655 replies to this topic

[thebullet]

My mistake, yes, I was told it is the drop gears!

It tightenes them up and stops the rattle.

Sorry!

Yes, the idle gear is in the gearbox it only takes a small amount of wear on the bearing to make them rattle, most people don't seem bothered by it.

Many times I have been told that it is not an issue.

Edited by thebullet, 06 February 2012 - 11:51 AM.

[bcjames]

I've found myself a diagram of the transfer area so I now know what's what

John said he replaced and reshimmed the idler and checked the primary and that was okay too. That leaves me confused once more!

I've bought 2 lengths of pipe and a plastic milk bottle (drank the milk ). I'm off to play with my engine breathers!

[thebullet]

Well I got told my box was doing it since new and my grandad said who has rebuilt many that they will just rattle anyway! I feel resured to leave it along and forget the noise now, time to fit these twin carbs

[bcjames]

Okay just tried the stick test again on a quiet street, away from traffic, and it didn't do anything! Maybe I was (not) hearing things earlier!

I've set up the breather test, and first impression seems good.

edit: Felt like Blue Peter



Pipe by bcjamesmini, on Flickr

Edited by bcjames, 06 February 2012 - 02:05 PM.

[thebullet]

Haha nice one!

What is your gearbox situation? just leaving it like I am? surely if all that work has been done by a well trusted rebuilder no more can be done?

How loud is your rattle on the outside?

Edited by thebullet, 06 February 2012 - 02:24 PM.

[bcjames]

Guessworks built it so I'm confident all is well there. I want to fix the rattle, I'd just like an idea of what the issue is, and thus how much the bill will be, before I have the engine back out. There must be something wrong, in the previous 3 years it has never rattled!

My rattle varies in volume, it's very quiet with the bonnet shut from the outside. Sat in the car, sometimes its quite slight, other times it's very noticeable.

[thebullet]

Mine can't be heard at a rattle from the outside, more of a load noise and even then it is difficult to hear.

Inside though is a bit different, and the engine steady at the top is poly mounted and all my carpet and sound proofing has been taken out.

[bcjames]

My engine mounts are all rubber, they seem to last longer, but the subframe is solid mounted. I'm not sure if that makes it more audible in this case or not. If I stick my head anywhere near the engine I can certainly hear it!

[thebullet]

Well my grandad had his head by the clutch and said it sounded like a sewing machine! He says i am worrying over nothing, just general chatter. Think im going to ignore it like he says. Ah well!

[bcjames]

Okay, so Dave confirmed I've hooked this up correctly, so I've been for a drive.



Slide1 by bcjamesmini, on Flickr

This means my breathers are going to a catch tank rather than my throttle body, and the engine is now breathing clean air. I went on a ten mile or so drive, town and dual carriage way, and it seems to be better. I can pull away quite smoothly from low revs, and rolling at 23mph in 3rd and 30 in 4th the engine no longer bounces around.

This confirms that pressure is making its way in to the crankcase, then being thrown out the breathers and in to my intake. So it looks as if the rings are indeed passing a little.

I'll keep it like this through the week, where I'll be driving under different conditions, to really check if it's made a difference. As it is, it feels like progress

So, running issue is indirectly the piston rings and general engine wear. 15 years and 90k miles!

Just the rattle to find now!

[bcjames]

I've had another play this morning. Using the pipe-to-ear method, I found the seal between the replacement throttle body and air box was missing. It's just a big O-ring. Luckily my old throttle body still had the seal on, so I swapped it over. The lower half of the air box now sits properly and is sealed to the top half. I'm assuming the top half is forming a good seal by clamping the filter in between, meaning any air making it to the engine must be going through the filter.

The top half of the air box flares upward at either end along it's length. It seems to be sucking in a bit of air there, but that is at least before the filter. Covering the end of the intake pipe does not cause the car to stall, so it must still be getting in somewhere. I'm not sure if the air boxes were ever 100% sealed anyway, so perhaps just getting all air filtered it a big step forward

The car definitely seems to be running better with the breathers piped to a catch tank. I still have a slight issue with pushing the clutch down when slowing down in a gear causes the engine to react by juddering for a second. I'm not sure what is causing that, but all the sensors have checked out okay, so it may just be a further product of the known mechanical issues.

[thebullet]

Mine kind of does this, if it is the same. Like, driving and putting my foot on the clutch it jolts briefly. Only when cold though...

[bcjames]

Is yours injection or carbs? (edit: Think for a moment James, he's already mentions fitting twin carbs )

Couple more observations. The rattle seemed very loud in the McDonalds drive through, when I had my window down. Secondly, i have to push the clutch 90% of the way down for the rattle to stop.

I'm not sure if I'm imagining it, but I feel I'm getting more mpg with the fresh air experiment hooked up.

Edited by bcjames, 07 February 2012 - 09:14 PM.

[thebullet]

Mine is instant pushing the clutch that makes the rattle stop. As soon as I can feel it lift.

I can't hear mine when I open the window :)

Edited by thebullet, 07 February 2012 - 10:47 PM.

[850mini]

Looking good, its a shame about the little rust spots but atleast its not too bad.

Can i suggest you take off the sill/doorstep flange trim and have a look, these late cars go very rusty there.
Might be worth giving it a check to see how it is.