Last night i was pulling in the garage and i heard a loud rattling noise coming from the engine bay. When i have the car in neutral and give it a little tiny bit of gas real quick i hear a loud rattle like metal hitting metal near inside the engine bay. I looked around and did not see anything touching eachother.

I had the hood open and gave it a little gas and it is a LOUD *** rattle. While looking inside the engine compartment i would pull the throttle cable a little and kinda found out in what general area the sound is coming from. It is coming from the transmission and around the exhaust manifold. i do not have the stock header on so its not the heatshield. Should i take it to the dealer and will they charge me cause my car is still under warranty i believe.

I have a 2000 ITR with 23,600 miles. I bought it used and i have the window sticker and it says it comes with a 4 year/50,000 mile limited vehicle warranty. Will they look at it and diagnose it for free or will i have to pay? Thanks please let me know how i should go about diagnosing the problem and where should i take it.

 

What kind of cat are you running?

 

Could be the throwout bearing.

 

That is what the local shop said. They said it could be a bearing for the clutch or something. Damn this happens when i have no money haha

 

Stock cat. so that should not be the problem. i wish it was cause it would probably be alot cheaper to replace.

 

Call the dealership and find out how much cats are, youll be surprised ! Get a Helms manual and a clutch kit and do it yourself over a weekend, it shouldnt take that long, but for your 1st time, id allow a day or 2.

 

well im getting a spoon header so the stock usdm cat will be gone pretty soon. so i was trying to say that an aftermarket cat would be a better way to go.

 

spun bearing.. dissasemble bottom end and inspect

 

Its not your heat shield that sits over the cat is it?

Edit: Also...you should be covered under warranty if you haven't modified anything where the problem is...


[Modified by Haunt, 6:03 PM 1/18/2003]

 

Push in the clutch and rev the engine if the sound still persists it is not the throwout bearing and to me sounds like it could be the pesky header bracket which attaches near the o2 and to the left of the oil seperator on the back of the block...these are used with most after market headers as well; and crack all the time...also if it was removed make sure the oil seperator box 12mm was tightened back up again!

 

thanks guys it does sound more like a heatshield rattle. so im gonna take it to the shop monday and put it on the lift and check things out. thanks for all the info and posiblilites they willl help when i get under the car.

 

What would it sound like if you spun a rod bearing?

 

Like a bad bearing...

 

I doubt it's you throwout bearing. If your throwout bearing is touching the pressure plate at idle, in neutral, without your foot pressing on the clutch you've got other problems. The throwout bearing only contacts the pressure plate when the pedal is depressed.

Rod bearing usually have a solid, metalllic knocking sound.

I tend to think everybody is being a little pessimistic here.