Time for our favourite game… ‘what’s this noise?’

Hi all, happy Friday all and hope you have some sun where you are.

Had a cracking drive with my +2 this week but can anyone help with this strange ‘whirring’ sound usually noticeable when I come off the loud pedal.

youtube.com/shorts/LgtuPSbC9CM?feature=share

Thanks and have a good weekend all!
Vimal.

Where does it sound like the noise is coming from? Wheel, differential, gearbox?

-Ben

It might be the exhaust contacting something on overrun - worth a quick look?

You could also have a look at the diff mountings to check they are tight. Also check anything that might be loose under the car, or anywhere really. After that, if no joy, you have to try and pin-point the noise…

Dave Chapman.

Can’t comment on a plus 2, but I sometimes have to tighten the dash screws a little on the Sprint

Thanks all… difficult to tell but the sound seems to coming from the dash area so will tighten up there and work back to the exhaust mounting.

Your doomed I tell you - your doomed…

Hi

Slack timing chain ??

Check it

That’s a gearbox buzz or rattle, to verify remove the gear lever gaiter and any padding and take it out for a run, the noise should become obvious if it is gearbox…

Hi Vimal

Did you identify your noise

We would like to what it was

Hi all, thanks for the many suggestions, unfortunately haven’t had time to properly investigate other than the dash is secure so next is a cursory check underneath and drive without the gear gaiter. Will keep you posted.

+1 exhaust
While under there check the UJs. I had a failure of these that sounded similar on the overrun.
Cam Chain? Would have gradually crept up on you without you noticing…

Is the noise new & fully formed when it became apparent or has it been gradually getting worse?

Jeremy

Hysteric,

Take a look at the long post in the Plus 2 forum with the name “Metallic Rattle.” Two of us on that post have (and for me still have) the noise you have recorded on overrun. Mine sounds like it comes from the gearbox and, although several knowledgeable mechanics have been inside it, no one is able to eliminate it. I explored other sources of the noise even going to ridiculous lengths including having my drive shaft shortened. Finally, I put some sound proofing material around the shift lever, put the center console over it and have learned to live with it.

I hope that someday someone has the answer to this annoying noise. I’ve given up trying to find it…

Lee

Hi Lee,

I just read through your 2019 saga of the Metallic rattle… top marks to you for perseverance and leaving no stone unturned!

I guess the only thing left would be to rebuild the box from scratch?

regards
Iain

iain

That is an option I haven’t pursued. I did have a Voigt T9 five speed on order for a couple years but finally gave up due to production problems.

Lee

Hi Lee, that is a truly epic battle you’ve had and hats off to your determination! thanks very much for the pointer.

With regards my car, I’ve taken it out on 1 hour journeys again and it hasn’t presented again. Perhaps very very slightly but not anything like it was when I first heard it.

Do Elan’s self fix? :smiley:

I think I will still have a nosey under the car for anything loose.

I can hear the chopper…… yep…. Doomed

I’ve not currently got a +2 but if I did and that was the only noise, I’d be very happy.
Speedo cable or head maybe.
Happy hunting.

Should end it all right now!

Hi there,

I have the exactly the same noise as you (and Lee), and although I haven’t found either the definitive answer and solution, I’m 95% sure I know what it is and have managed to reduce, but not eliminate it, in my car.

I’m sure it’s gear lash/mesh rattle, which is that the gears that aren’t in use rattling against each other, as a result of resonance from the drive train and/or the chassis. It doesn’t mean impending gearbox destruction, but it is really annoying! I haven’t the level of skill as Lee to whip my gearbox in and out in an afternoon, but I have managed to reduce the noise.

What worked for me was reducing the vibrations that the gears seem to rattle in harmony with.

Two things made the biggest impact. The first was the rear silencer/muffler mountings were not as tight as the should be, and the second was switching to solid driveshafts from rotoflexes.

Also using a recipe of higher viscosity of gearbox oil helped too. There’s an interesting page here store.uucmotorwerks.com/articles … rattle.htm as BMWs seem to suffer from a similar thing! You have to be careful with gearbox oil though, as modern additives in some can damage brass synchro rings. There are multiple threads on here about what you should and shouldn’t use! I’ve currently got a blend of Redline synthetic oils in mine.

Hope that’s at least a little helpful…

Richard

If this were a Morgan forum I would suggest the noise is “Deathwatch Beetle”. Ash frames and all that……

My wife gets annoyed at me for always wanting to find out what’s rattling or causing a noise in any car I’m driving, be it a modern or one of the Elans. I think it’s just down to the inherent engineer inside or an enhanced case of mechanical sympathy.

I’m not happy unless it’s working and sounding correct and then I get paranoid my senses are failing me when everything seems okay.

I sympathise that the noise really bugs!