Caterham Idle Noise

[euan_k]

Hi!

My brand new (00000 miles) just built Caterham 2.0 Duratec sounds a rough, like it has a slight rattle / knock from the front of the engine. Any thoughts on whether this is normal or needs investigated?

Video below

[euan_k]

A video to compare would be very handy! No I don't think it's coming off the belt or anything, sounds like right at the front of the engine around the plenum.

[euan_k]

slime bomb - yep that sounds like it. Reassuring that someone else with a 420R has something similar. Is yours fairly new? Wondering if it's maybe a new engine thing and needs a bit of running in?

[euan_k]

Thanks for the comments folks.

My dealer Oakmere watched the video and said that the noise is normal. Apparently the new (2016 onwards?) plastic plenum can be noisy around that area. Prior to that the plenum was metal (cast alloy?) which dampened the noise. Very interested to hear if anyone with a plastic plenum also has no noise, which would debunk this theory.

Also, they noticed my idle is really fast, ~2,000 RPM when it should be ~1,000 RPM. I think that may be contributing to a noisy idle.

Will adjust and report back.

[euan_k]

slime bomb said:

euan, whereabout are you? If you're near Staffordshire you could listen to mine.

Sadly I'm in Edinburgh so that would be tricky. Thanks very much for the offer though.

[euan_k]

Folks,

Many thanks for the help and advice. I dropped the idle speed so 1,000 RPM and it runs sweet. 2,000 RPM as per the video must just be a "tickley" point in the rev range

Now done 00003 miles. Many more to come