Weird engine noise

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With all these heads together we might be on to something. :icon_smi:

Let us know what you find.



If it is a rod, nothing a few good 6 grand blasts wont diagnose.....hehe


Man i'm gonna have to practice my typing.....you guys are good.
 
excellent news !! glad to hear it (pun intended) went away without a belt ! thats good stuff (not really but it is) LOL
 
As the alternator is brand new, It has to be the water-pump, I can't see it being anything else. And waterpumps do fail, as my brother found out on his way to the Roskilde festival in Denmark, halfway down Sweden in a '73 Chevelle Malibu full of buddies and camping gear! :)

Good thing I allowed my concerns to get the better of me and start this thread.

And better yet, you guys taking the time to read it and come up with constructive adviceand share your knowledge and experience. You more than likely saved me from an imminent roadside breakdown! Or actually, you probably saved the Dart from a breakdown.. which effectively means saving me from a breakdown too so I was right in the first instance! :D

What can I say? I think a big thank you should be in order..:prayer:

Any good suggestions about what pump to get or NOT to get by the way?
 
i have yet to get one that has come apart or failed from any local auto parts store. im sure the bearings or the impeller is the suspect. ive never heard an alternator make noises like that. but if you had an extra one laying around you could toss it on just to make sure thats not it, but my money is on the pump.
 
Your welcome, glad we could be of help.

As far as a new pump, your engine looks fairly stock from the video, i would think any reputable parts store brand would suffice. What i mean is something that might be avail. locally to you for a decent price.

Good luck my friend.
 
No spare pump knocking about I'm afraid, but I'd be abit surprised if it wasn't the pump! And no such thing as local auto-store with inexpensive parts foir american classic cars in Norway, at least not where I live! :)

Ebay, my friend..

And even on the off chance that it's not the pump, changing it won't hurt as a precaution. As I wrote, This pump might well be from '71 for all I know!

The rattling goes away before the thermostat opens, but I see where you are comming from... ;)

What I will most certainly do, is to post again when the pump has been replaced and share any interresting findings I might make! :)

PS

There should be a separate section where people could post audio/ video clips of known failures and how they are sonically manifested.
 
im glad that it wasnt something internal. that is always a bummer. post back when you that new pump on...
 
Are you sure it doesn't have a loose alt bracket? it would take a lot of play to get a pump that noisy...... Or at least any that I have seen, it should be spewing when warm.
 
Do a Compression Test....Cold/Warm

Does it idle funky, or lack acceleration power?


ALL 3 1 8's have nylon camshaft timing gears and WEAR.

I ALWAYS replace the timing chain and gear with double rollers when I own/drive 318s for this "weird noise" reason.

I also Use a Mopar Performance Timing Chain Tensioner for even more assurance.
 
One last thing to chk.
Put the belt back on and tighten it to normal.
Fire it up and the noise should be there.
Touch a bar of soap to each side of the belt while running and see if it goes away.
A worn belt can make a pretty horrible noise when sliding down into the pully groove.

My neighbor thought his engine was going, and I chk'd it with the soap trick and the noise was instantly gone.
He got a new water pump belt and that did it.
 
First of all, thanks for all further advice! Dodgetboy, were you spot on or what!

And for Prine, I did put in a roller chain only a year after I got the car, the design of the original drive system with that nylon (!) pulley plain scared me the first time i had the cover off, no way I was gonne keep that in there, no sir!

Ordered a new water pump today, turned out a shop nearby (does mostly chevy and AC delco stuff) could get one for wednesday. A bit dearer than e-bay, but at least I didn't have to wait two weeks to get it...

So, pulled the pump today, expecting to discover something at least mildly shocking and horrible... but the pump was fine!! what the...????

Turned out the crank pulley was loose! :banghead:
Not much, pulling on it it seemed fine but rotating it, it would move and hit against the bolts. This explains why the noise was only there when the engine was idling roughly just after start-up. In stead of turning evenly and exerting an even pull on the pulley (thats why it's called pulley, isn't it?) forcing the bolts towards the edge of the bolt holes, the uneven idle would jerk the pulley causing the pulley bolt holes to knock against the bolts! (looked like a couple of bolts were missing too)

Well, even though it wasn't the water-pump, it led me to discover an issue that could really have hurt if left undiscovered! In addition to that, there was a small leakage in the gasket causing some seepage through one of the bolt-holes, doesn't hurt getting that fixed as well!

Just hope I can cancel the order for the water-pump tomorrow, if not, I'll at least have one in spare! :)

All in all, I'm not complaining, at the end of the day, the good old Dart is getting better and better everytime I do something with it! :)
 
Glad you found the problem.
An easy way to check the condition of a water pump is grab the fan blades with both hands and see if it will wiggle back and forth.
This is an easy indicatior of the condition of the bearings in the water pump.
 
well i learned a couple things to say the least ! , glad you got it figured out. great responses guys !
 
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