Is this vibration and noices part of the MG world?

[Midget78]

Hey gang. Finally the weather is cooperating and I have been able to get my 78 Midget out and about and start enjoying it. I love taking the car out for a ride but honestly the noices stemming from vibration from the motor is a little annoying at times. Sometimes I deal with the dash making mystery humming noices, then the seatbelt units buzzing, and even found the front right fender buzzing a bit (I put a little pressure on it and it quits yet all the bolts seem tight). I heard this is all part of owning an MG yet I never had the opportunity to ride in anyone elses to see if they all do it. I have been going through the car to check for screws that are loose yet havent found anything like that up to now. I know my engine mounts are a little worn but actually have some life on them yet. Any feedback on how your car "sounds" I am interested in knowing.

 

[Jim_Gruber]

Zoom Zoom noises it makes and loves boing outside in the warm weather sans top. Unfortunately BE Bonnet is in final paint stages that I hope to get finished by end of the weekend. By Sunday plan will be for BE Bonnet to be reinstalled on car with several coats of Green upon it. Then we get to drive pretty not ugly.

 

[sparkydave]

I learned recently that some vibrations could indicate other things. I had a new vibration crop up late last fall, and when I changed my oil last week I found I had shed an exhaust hanger bolt. :eeek: So, the exhaust was vibrating a little more than usual without that.

 

[RickB]

I had a motor mount that was causing the block to sit right on the frame with ouly steel in between. Talk about vibration!!!

I've had these noises caused by exhaust and by loose trans mount and by loose / missing nuts & bolts on parts of the suspension.

Check everything. Take digital pictures under the car and look them over closely to make sure you aren't missing something.

Once I had a lot of trouble getting the car to idle, and eventually grabbed the carb while it was running and it rocked back because several nuts had worked themselves that loose!

 

[bgbassplyr]

Check motor and trans mounts for breakage and loose bolts.

Check exhaust for loose, missing, broken studs/bolts, pipe hangers, pipe/muffler joints. Exhaust pipe hitting frame/body.

Check intake heat shield for loose bolts, breaks, splits.

Also look for fuel line, brake lines not attached and vibrating against the frame.

Vibrations can come from anywhere, but the above are the usual suspects. There could also be broken spot welds which are hard to find.

This is like a safari. Put on your pith helmet and head off into the jungle.

Jim

 

[Jer]

as for your mystery dash noises, check your speedo / tach gauges, on my car I had to wedge a gum wrapper between the crome ring & glass gap until I could replace the o-ring that was supposed to be between them (so I discovered upon investigation)... the glass would rattle between the chrome ring & the gauge unit,it would make a funny buzzing noises in certain conditions...

 

[texas_bugeye]

Take a look under your bonnet also and make sure nothing like a hose or a throttle cable is rubbing. Causing a mystery noise that disappears when you pull over and open the hood to find the source. :blush:
Also check inside the hollows on the lower inside edge of the inner fender for sockets phillps screw drivers and old radiator clamps. Hey any of you guys loose a screw driver on a bugeye about 20 years ago? Maybe a 6 sided socket? let me know I found them for you.

 

[SilentUnicorn]

A good one to check is the radiator overflow bottle on top of the inner fender.


mark

 

[bthompson]

Is it normal? The short answer: yes. Can you get rid of them? Eventually. Every rattle and buzz tells a story. Some are dire (carb falling off; exhaust bracket broken) and some aren't (gauge bezel; dash rattle). Know the difference, grasshopper.

Some rattles I've had, that may help your quest:
A piece of gravel in the front fender lip, rattling around the drainhole. (Sounds awful, you'll laugh when you find it.)
The hood prop bolts.
The fresh-air duct door. (LOUD and annoying when the foam crumbles off.)
Turn signal flasher, behind the dash.
Hood latch spring.
Spare tire tie down.
Jack! (Major rattle in the boot, just wrapped it in a towel and it worked wonders.)

 

[RickB]

Bonnet bumpers! The little rubber dealies in the channels that the bonnet rests on when closed. You can get a major racket when they are bad or missing!!!

I found mine by taking an orbital polisher to the hood. When I hit the "right" spot it vibrated at the same pitch as what I was hearing on the road.

 

[Midget78]

Thanks to all of you for your ideas. I checked the motor mounts and they are getting worn but dont seem to bad. The carb and exhaust all were just reworked and that stuff is good and tight. I did notice I do not have any rubber pads for the bonnet as Rick B mentioned. I need to see where these are supposed to be and get them. I have a feeling I may have some "welds" that are not doing their job. That front right fender for sure has some issues yet all bolts are torqued down. The noices are not terribly bad but without a radio can get a little annoying. More so like many of you said, I want to make sure Im not letting problems unfold and then have some real issues to deal with later on.

 

[RickB]

You don't have any rubber pieces in the channels where the bonnet sits?
Do you have the little L brackets that used to have the rubbery bits attached?
Believe me, that can make it sound like your fender is vibrating off the car, you can get some really random noises. That was driving me nuts when I first got my car.

 

[Midget78]

You know what, I just remembered those rubber bumpers are there but I know they are dried out and not doing a whole lot in the condition they are in. Im wondering if my Weber DGV Carb air cleaner is rubbing the under side of the bonnet? This thing sits up pretty high. I need to check that.

 

[RickB]

Yes, look for all that stuff.
You will have marks on the underside of the bonnet if the air cleaner is rubbing.

 

[tosoutherncars]

Some rattles I've had, that may help your quest:
(...) Jack! (Major rattle in the boot, just wrapped it in a towel and it worked wonders.)

That's true, Jack does make a lot of noise... right Jack?

:banana:

 

[Dadandson]

I had noise coming from the boot. Installed carpet and all my vibration noise went away.

 

[Silverghost]

Bonnet bumpers!

Would those be rubber baby bonnet bumpers?! LOL :laugh: Sorry, couldn't resist that!

 

[jlaird]

True enough, I put mine in a case. Stoped that.

 

[198686d]

This is like a safari. Put on your pith helmet and head off into the jungle.

Jim[/quote]

How true! That's how I feel just about everytime I get under the BE or in the engine bay. Watch out for those snakes.

 

[texas_bugeye]

If the air cleaner of the DGV is s not hitting its darn close to it ask me how I know. I ended up making a box and moving the air cleaner lower and toward the inner fender brace. It is not pretty ask Texas Bugeye but is effective.