So my del Sol has about 200,000 miles on it and it's been making a strange sound since I took it out of storage where it was sitting for about 6 months. When cold the engine makes a rattle sound I can hear from the drivers seat easily it's hard to describe the sound but it is kind of like what a pebble in a clothes dryer sounds like. I can hear it the worst at around 2,000 RPM where I can hear another sound thats like running water far away.

If anyone had any advice on where to start looking that would be awesome.



Summary:
93 del Sol
1.6l
200,000 miles
in storage for a few months
engine rattles

 

Does the rattle only occur when driving? Or can you pop the hood when you start it to identify it?

 

Heat Shield?

 

mmmm the alternator might be bad..cuz i get the same sound...and its my alternator.....there are other things that can make that sound also..but thats my guess at the moment cuz thats what im going through

 

Whereis the noise coming from? Is it possible that your cat convertor went south while in storage (rusted out, etc.)? Usually a bad cat sounds like marbles clinking in a can...

 

Speed consistent or rpm consistent? Any driveability problems? Does it sound kinda like someone rattling a cymbal made of tin? If so, check for loose heat shield(s). Mine only rattles when it's cold and idling.

 

I don't think it's the Cat, I just had a shop install my new cat back because the bolts were too frozen for me to handle and I told them that if I need it to install a new Cat. They said it was fine and I passed emissions the next day.

Heat shield maybe.

I can hear the sound when the car is not in motion and I pop the hood. Kinda sounds like its coming from near the cam gear. So maybe it could be the alternator.

And the speed/idle dont have to be consistent. It seems to happen through the whole RPM band but after it gets past 4000 I cant hear anything but the car.

It has had no driveibility or power issues since un-storing it.

 

May be a bad bearing or pully on one of the accessories. Is the heatshield on the exhaust manifold loose? Just wiggle it by hand to see.

 

might be piston slap.

my car does this. when cold in lower rpms it makes a knocking type noise, but once warmed up it goes away.

if this is the case, it is common on higher mileage cars

 

Ive yet to have a car do this, but Ive heard about it. Heard it happens with low comp motors. Mine is low 9:1:1 GSR CP's and I get no slap.

My buddies prelude made the sound whenever he would start it up (warm or not). He had JE 9:1:1 in a h22a.

 

So I'm going to see if I can take a good enough quality video to post maybe that will help.

 

yea but EFPhilly i think his prelude motor has that knock sensor...so it does that to regulate the piston slap or something....


SammyG... take out your alternator and go check it checked on the machine at advanced or auto zone...if they say its bad or that it locks up then thats what is causing your noise

 

chek exhaustttt

 

I did check the exhaust it is not that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUqZD-p_X5s

here is the Youtube of me just starting the car and revving it to 2,000 and then 2,500. You can hear the rattle best when I sit in the drivers seat lemme know if you hear the rattle. I cant tell if it showed up well, i'm on a netbook :-/

Edit: you can also kinda hear it when the camera is pointed right at the cam gear.

 

Sounds like a bad bearing on one of the accessories, water pump, or timing belt tensioner. How long since timing belt/water pump change? With that mileage you should be ready for at least the second if not third belt change anyways

 

Sure don't know but I can tell you that right now I already have the water pump and the timing belt I just need to hunker down and do it.

 

can hardly hear over the intake but i have to say it does kind of sound like a timing belt tensioner bearing

 

Check your power steering fluid! My EG8 was makin the same sound this morning and it was low on fluid, I think my power steering pump is going. check it out and get back to us

 

to be honest here the best way to eliminate all the accessories is to remove their belts.

take off PS belt, if it stops, thats it. if not, move to AC belt (if equipped) if not that then do the alternator.

if none of those fix it, then you have eliminated them.

too bad you cant remove the T belt and rule those items out....lol

on the other hand, if you did remove the T belt it would stop making the noise haha

 

From 55 seconds on it sounds exactly like my 99 y5 a/c compressor w/ 209k. Mine was bad when I got it but I've removed the belt for now and it's perfectly quiet.

you may still have piston slap but with all the other noises you can't tell it.

 

Mine has always rattled and tapped for about 5 minutes when cold. I suspect piston slap. I ran my last engine for 200k with the noise until the headgasket blew due to a faulty thermostat. Then I put another engine in with the same noise. I wouldn't worry about it as long as the vitals are good (oil pressure and temp) and as long it doesn't get worse with higher rpms.

 

I checked the p/s fluid and it looks fine and full. I will just continue on as normal and do my water pump/timing belt swap next weekend and see if that fixes it.

 

you could try removing the a/c belt, simple as that. On mine you have to take the power steering belt off first then the one that goes to the compressor. You should be able to take both belts off in all of about 5 min.

 

When u took your car out storage did u carnk your engine a few times to get the oil pressure up before the first start?