please help, think my stang is on its last leg

[mousetrapcar]

i took a 30 mile trip for christmas, when i got back home i noticed my car is making a terrible sound. it almsot sounds like a rock is tumbling around inside of a tin can! i just replaced the plugs, oil, oil filter, and i adjusted the timing and it still maes that noise.

the sound is really loud now, the only time the car doesn't make the sound is when the rpm's are higher then 1500. thanks for any help

 

[mousetrapcar]

whoops, forgot the sig

 

[stang1989]

The sound is probably detonation or a lifter. Make sure you balancer is in good shape (i.e it's possible it's spun) and if not, replace it with an SFI-appoved balancer from ATI, IW, or Fluidampr.

 

[Schlodes]

Pull the accessory belt off anf run it. I wonder if the alternator bearings are fried or belt tensioner bearing is taking a dump... and is getting noisy.. ditto about the water pump bearing...

Pull valve covers and do inspection, if everything looks ok put the upper back on and run the car... watch the rockers to see if the they all look to be moving the same..

 

[00 Red SS]

My buddies car had a similar symptoms when he had a bad head gasket.

 

[TwoToneTerror]

I have a similar problem, i've got a similar rocks in a tin can sound but it only happens when i'm moving... It started a while ago and i could only hear it when it was warm and i was doing slow city driving, but now it's just getting worse and worse and i'm hearing it just about all the time, any ideas? i'm tempted to just ignore it untill something breaks and i'll know what was wrong.....
Don't mean to try to steal the thread but it seems to be a similar problem....

Thanks,
-Bart

 

[pairofnines]

Pull the accessory belt off anf run it. I wonder if the alternator bearings are fried or belt tensioner bearing is taking a dump... and is getting noisy.. ditto about the water pump bearing...

Pull valve covers and do inspection, if everything looks ok put the upper back on and run the car... watch the rockers to see if the they all look to be moving the same..

I don't think pulling the belt off and running it is very smart, you'll drain the battery.

Two Tone Terror: Where is the rattle coming from? I know I had this bad rattle, just like rocks in a tin can, and it was my cats, got those replaced, and it stopped.

 

[jadedinpa]

I don't think pulling the belt off and running it is very smart, you'll drain the battery.

as long as you don't run it for a long time (just long enough to verify the sound is still there or not) its fine. thats how i diagnosed my car. of course if you run it for a long time with no belt it won't charge, the water pump won't flow to cool the engine, and the p/s won't work. but once you put it back on all is fine.

 

[TwoToneTerror]

pairofnines, it was the cats? huh, I'll have to check it out, is there any way you know of to really test it to see if that's the rattle?

Thanks!
-Bart

 

[88stangmangt]

sounds to me like you got a ricer in your K&N (h@ll we all do) just take it off and smack em out then it will go away.

 

[pairofnines]

pairofnines, it was the cats? huh, I'll have to check it out, is there any way you know of to really test it to see if that's the rattle?

Not really, I was getting my exhaust and headers put in, and we cut them off, and you could hear the rattle. I do know that it started out very mild sounding, not very loud nor very often, then they just got progressively worse. It was a real head scratcher. Our guy that did our exhaust told me that if some of the packing inside the cats had broken off and turned sideways, it would have blocked the airway, not very good for the motor.

 

[5 Liter Mustang]

mousetrapcar, where in santa ana are you? just curious

 

[mousetrapcar]

good news everybody!

i drove my car to work and one dude with a classic mustang was next to me and asked if i knew what was wrong with my car. i told him no and he told me to pull over so he could look at it.

well, right when we get out of our cars he tells me that it sounds like an exhaust leak. after some investigating he tells me that one of my cats from the driver's side is leaking!

he told me to go to this one shop to make sure, so i did and a mechanic got under the car and confirmed that the upper cat was leaking! this means time for a high-performance h-pipe!

thanks to everybody for the ideas!

mousetrapcar, where in santa ana are you? just curious

by mater dei h.s. on bristol and edinger, are you in the area?