rear end pinging noies

[pyiap]

I've always wondered about this, but is it normal for pinging noise to come from the rear end of my car after I stop it. It sounds like tin cans being hit with small pebbles. I always thought it was metal expanding and shrinking. It stops after a while I'm assuming it's because the engine has cooled down. Does everyone else get this or is it just me?

[Steve Tinker]

My (standard) exhaust system certainly pings and cracks - especially during warm up as the stainless steel expands. I put it down to the relativly short length of the headers and cats to the exhaust tip - most cars have 2-3 meters of exhaust pipe length to absorb the expansion, but the boxer engine has probably less then a meter. It gets hotter faster and cooler quicker....

[Spinnaker]

I don't know if it is normal or not, but my 2000S certainly does the same thing.

[blue2000s]

Yes, it's normal. All cars do it to some degree as different parts cool at different rates and move around relative to each-other.