Hello all! Thanks in advance for all tips and help! car is a 2016 IS300 awd 35k odo

So... It just started to get a little warmer here in Chicago, and a weird noise started coming from my car that really annoys me!! I'm not sure whether the noise is coming from one of my wheels (brakes, rotors, wheel bearing?) or from my engine (chain timing belt maybe?), but basically it sounds like metal sliding on metal, and not the squealing, ear-piercing way but a more subtle way that requires you to open the window to really hear it, almost like the noise jingle bells make but a single continuous tone. It happened both when I was braking AND accelerating AND coasting, so i was honestly a bit stumped. usually started around 50 mph (sometimes when i was accelerating to 50 it would start at like 20mph) but would keep going all the way down until I stopped. Noise did not get louder or quieter based on speed. Noise also never present when the car is not moving (revving in Neutral/Park). Like I said, One continuous tone that doesn't change until I stop or until it just goes away. At first I thought that maybe it was my brakes and rotors, since I haven't changed them since I bought the car like 4 months ago (don't judge Its too cold for me to be sitting outside for hours lol) and they were quite bad. "Brake pad wear pins rubbing on rotors maybe?" I thought. Rotors could not be resurfaced because they were so bad and the pads had like 50 miles on them. Yikesss. So I bought new rotors and brake pads yesterday and changed those out. 4 hours later I hop back in the car and the noise is happening it seemed like much more often than before the brake change. I take the car around town, and do a few 60-100 guns on the highway to make sure everything was good and in fact the car handled beautifully. I go to bed, wake up this morning for my crappy 3 hour long med term class and the noise is nowhere to be heard!! I tried slowly gunning, petal to the metal, slow braking, hard braking, nothing. The noise might return once I get out of class tho. Any Ideas? Much love bois <3

 

This honestly sounds like the noise I was hearing when my brake dust shield was scraping the rotor... Really simple fix, but also something that is easy to overlook.

It could have also been a rock or some debris caught against your rotors - I have also had the same thing happen. It's a very scary sound. But, I could clearly hear the rock dropping and banging against the underside of the car, along with the noise stopping, after a few miles. Have you tried lifting the car and inspecting the wheels and brakes yourself?

Without hearing the noise, it's really hard to say. If you have a video or sound clip that might help. Honestly the best bet would be to go to the shop again of course.

 

I haven't thought of myself as a boi for at least a couple decades but I'll try!

As said, a good visual inspection is in order. Noises are hard to diagnose over the internet. You should go check for rocks though

and careful w/ the 60-100 "guns." public roads are not your personal race track.

If I can help save one life... here's a reminder what a highway gun can get you when a 3IS meets concrete:



and this is the good side...

 

Yikes! that looks pretty bad! I ofcourse wasn't doing anything crazy like lane changing or anything it was just straight line acceleration. Kept it as safe as possible.

Arentz: Actually, I was taking a look at the dust plates and my front plates looked to be curved, almost bent. It was late and I had an exam to study for so I only looked at one side but I thought that it might be like that of purpose, maybe to disipate heat or whatever. Are yours bent like this aswell? will have to take another look later tn.

 

I hear you. When I was younger I went really really fast too. At those speeds though a tire blowout or debris in the road or unexpected behavior of another car can really really mess up your day.

 

I need to actually look at mine. It's possible that that's their normal shape. Maybe in the meantime someone could chime in if they know?