Grinding/rattling/slipping noise

[Chris14SR]

I need some advice as I can't figure out what's wrong. Driving into work from lunch, driving perfectly slowly, my engine started to make a really nasty grinding or rattling noise. It was as if something was fouling a belt or hitting a fan, something metal.

On stopping and checking, I found that the backing plate for one of my air filters (twin dcoes) has gone awol along with the two nuts that hold it on. I can't find the plate or the nuts and there's nothing obviously wrong with the engine. Not visually anyway. Nothing appears to be fouling anything else, and I can't actually pin down what's making this noise as it appears to be coming from, basically, the entire engine. It's making this noise even when sitting idling, so it's not a driveshaft, and there's a screeching noise if I blip the throttle like a slipping alternator belt or similar.

I don't want to drive it in this condition as I fear something's going to go bang if the engine runs much longer.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received as I'm not able to get home tonight without my car :(

[Jim]

Doesn't sound good chris. One of the lads from here had one of his filter bolts get sucked into the carb which ended up knackering his engine.

If I were you I'd try and get the car towed home.

Jim

[Nick]

As Jim said Keith's bolt came detatched and suffered a similar fate.

I'd get it towed (go in the evening to avoid traffic if your a bit weary) and get it stripped down and see what it's done. Hopefully it might not have done much !

Plus it'd be a perfect excuse to do some headwork, cam , cambelt e.t.c ?

[mowgli]

it could be the alternator?
has the front engine mount collapsed (happened to me one night it sounded like hell.)
it could be the input shaft bearings or the clutch bearing

[nathan.]

My engine sucked in a nut once.
To confirm i took out the spark plugs and turned the engine over by hand and looked trough the spark plug holes with a decent torch. There i found a nut inbeded into no.1 piston. LOL.
Just try it.

[Chris14SR]

I'm rather surprised, in retrospect, that I didn't recognise the grinding, whirring noise, since I hear it every time I start the car. Some kind of electrical fault caused the starter motor to engage while I was driving. It then, when I had stopped the car and left it for a while, came on in ignition position two (before the third click which would usually engage it) and would not go off. At some point while fiddling with the wiring behind the dash, something went pop, like a fuse, and now it's working again, although the temperature gauge, fuel gauge and tacho have stopped working, and the battery light stays on constantly.

The nut thing is probably just a red herring. i noticed it was loose a while ago and it probably fell off some days ago.


Plus it'd be a perfect excuse to do some headwork, cam , cambelt e.t.c ?

Probably not a lot I can do with it to squeeze more power out. SRi head, ported and polished, full Ashley exhaust system plus 4-1, 300 degree cam... Only thing really left is to have the carbs set up properly and a little fine tuning which should hopefully be done this week. I might finally have some idea of what power it's putting down!