Aaaarrrggghhhhhh! The noise went away

[Jeb]

I am perplexed.

Two nights ago, my 87 Vert started buzzing. It ran fine, I parked it in the garage and everything was hunky dory.

The next morning, there was a buzzing sound coming from behind the dash. I couldn't tell precisely where but I believe it was from either behind the speedometer or the information panel. I started pulling fuzes and finally the noise stopped when I pulled the breaker marked Aux. It's the last one down on the far right hand side of the fuze panel.

I got busy and just left the breaker out and today, when I went out to start looking for the problem, after I had searched the owner's manual and the shop manual for a clue, I put the breaker back in and....no noise.

Nothing stopped working when I had the breaker out!! Horn, lights, door locks, windows, radio, wipers, everything worked even though I had the breaker out. The car still ran like a top.

Now, it doesn't even make sense for me to pull the panels and see if I can find what's wrong simply because there isn't anything wrong now.

Would any of you kind souls have had a similar experience that you would like to share with me?

The only code I pulled was an old 36 MAF Burn-Off that I took care of a few weeks ago but didn't clear.

Help!

 

[Jeb]

It's gotta be ghosts.

Today, I went out in the garage and the thing sounded like a buzzsaw. Again, I was busy and couldn't pull her apart but the noise sounded like it was coming from either the left side of the area behind the information center or the right side of the area behind the guage cluster.

I pulled the breaker again and hopefully, I'll either get time to dig into it or someone here will come up with the answer and save me some time.

I'll love ya forever. (strictly in the non-biblical sense of the word)

 

[tonylong]

Possibly cable noise from the master odometer ? I believe that is still cable driven even though the other miles and stuff is all digital. You could try pulling it off although it may be a PITA.

 

[Jeb]

It buzzes when the car is sitting still with the key off, key on, doesn't matter. I can't tell if it's buzzing with the engine running. lol

It sounds more like a stuck relay than anything. What puzzles me is that when I pull the breaker, it stops. Then it didn't start again until several hours (over night) after I re-inserted the breaker.

Well, when I get time, I'll start pulling the panels off and seeing if I can lay a Mk1 eyeball on it, or use my Mk1 finger to see if I can feel it.

Thanks.

 

[tonylong]

Good Luck. Vettes are never boring! Keep us posted on what you find. Maybe someone else can pipe in with more ideas. I didn't think there were any relays under there but with your description it has to be electrical. Possibly the turn flasher unit? Does the car have a seat belt buzzer ? Mine just has a light. Both of these are silent with key off.

 

[JoBu]

Concur with Tony. A defective flasher relay will buzz like that and drive you up the wall. I'm not sure if the flasher is located where your noise is coming from or not. Best of luck with your search. These kind of things can drive one up a wall.

Cheers,

Joe

 

[tonylong]

I think all you need is access to the under dash area. You can get in there by removing the hush panels - carpeted pieces under driver and pass dash, right above your knees. They come off easily just 2 or 3 screws and detach the courtesy light. Taking them off will also make it easier to hear where the buzz is coming from. If you need to get in there it helps to remove the seat bottoms. I leave my bottoms unclipped all the time and use the space to store stuff out of sight.

 

[Jeb]

I don't believe it's the flasher unit as both the turn signals and the 4-ways work even though the breaker is out.

I'm going out of town tomorrow and won't be able to get into it until a week or so but I really appreciate the responses thus far.

I'm pretty sure it'll be easy to figure out once I get the hush panels out and can put my nose in there but it's certainly got me perplexed...if only because pulling the breaker didn't lose me anything - everything still works.

I have an idea that whatever it is, is somehow connected to something the car never had but I can't imagine what that might be since the thing is loaded so there really shouldn't be any wiring harnesses to nowhere, if you know what I mean.

 

[Corvette95]

Do you have the bose system still in your car? The bose relay goes bad and the amps powers up with the radio OFF , this will cause the noise as well.

 

[Jeb]

Do you have the bose system still in your car? The bose relay goes bad and the amps powers up with the radio OFF , this will cause the noise as well.

Yes, I do and I thank you for that information.

Hopefully, this week I'll be able to get the time to do some digging. Can you tell me where the Bose relay is located?

 

[SSTibet]

A year or so ago I had to get the dash removed to find what was making a plastic type rubbing noise (chirping like a bird ) at low rpm's. We tightened everything we could see and also added some padding. It did not go away! It comes from the right hand side of the dash where the passenger airbag is. I am suspecting the air conditioning louvers or some sort of plastic part like that.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,

Selim

 

[Jeb]

A year or so ago I had to get the dash removed to find what was making a plastic type rubbing noise (chirping like a bird ) at low rpm's. We tightened everything we could see and also added some padding. It did not go away! It comes from the right hand side of the dash where the passenger airbag is. I am suspecting the air conditioning louvers or some sort of plastic part like that.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,

Selim

Several months ago I finally got around to getting hearing aids and since then I've also heard that "chirping" you describe but mine comes from the console area (I think). It sounds like plastic rubbing on plastic but I haven't been able to determine which pieces are rubbing so I've learned to live with it. To be honest, now that I can hear the birds singing again, the chirping is actually rather nice.

I believe I have determined the source of my noise however. I think it's the alarm relay. I found yesterday that my power door locks don't work with the breaker pulled and the "Security" light in the information panel doesn't come on anymore. Phew! I can live with that for a while since I never lock the car anyway (I'd rather they open the door rather than slice the convertable top open). When I get around to it, I'll pull the hush panel and replace the relay.

I appreciate everyone's efforts here to help me on this one. Now if only someone can come up with a FREE 100 HP, I'll be all set.

Again......thanks to all.