Metallic rattle when engine's under load!!

Anonymous · March 16, 2007, 22:44

Hi guys, I need some help!! My car has recently developed a loud metallic sounding rattle when it is under load, i've noticed it happen in 3rd gear over around 3500 RPM when going up hill.

There is a bit of history, so here goes: i bought the car with a damaged big end bearings as it had been allowed to run out of oil, re-built the engine myself but the car kept throwing up error codes and wouldn't tick over properly. I finally got a code reader and diagnosed the problem as the timing chain being one tooth off and the end of the ocv having snapped off (very wierd) so i adjusted the chain and bought and fitted a new ocv. I'm fairly confident that i removed all of the components of the broken ocv so there's nothing floating around inside the engine. I drove the car with the timing chain fixed but still with the non-working ocv and I didn't notice the problem then and the tick-over problem seemed sorted. This seems to have started after the ocv change, it also appears to be ticking over lower again (around 700 RPM)

I gutted the pre-cats at the time of re-build which seemed in perfect condition but didn't change the main cat. The car has stopped throwing up CEL's, so i was hoping that it was finally sorted.

Would anyone have any ideas as to what it could be, or what I should check??

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Rich

Anonymous · March 17, 2007, 07:09

Hi Rich - Welcome to the club

There are a couple of usual areas that can make this happen, the manifold heat shield and the main cat heat shield, did you disturb any of these when you replaced the big ends? I've had both and in the end removed the manifold for a custom made and got a decat pipe - no worries now s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

I'd be worried as to why the engine used so much oil, was this an idle owner or are your bores oval, might be worth doing a search on oil use.

Hope this helps
Rob

Anonymous · March 17, 2007, 09:20

Hi, welcome. s:D

s:D

Many people have a problem with the various heat shields rattling around the exhaust area, its possible you dislodged one when gutting the cats.

Hopefully this is all it is, deffinatly the cheaper option s:)

s:)

How much oil does it use now?

Anonymous · March 17, 2007, 10:32

Mine does this, and exactly as you described (normally in 3rd between 3000 to 4000 RPM) - bloody annoying s:evil: :evil: s:evil:

I have had the car from new and it has had no work done on it. At a recent service Toyota didnt managed to sort it.

Anonymous · March 17, 2007, 11:21

I think the previous owner was idle, although i did have the engine re-bored and fitted new pistons and rings just to make sure, as well as replcing all of the oil seals.

The manifold heat shields were definitely disturbed, can this cause a similar problem, will go and whip that off in a minute!! Would it be the top or bottom bit that causes the rattle?

Thanks, Rich

Anonymous · March 17, 2007, 11:25

O, forgot to say, the engine appears to be using little to no oil (touch wood) although the dip stick is in my opinion the worst thing about the car, it's not exactly easily read!!

Anonymous · March 17, 2007, 17:13

Quote from: "TrickyDSE23"The manifold heat shields were definitely disturbed, can this cause a similar problem, will go and whip that off in a minute!! Would it be the top or bottom bit that causes the rattle?

Thanks, Rich

Not sure which one is to blame, I took all of them off in the end.

Rob

dipper84 · February 29, 2008, 20:40

Hey guys, im new to all this forum too, great help it is too!

i have a 2001 mr2 38k miles, and have now noticed a large metallic rattle ( sounds like a tin can in a bmx wheel if you know what i mean! ) when reving the engine and when under load, ive checked all heat shields but doesnt seem to be the problem. no lack in engine performance but there does seem to be a little 'bellowing' noise coming out of the exhaust. the noise seems to be coming from the from of the engine (nearest the boot) and im now getting a little nervous what it could be, it may be what has already been said but thought it would be best to post incase......

Cheers

Alward s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

RacingSnake · March 1, 2008, 00:10

Alward,
I'm just fixing my 'noise' tomorrow - it was as you describe in nature but its the 'lowest' heatshield in my case i.e. right down under the main exhaust pipe as it feeds in from the multiple pipes coming down from the manifold. I was able to reach down the left hand side of the manifold cover as you look at it from above, grab the edge of the thin heatshield just at cold startup I hasten to add - too hot otherwise! - & pull up on it - hey presto no rattle. I'll just secure it with a giant jubilee clip tomorrow. The rattle, if its this or another heatshield, sounds much worse than it really is s:D

s:D hope that's all you have.
Geoff

cclarke99 · March 1, 2008, 17:23

There are a number of possible causes:-

Loose heatshield or similar as suggested above, generally this is only rpm related so you should be able to make it happen just by revving the engine with the car stopped (see post by Racingsnake)

Big end bearings gone (hopefully not). If the noise gets worse when the engine is hot (oil thin), could be cause

"Pinking" caused by incorrect ignition timing, unlikely unless the knock sensor is faulty, but that should cause a CEL

Valves touching top of pistons. The VVT advances the inlet valve opening and if the basic timing (from the chain) was also too far advanced then the valve might touch the piston. Unlikely as you've already sorted this, but it might be worth disconnecting the OCV to see if this makes the noise go

TJK · March 1, 2008, 17:32

I had a horrible rattle coming from the heatshield around the exhaust (see pic below).

