Knocking noise...

[Robatron]

I think my car is poorly!

It has been running extremely well recently and has decided not to give me any 'temperamental' days but since sunday I have heard a slight rattle from the front end.

I haven't used the car all week and I started the car up today and it ran extremely rough to start with and took a fair while to settle back down again. Anyway once I had completed the journey I popped the bonnet up to be greeted by a rather loud rattle/knock coming from what would seem to be the engine block.

Now I understand a variety of pumps can make this noise when they are on their way out (PAS Pump and Waterpump) so hopefully it will be either one of these however if it isn't what could it be?

I appreciate that it's hard to diagnose without first hearing the problem first hand so is there anybody near me that would be able to have a look or perhaps somebody could recommend a garage that would know exactly what they are looking at?

Oh and it's not the dizzy gear as it's much louder than that and I have recently changed the Metal Gear.

[newsh]

Get a large screwdriver and hold the handle pressed against your ear while you touch various parts with the tip (not the HT leads though lol) like a stethoscope.. You should be able to locate where the rattle is coming from you'll hear clearly if its the PAS pump for example. Of course it could be the tappets and you need an oil change or the oil level is low.

[Robatron]

Tappets did spring to mind however the Oil was changed 250 miles ago and the oil level is spot on.

I shall try toe screwdriver trick however it may prove difficult to see if the noise is coming from the power steering pump or the water pump.

Annoyingly I had a stethoscope years ago but I have no idea where it is now.

[Robatron]

I took the beast to The Auto Pool in Iver as I know they come highly recommended by a few people on this forum and although not a diagnosis I reckon we have come closer to establishing the problem.

Andy reckons it is either the Cam chain, cam gear or the dizzy gear. The dizzy gear has not long been replaced so I can't really see it being this but I didn't change the dizzy drive gear so I didn't see what sort of state the cam gear was in.

The cam chain is obviously plausible but the issue I have is that labour would cost a fortune for this job just to establish what the problem is so I am reluctant to just tell them to get on with it whilst I wait for a huge bill. Alternatively I could take the rocker cover off and start inspecting the car for myself but I could honestly say that when it comes to cams I would have no idea what on earth I am looking at.

[Error404]

Check the body of the PAS pump, A/C pump and alternator for cracks / fit.
I had a similar sounding very loud rattle that turned out to be a cracked alternator casing vibrating.

cant' see how the dizzy drive will ever get worn unless its been wrongly fitted with a steel gear or something?

As Newsh says, putting a screwdriver between your ear and various parts is normally the best way to get a good idea where its coming from - especially if it is the cam / chain as suggested by your man

[Robatron]

Ok I shall have a listen when I get a chance.

[Rusty]

A touch of WD40 on the PAS belt should sort it

[s2driveruk]

a 2nd vote for the alternator bracket, sounds awful when this is on its way out or alternator is loose in it.

[Robatron]

I shall give it a try, thanks guys!

I'm crossing my fingers here as if something abit more serious has gone wrong then I am well and truely ******ed as I haven't the money to send it off to have it rebuilt properly and I haven't the mechanical knowledge to do something that major by myself.

[Robatron]

This swear filter is abit sensitive!

[s2driveruk]

what you ****ing talking about the swear filter isn't ******** at all it been ******ed about with until it captures any ****** words that could otherwise slip through

[s2driveruk]

aha...sh**ty lives on

[Robatron]

[Rusty]

The swear filter does need a bit of tweaking, we're all adults afterall.

[Robatron]

Nutsacks!

I gave the PAS belt abit of a spray up with WD40 and it didn't do much to be honest but it was definatly worth a try. I had my screwdriver out (quiet in the back!) and was trying to establish where on earth the vibration was coming from and so far I haven't been able to directly trace it.

The alternator seems fairly tight and there was no vibration coming off of the alternator so I did rule that out but I shall go and check the bracket when I get a spare moment.

The only noise I could pick up through the screwdriver was from the rocker cover but to me it was just the normal tappety noise you get from the lifters and I couldn't hear any knocking from elsewhere.

If standing over the engine bay the noise definatly seems to be coming from cam area/region so perhaps it is something to do with the distributor but it does sound closer to the front of the car, i.e. cam chain.