the offensive noise information is communicated to the locator 130 the sound intensity sensor 134 scans an area to determine generally the location from which the offensive noise emanates for example first the sound intensity sensor 134 can be set using the offensive noise information so as to detect the offensive noise from the total noise generated by the running engine next the vehicle engine is run and the sound intensity sensor 134 scans the vehicle engine compartment to determine which of the engine parts of the running engine is generating the offensive noise that was detected in the passenger compartment of the vehicle when the sound intensity sensor 134 determines which of the engine parts is the part generating the offensive noise that part can be scanned with the laser vibrometer 136 generally the laser vibrometer 136 scans the part while the engine is running to determine a location on the part that generates the offensive noise if possible the part may be scanned while operated independent of the engine with reference to fig2 a schematic illustration 200 of a method in accordance with the invention is shown the illustration 200 includes a schematic representation of an engine part 210 which has been found via the sound intensity scanner 134 to generate the offensive noise while the engine is running an imaginary grid 220 overlays the engine part 210 the laser vibrometer 136 scans the part 210 with reference to the grid 220 to determine or identify the specific location from which the offensive noise hereinafter referred to as the u201c noise source u201d emanates relative to the grid 220 the.