Hi Jim,
These kinds of problems can sometimes be quite elusive...I remember having an ignition "break-up" problem on a car once that was only "under load" so while in the service bay at the dealer they couldn't find it. Finally I insisted that the mechanic and service manager accompany me on a test drive (goodness they hate that, really!). Turned out to be the wire set, which statically, and even under high-rpm in neutral (no load) tested fine.
Anyway, if you run out of ideas, you might see if there is anyone with a local dyno. (Plenty of them around these parts.
) Then you can put the car on the dyno, simulate load conditions and poke around the car with your ears or even a stethoscope if need be, and probably do a better job of pinpointing the noise than when you are driving it in the real world.
Before that, take a wrench to
everything. I also had a groaning once upon starting and stopping that nobody could find, until one mechanic started tightening
everything underneath (or at least
testing the tightness with a wrench). He found that the
sway bar clamps were loose, but not obviously so; just a little bit.
Don't be alarmed; I've discovered all too often on my car that diagnosis of the problem is infinitely more expensive and time consuming than the fix. Good luck and report back!
(N.B. My wife is particularly sensitive to noises in her cars. Some of her cars go into the labs at Ford (when she's had enough!), on the shake and rattle machine, and or in the hands of engineers who ferret out these things. It isn't easy work. Driving with her in the car when there is a noise is strange, as she is forever pressing various panels to try and isolate these things...)