A jubillee clip was all that was needed to sort it out!

dipper84 · March 3, 2008, 12:29

i shall have a look at that heat shield tonight, im pretty sure its not engine damage.... with the pre cat issue, if mine has started to go im guessing i would hear a 'bad' noise from the moment i turn the engine on...

looks like i need to take a trip to a car garage to have it looked at s:cry: :cry: s:cry: sad times.........

just been on the phone to Mr T and he said the 7 year warranty is only for the burning oil issue, will phone another garage to double check though.

Aylward (ps i cant spell my own name right lol, its my nerves over this car!!)

dipper84 · March 3, 2008, 22:24

just had the car over a pit and the undertrays off, the noise is ticking with the engine now and is only when your revving at 2000 rpm upwards, nothign is loose and the noise ic coming from the enigne..... im not burning oil or loosing power, its getting worse s:cry: :cry: s:cry: really not sure what it is though and it doesnt sound like anything stated on here....... IM GOING BALD!!!

Anonymous · March 8, 2008, 13:07

Quote from: "TJK"I had a horrible rattle coming from the heatshield around the exhaust (see pic below).

A jubillee clip was all that was needed to sort it out!

Where abouts did you put the jubilee clip on the heatshield because mine has a similar rattle but am unsure whether its this or not?

Innocent · March 9, 2008, 13:09

I had the 3000 rev rattle too richard, and it came down to the heatshield round the cat, as in the pic above. Just to the left of the red arrow head you can just make out a rusty bolt, and theres another on the opposite side. Mine had both sheared off. Just needed replacement nuts & bolts - think they're 8mm diameter thread if i remember right. Between the two halfs of the heat shield is a single large oval washer with a hole at each end for each of these bolts. Mine had slid forards when the bolts came off and this was causing the noise - make sure you slide it back down into place before attaching new bolts if this has happened.

£2.50 job. Mr T quoted me £100 to do it themselves.

ChrisGB · March 9, 2008, 17:18

Quote from: "dipper84"just had the car over a pit and the undertrays off, the noise is ticking with the engine now and is only when your revving at 2000 rpm upwards, nothign is loose and the noise ic coming from the enigne..... I'm not burning oil or loosing power, its getting worse s:cry: :cry: s:cry: really not sure what it is though and it doesnt sound like anything stated on here....... I'm GOING BALD!!!

If you rev and back off, does it get louder on the overrun?

Chris

TJK · March 9, 2008, 19:03

Quote from: "richard691"Where abouts did you put the jubilee clip on the heatshield because mine has a similar rattle but am unsure whether its this or not?

My heat shield had split all the way across, just to the right of the red arrow, so I put the clip where the blue line is.

Anonymous · March 9, 2008, 22:25

I put 2 jubilee clips, one either end of the heat shield but it did not stop the rattle. It sounds as if its coming from the back box, cant be the baffles as its not getting louder.

RacingSnake · March 13, 2008, 21:10

Actually, mine's not stopped yet either - I put a single jubilee up 'front' by the bolts kinda area. I'm thinking a second towards the 'rear' i.e. blue line in pic above. My rattle has 2 rev locations - 1 is the 1700rpm'ish & the other is a shade over 2000rpm. I find these very infuriating as built up area driving goes through these ranges so much of the time it sounds like I'm driving a bean tin full of lentils s:shock: :shock: s:shock: Anyhoo, I've also had problems finding large enough clips for the circumference of the exhaust + shields in this section - I'll get there eventually! s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

DannyN · March 13, 2008, 21:59

Just put 2 clips together

RacingSnake · March 13, 2008, 22:27

s:oops: :oops: s:oops: oh yeah! *light dawn's slowly above Geoff's head*

Anonymous · March 14, 2008, 02:11

Reading about these rattles... i can almost pin point to mine having the same problem as well. I shall go take a good look and see if i can fix it the way you guys described.

Just for information, my rattles came about right after my car spun into a gravel trap while tracking. I thought they were loose gravels trapped somewhere at first with the kind of noise it made. But after getting rid of the gravels, the noise still remains and now i think i know why.

As the car has been partially grounded, the lowest point on the exhaust assembly; where the downpipe is situated, probably hit the gravel bed. From the picture above, i could almost understand how the gravel bed might have push up on the downpipe's surrounding heatshield, causing some form of misalignment to the entire assembly in that area. I guess it will probably be a trial and error process getting the rattling sorted out by manhandling the heatshields about abit.

That is my take for those whom might be wondering possible ways how the rattling might have come about. s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

DannyN · March 14, 2008, 08:21

Quote from: "RacingSnake":oops: oh yeah! *light dawn's slowly above Geoff's head*

Always happy to help

.

dipper84 · March 14, 2008, 11:47

ChrisGB, yes i do think it makes the rattle on the overrun, i have checked the shields but will defo have another look this afternoon. ive had a garage look at it and they did say that my big end bearings have gone. yet im still not convinced...... another week gone, another week off the road!

Anonymous · April 11, 2008, 11:35

My '2 has had a tappety-sounding metallic ticking sound since I took out the pre-cats this week - only when revving under load, and increasing with acceleration...

Could this be a heatshield issue, seeing as it only 'ticks' under load and acceleration?

I left it up on the jack for a few days, and took it down on Wednesday, driving it for the first time yesterday (Thursday)- would this be a contributing factor??!! I'm a bit simple with mechanical stuff! s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

Please help?!