .
After driving about 10 minutes, I parked on a street (engine was running) and heard the noise when started moving out of the parking lane.

Since this is my first car, I do not have much knowledge of what this kind of noise is, so I did an oil change this week but still did not solve the problem.

Please share your experience and advises.

Thanks a lot!

 

[tickerguy]

That may be a bad CV joint. If its not consistent those can be fun to isolate without removing the axles from the car. If it occurs with the wheels turned (especially sharply) as opposed to them being straight it is much more-likely to be a CV.

 

[[email protected]]

That may be a bad CV joint. If its not consistent those can be fun to isolate without removing the axles from the car. If it occurs with the wheels turned (especially sharply) as opposed to them being straight it is much more-likely to be a CV.

Thank you tickerguy!

Yes, it is not consistent, and it happens even when wheels are straight. I will try to check if there's some grease around and let you know.

 

[bdc101]

Have you been under the car just to look and see what might be stuck down there? It could be as simple as something caught under the car from your road trip, that you can only hear at low speeds.

 

[[email protected]]

Have you been under the car just to look and see what might be stuck down there? It could be as simple as something caught under the car from your road trip, that you can only hear at low speeds.

Thank you bdc101!
I have tried but couldn't find anything obvious. I will try again to see if I can find something!

 

[[email protected]]

Went to local mechanic for an inspection and found that it was due to worn out tensioner (OEM PE0315980C). Paid $650 for inspection and replacement. Hope this helps to members. Thank you!

They did a courtesy inspection and said there's oil leakage, and therefore I need to replace valve cover gasket, oil control solenoid and seal for an estimated cost of $850. They didn't mention anything about rough idle, however, someday during cold start, I do notice rough idle during long red light stop. I am going to check and replace the engine air filter to start with and see if it helps with the rough idle. Let me know your thoughts.

Update with images:

 

[Raymond]

Glad you got the problem sorted. At unbelievable prices I might add...