2001, C240. Purchased 2 months ago, 21,800 miles, single owner. Clean Carfax. Experiencing an intermittent noise inside the vehicle which sounds a lot like a fan blade hitting or clicking as it turns. Climate controls off, fan off, radio and all accessories off. Noise appears to be independant of engine (idled or rev'd while in park or neutral). Noise increases in freqency (number of clicks per second), and intensity (volume) as speed increases while vehicle is in drive. In reverse, the noise ceases and is not present. With driver, front passenger and rear seats occupied, individual hearing "places" the noise as somewhere in the middle of the front two seats around the mid/back area of the center console. Noise appears relatively random, any temp, any day/driving condition. Sometimes quiet as a mouse, others obviously not! Any ideas? Thanks.

 

lift the car up.

maybe the propeller shaft or flexible disk touches the heat shield or something.

 

Sleepwalker - Thanks for the quick reply. Not sure what the propeller shaft and/or flexible disk is? Are they items that a standard garage would recognize or is this better referred to the MB Dealer?

 

it's unlikely....but also possible that cat converter is making that sort of noise. hi-rev...more air....more click-clack.

( imagine part of the honeycomb thingie inside the cat converter had come lose and air flows through it. )

 

right.

on C-Class, some members also found cracked exhaust manifold.

 

I have an '02 with the same or similar noises which appear to come from under the ceter armrest. Scouring various Forums, I learned that a possible cause is the heat shield/insulation between the car body and the drive shaft has a tendency to sag. When this happens it can sag enough to touch the drive shaft and sounds just like a playing card in a bicycle wheel. Apparently the fix is to go under the car and either reafix the heatshield/insulation or trim away the part that sags. Dealer will fix mine later this month.

Hope this helps.

 

sound like maybe a sound insulation falling on your flex disc take it to your dealer and have it inspeted

 

Had the same thing happening on my W203 a while back, clicking noise coming from under the armrest area, noise increases with vehicle speed. Turned out to be the heatshield underneath detaching from its support and hitting the propeller/drive shaft. It is a simple fix, just involves jacking the car up and reattaching the heatshield with some plastic ties. Was told that this is a fairly common problem with the W203s.

 

All:
This forum rocks! And you folks contributing guidance, recommendations and insight are the absolute bomb! I had the sound insulation shield reattached (hi temp auto glue) on the one end that was sagging and the "card in the spokes" noise is gone! Cost about 35 bucks parts & labor. Thanks for your expertise! /John

 

I have a 2002 c230 coupe - I think this sagging heatshield is the noise I have too, my clicking noise is isolated to the center of the car and does inclease with my speed. Does anyone know if this is a self fix with the regular car jack, is so what would be intailed in the self repair, im not ever sure what I would be looking for, however I am handy and probably could figure it out is someone else could share their experience. Or would I need to go to the dealer for service. If its a dealer fix/repair job what should I expect to pay. The car is not under warranty.

This card in the spoke sound is driving me crazy. [:@]
Thanks for all and any help.