I'm getting a short grinding sound when I rev the engine at approx. 1500 RPM. The grinding sound will continue in short 1-2 second spurts when revved up to 3000 RPM. Is anyone familar with this problem? My car seems to maintain the usual power and acceleration through the power band and the engine idles as normal.
grinding sound
- Thread starter Kent
- Start date
jhjacobs
Well-Known Member
Hard to be sure without more description but this sounds like a possible timing chain guide and/or tensioner problem. A cheap stethoscope or rubber hose in the ear could go a long way to locating the general engine location it is coming from.
MMercury
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 481
- Reaction score
- 5
Grinding
As the others have noted, your unusual noise could be the result of any number of things. You should at least isolate the probably location of the sound (top,bottom, left , right, front, rear etc.). The noise obviously occurs with the engine running, but you did not state if this involves the vehicle being driven, in or out of gear and whether the car's forward movement and/or wind is part of the puzzle. Thus, my suggestions are wild guesses.
Depending upon the state of your car's originality, if it still has the cardboard-like lower valence (see below), part of that possibly-biodegradable "shield" may be contacting the power steering pump or alternator or cooling fan (or one of the drive belts/pulleys), in turn creating the noise. That shield seems great for storing all kinds of things (dropped tools, fasteners, receipts and maybe even missing trapeze artists). It also has a tendency to collect things that can ultimately interfere with the moving engine parts.
If you do not have the "shield", I would check for anything loose near the front of the engine like a battery tie down or even a paper label coming loose from a coolant hose. Another suspect or two might be an alternator with decomposed bushings or worn bearings along with a worn power steering system or one that is very low on fluid. Water pumps can make interesting sounds as might foreign objects left anywhere close to the power train.
Good luck.
As the others have noted, your unusual noise could be the result of any number of things. You should at least isolate the probably location of the sound (top,bottom, left , right, front, rear etc.). The noise obviously occurs with the engine running, but you did not state if this involves the vehicle being driven, in or out of gear and whether the car's forward movement and/or wind is part of the puzzle. Thus, my suggestions are wild guesses.
Depending upon the state of your car's originality, if it still has the cardboard-like lower valence (see below), part of that possibly-biodegradable "shield" may be contacting the power steering pump or alternator or cooling fan (or one of the drive belts/pulleys), in turn creating the noise. That shield seems great for storing all kinds of things (dropped tools, fasteners, receipts and maybe even missing trapeze artists). It also has a tendency to collect things that can ultimately interfere with the moving engine parts.
If you do not have the "shield", I would check for anything loose near the front of the engine like a battery tie down or even a paper label coming loose from a coolant hose. Another suspect or two might be an alternator with decomposed bushings or worn bearings along with a worn power steering system or one that is very low on fluid. Water pumps can make interesting sounds as might foreign objects left anywhere close to the power train.
Good luck.
steve in reno
Well-Known Member
Isolate by sound location and proceed from there. Word descriptions are very vague at best.
More info.
steve
More info.
steve
Thank you all for your thoughtful responses to such a vague description of my problem. I was unable to listen for the location of the sound sitting in my car and didn't have anyone available at the time to help out. Tonight I was able to have my wife rev the engine to reproduce the grinding sound and it seems to be coming from the front of the engine compartment. The sound occurs when the car is in neutral with the clutch engaged or disengaged. It sounds like it's coming from the alternator or power steering pump. I'll investigate more this weekend. Thank you again for your helpful advice.
I wanted to update the members that helped me on my recent problem. After reproducing and listening to the grinding sound with my head in the engine compartment, I isolated the sound to the front fan area of the engine. I called Mesa Performance, my go to guys for coupe parts, and Jim suggested that I hold the fan blade with pliers wrapped with a small rag on the blade, and try to reproduce the sound. When I couldn't reproduce the grinding sound, I ordered a new fan clutch, which I received from Mesa in just two days!!! I want to highly recommend Mesa Performance and send a special thanks to Jim and Spence.
Kent
Kent