slight rattle at idle E36 EVO
Discussion
talking to a seller of a 96 EVO, he mentioned it had a slight top end rattle at idle, as soon as you blip the throttle its gone. He reckons it's a cam belt tensioner. Could this be correct, or should i walk away? Price isnt bad, so could be tempted on this one.
Cheers for any thoughts on this.
Cheers for any thoughts on this.
As asbo, there is no cam belt. There's a cam chain with a tensioner and guide which wears and there's a tensioner on the drive belt but no cam belt. Doesn't really fill a buyer with confidence when a seller comes out with that does it?
Top end rattle at idle could be several things none of which are likely to be that cheap to sort in parts or labour. Unless it's dead cheap, you know whats wrong and are handy with the spanners then I would walk away. There's plenty more out there.
Top end rattle at idle could be several things none of which are likely to be that cheap to sort in parts or labour. Unless it's dead cheap, you know whats wrong and are handy with the spanners then I would walk away. There's plenty more out there.
Edited by Mroad on Saturday 4th July 10:15
As a quick aside to give you an idea of whether its worth the gamble or not.....I had a rattle from my evo that everyone put down to the vanos being slightly vocal, being the fussy sort I am I had it replaced which did nothing to cure the noise. In the end after much cursing I had the cam gears replaced which instanly cured the noise........Total cost 1800 for the vanos and 1750 for the cam gears, all within a few thousand miles...still makes me winch when I think about it!
My advice, buy one without topend noise.
Regards Mark.
My advice, buy one without topend noise.
Regards Mark.
Could be anything ,hard to be accurate without head under bonnet.
Have you heard it yourself?
This might sound a bit off but if you can get back to the car blip the engine with the clutch down & see if its gone, a few E36'46's have a lay shaft noise. It is difficult to pinpoint , but generally when their hot . Has even been mis-diagnosed as the famous "Vano's" rattle , in fact convinced it was until the clutch pedal was depressed then a redface!
Have you heard it yourself?
This might sound a bit off but if you can get back to the car blip the engine with the clutch down & see if its gone, a few E36'46's have a lay shaft noise. It is difficult to pinpoint , but generally when their hot . Has even been mis-diagnosed as the famous "Vano's" rattle , in fact convinced it was until the clutch pedal was depressed then a redface!
Thanks for all the comments Guys. Spoke to the seller again, he then admitted he had only owned the car for just over a month, sounds like he may have bought a pup, and is trying to unload it. Also, rear tyres will need replacing in next few thousand miles, some rust on rear arches. As ASBO said, its not worth messing about with.
As said before there are so many you can just about chose colour/spec rather than have to take one that needs some major work. You shouldnt see rust on one that has been looked after well.....try and limit the owners then you'll know they have taken care of it.....my '90 M3 hasn't a spot of rust on!!
mark.c said:
As a quick aside to give you an idea of whether its worth the gamble or not.....I had a rattle from my evo that everyone put down to the vanos being slightly vocal, being the fussy sort I am I had it replaced which did nothing to cure the noise. In the end after much cursing I had the cam gears replaced which instanly cured the noise........Total cost 1800 for the vanos and 1750 for the cam gears, all within a few thousand miles...still makes me winch when I think about it!
My advice, buy one without topend noise.
Regards Mark.
Why did you have the work done? Was she down on power?My advice, buy one without topend noise.
Regards Mark.
I ask as I have the rattle which I've been told - by a reputable Indie - is also down to the cam gears. These are 900 notes to replace without the labour and VAT. He also said that most people always mistake the noise for the Vanos unit and replace it to find that it changes nothing. So your story seems to back that up. Although she's not down on power, I decided to have her fully tested on a Vanos diagnostics machine. She was well within the 5% allowable tolerance (3%) and I was told to simply leave her be as if the Vanos fails or falls outside the 5%, it switches into a safe mode to prevent any engine damage. Safe mode simply means reduced power. I was told that the noise will probably get worse but by how much and over how long is anyones guess. So live with the noise or shell out the cash was the advice I was given. She's done 104k miles and since no damage can be done, I'll live with the noise thanks very much. At the rate of wear, she should do another 70k miles. But for peace of mind, I will get her Vanos diagnosed on every service just to keep track of it.
Remember that DR Vanos can supply a reconditioned vanos for £250 with uprated gears which make it a lot quieter. Does anyone still pay £2k for a new vanos?
http://www.drvanos.com/index.php?option=com_conten...
http://www.drvanos.com/index.php?option=com_conten...
Edited by scz4 on Wednesday 8th July 15:11
HardToLove said:
Could be anything ,hard to be accurate without head under bonnet.
Have you heard it yourself?
This might sound a bit off but if you can get back to the car blip the engine with the clutch down & see if its gone, a few E36'46's have a lay shaft noise. It is difficult to pinpoint , but generally when their hot . Has even been mis-diagnosed as the famous "Vano's" rattle , in fact convinced it was until the clutch pedal was depressed then a redface!
Slight resurection; how can anyone worth his/her respective salt misdiagnose the layshaft rattle for a head rattle??Have you heard it yourself?
This might sound a bit off but if you can get back to the car blip the engine with the clutch down & see if its gone, a few E36'46's have a lay shaft noise. It is difficult to pinpoint , but generally when their hot . Has even been mis-diagnosed as the famous "Vano's" rattle , in fact convinced it was until the clutch pedal was depressed then a redface!
Each are at different ends of the engine.
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