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Diagnose engine problems via sound?

  • Oct. 25th, 2006 at 8:45 AM

Many people seem to use sound as a way of identifying engine problems. They get used to the "sound" of their engine and get worried if something starts to sound "wrong".

I've noticed that some engines have very distinct "sound signatures". (Jeep and VW engines in particular) I've often wondered what exactly makes those engines sound so unique. Would it be possible to record the sound of each sound producing part in an engine? With recordings like those, I'm guessing that you could tweak the "sound" of each part until the mix matched your engine sound. "Oh, I guess my timing is off".

Another option is to identify "sound signatures" for specific engine failure scenarios. Then make a device that sits in your engine and listens for those signatures. This device could potentially identify failure before OBD-II would catch it. (I got this idea from my Dad, he helped make a device just like this which would detect eminent failure on electric motors)

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[info]jynxjynx wrote:
Oct. 25th, 2006 04:43 pm (UTC)
When I was working on the Need For Speed games, I spent a lot of time chatting with one of the sound guys. (He's now working at Bungie doing all the sound effects for the Halo games)

Each car does in fact have a different sound, and car enthusiasts are very aware of them. A LOT of work went into not only getting each car to sound like it should, but also when the cars took damage, the engines would start sounding worse as well.

I like your idea of a device that listens for failures. That's pretty cool.
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[info]rndmcnlly wrote:
Oct. 25th, 2006 08:45 pm (UTC)
I though it SOUNDED cool at first, but then I thought... there are probably more direct ways to measure when a device is not functioning right -- and thats what the current suite of sensors all over cars are already doing. I'm sure the sound does betray some state of the moving parts of the car, but probably not enough to warrant selling and supporting the computing machinery to analyize the sound. If there was some website where mechanics at garages could upload sound clips for analysis (in exchange for a fatty monthy fee) you could concentrate the computation in one place and not modify car designs anyway.

JIMBO'S GARAGE -- Get your engine a no-hassle, 150-second checkup using our Joelomatic Sonolizer signature service!
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[info]joel wrote:
Oct. 25th, 2006 09:07 pm (UTC)
Yes! I didn't even think of a centralized service.

How about a phone service you could call?

For example:

"Thank you for calling Joelomatic Sonolizer, please place your cell phone near your running engine for about 2 minutes"

(two minutes later)

"Judging by the sound of your engine, you could have one of the following problems ... the following mechanics in your area have the tools to further diagnose and fix your problem"
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[info]phpimp wrote:
Oct. 26th, 2006 06:02 pm (UTC)
Cell phone quality I think would be too inconsistent to make accurate measurements. The other potential flaw with measuring sound is you have to be consistent in where and how you measure the sound. My car sounds a lot different when I'm standing in front of the open hood when the engine is running vs sitting in the drivers seat with the hood closed (I would recognize a bad sound from the driver seat more than looking at the exposed engine since that's where I'm used to hearing it). Also when you start a cold car typically it keeps the idle RPM higher than normal till the car gets warm. I guess the point is you'd have to have a fairly detailed specifications on how and where to measure sounds in each engine (if you're aiming to make a mechanics service).
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