Technical Death rattle from the engine..

[a73uk]

Just had a call from my brother, he was driving along at 40 in his Abarth (2012 around 70,000 miles), the engine check lights come on, he`s lost some power & the engine started seriously rattling..

I heard it over the phone, it sounds like a broken valve or something similar, a constant, loud, chirping kinda rattle, he said it seems to be top end.

It was last serviced about 2000 miles ago, & he checked the oil a few days ago (the oil light didnt come on, only the engine check warning).

Its happened at a bad time as he`s best man at a wedding this afternoon..

Anyone else had this?

Thanks

 

[alexGS]

Could be just about anything but hopefully it's the cambelt tensioner or water pump bearing, and if caught in time, just needs re-timing with a new belt kit.

Something tells me that it's going to be something a lot more sinister, though
But you can always hope... start with the easy and more likely problems, and work your way down to the cause.

-Alex

 

[a73uk]

Could be just about anything but hopefully it's the cambelt tensioner or water pump bearing, and if caught in time, just needs re-timing with a new belt kit.

Something tells me that it's going to be something a lot more sinister, though
But you can always hope... start with the easy and more likely problems, and work your way down to the cause.

-Alex

Hiya Alex,

It sounded very much top end on the phone, as opposed to timing belt related, I agree it sounds sinister, the only hope I can think of is that its a knackered injector, but I`m not holding my breath..

 

[alexGS]

Maybe pull the spark plugs and check for damage? If all look normal, at least there might not be something loose inside the cylinders and therefore might be safe to nurse it home. Perhaps these cars have flaps in the intake manifold which might come loose, rattle around, and block the ports - but I'm really clutching at straws now.

I saw a sheared-off turbo impeller on a 500 Multijet diesel... That probably made a horrid rattling noise and caused a loss of power

Honestly I wish him the best of luck for getting it home without further damage - think it will need to be stripped down to find the cause, but even an ancillary like the alternator or the a/c compressor can easily sound like a 'top end rattle' loss of power is unlikely with those, though.

-Alex

 

[a73uk]

Maybe pull the spark plugs and check for damage? If all look normal, at least there might not be something loose inside the cylinders and therefore might be safe to nurse it home. Perhaps these cars have flaps in the intake manifold which might come loose, rattle around, and block the ports - but I'm really clutching at straws now.

I saw a sheared-off turbo impeller on a 500 Multijet diesel... That probably made a horrid rattling noise and caused a loss of power

Honestly I wish him the best of luck for getting it home without further damage - think it will need to be stripped down to find the cause, but even an ancillary like the alternator or the a/c compressor can easily sound like a 'top end rattle' loss of power is unlikely with those, though.

-Alex

I wont be able to check till tomorrow as its currently sitting up at the grooms house, he`s had to leave it there & they`ve all gone to the wedding venue..

He said it sounded like it was coming from the rocker cover & it did sound high from what I heard, not that you can diag over the phone.

Funnily enough I changed the alternator for him on new years eve, according to him it did regain a noticeable amount of power & increased economy after woods.

We`ll see tomorrow I guess.

 

[zanes]

Wonder if the timing belt has slipped a few teeth and something's contacting slightly (Mr Piston and Miss Valve).

When's the Abarth due a timing belt change?

 

[a73uk]

Wonder if the timing belt has slipped a few teeth and something's contacting slightly (Mr Piston and Miss Valve).

When's the Abarth due a timing belt change?

Only 20k ago, so I`d hope not. It seems to be running with a 5-10% loss of power according to him, he drove a few miles to get to his destination after it started, I`d expect it to have lost more power than that if it had slipped some teeth, but again, who knows..

 

[ahmett]

Only 20k ago, so I`d hope not. It seems to be running with a 5-10% loss of power according to him, he drove a few miles to get to his destination after it started, I`d expect it to have lost more power than that if it had slipped some teeth, but again, who knows..

for such a stressed engine i would say 70k is too much if he hasn't changed the timing belt yet!

 

[a73uk]

for such a stressed engine i would say 70k is too much if he hasn't changed the timing belt yet!

I think you misread what I wrote, the belt & tensioner was done 20,000 miles ago.

 

[ahmett]

I think you misread what I wrote, the belt & tensioner was done 20,000 miles ago.

oh sorry for that ok then thats obviously fine. curious to see what has gone wrong. please update us when you know

 

[a73uk]

oh sorry for that ok then thats obviously fine. curious to see what has gone wrong. please update us when you know

I just re-read what I wrote about the belt & realised I didnt word it properly, so my fault, sorry!

Its always been serviced on the dot, & other than the alternator going, the active exhaust system breaking (not covered under warranty because they said it wasnt on the cars build sheet) & some breather hoses cracking, its always been reliable.

He`s still not awake yet, I`d imagine he was up quite late as a best man!

 

[a73uk]

Right, we`ve got a suspected cam position sensor, Bosch p/n 0232103097..

The cars needed for a driving test at 9:30 tomorrow morning.. Think I can get one on a bank holiday Monday?

The timing couldnt be worse..

 

[jrkitching]

Right, we`ve got a suspected cam position sensor, Bosch p/n 0232103097..

The cars needed for a driving test at 9:30 tomorrow morning.. Think I can get one on a bank holiday Monday?

The timing couldnt be worse..

With many apologies and condolences for your predicament, that's actually quite a good pun...

 

[a73uk]

Just to let you all know, it was the cam position sensor (the Bosch one in the middle of the rocker cover), but, more worryingly, the cam belt had jumped a tooth..

Luckily it didnt do any further damage.