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Metal on Metal???

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judow

judow

Darth Vader - R.I.P
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Agatha had a problem. On our way back from a Saturday breakfast I was on the interstate and cruising along at about 70 when all of a sudden just about 3 miles before an exit onto Route 66 there was the sound of metal on metal and made a terrible racket. It was almost like the fan blades were hitting something, perhaps the radiator. I pulled into the extreme left lane and thought I detected a loss of power. It might well have been just my immediate reaction to slow down and stop but certainly not on the interstate if I could help it. I took her out of overdrive and proceeded to exit. The clunking sound lasted for maybe less than 2 minutes. I exited off and proceeded to continue home, about 8-9 miles. We drove at a speed of 55 and in overdrive and she acted as though nothing had happened. She did run a little rich but nothing that I think a carb adjustment wouldn't take care of. After the engine cooled down (88-95 degrees at speeds of about 55-70) I looked to see if I could see anything awry and nothing. Engine oil fine. When the event occurred there was no drop in engine rpm nor did the temperature change.

I was to have taken her to a car show today but have opted to let her rest until I could talk with my trusted mechanic. I am thinking I have some sort of cylinder problem?

Help guys and hopefully my inexperienced attempt at relating the problem makes some sort of sense.

Thanks.

:frown:
 
Judow--

In my experience Healey's rarely brake until you have actually set out on that trip or are fairly far away from home, perhaps even at your destination.

Can you describe the noise more precisely--where did it come from, how long did it last, what did it sound like? Have you examined your fan blade, generator or alternator and belts to see if something is binding or if a small critter went through the works?

Enquiring minds want to know.....
 
I did check the fan blades, radiator and fan belt and all appeared to be fine. The noise sounded like fan blades on the radiator - just a rapid clunking sound.

I did so want to take it to the car show as it's for a good friend's 60th anniversary of their church and I wanted to let the young folk sit in Agatha for a photo op. Perhaps I'll garner the courage and see what happens.

I did start it later on and it seemed fine.

I am perplexed as she has been running great.

I thought, silly me, that maybe I just picked up some gravel and it got caught between the fan blades and radiator. I know that seems far fetched.
 
Well I can see that this has you concerned, what with being awake and posting two hours earlier than us here in EST-land.

Did this occur when you went over a bump or on hard braking? How much clearance is there between your rad and the fan and are there any scrapes along the rear face of the core? There is that threaded rod/bushing thingy (I don't have one on either my cars because they both have Smitty's) that pulls the transmission and engine back and keeps it from surging into the rad. Check it out!
 
When it happened I was just humming along at about 70 with the usual grin on my face. I couldn't find any scrapes in the front area or anywhere for that matter. I even used a flashlight and could find nothing.

I decided I am going to get showered and am going to carry on. I will go to the car event because neither I nor Agatha like to break a promise. My only concession will be to take Route 66, travel at no more than 55 and stay off I-40. I did throw a chair in the back of the Jag just in case I needed to return and take Onslow. Husband is on his duty tour and won't return until Friday. Seems like these things always happen when he's not here.

And yes I was VERY concerned and most perplexed. Agatha usually behaves.

Thanks and any other input I can get is appreciated. In the meanwhile cross your fingers.

Even if she runs fine Agatha and her doctor will be seeing each other! I don't care that she doesn't like needles. lol
 
judow, i hate to be one to throw a spanner into your social event as far as agatha is concerned but there are a number of things that may be wrong with her right now, one being an oil pump thats starting to fail, bearings in the engine, and more, one way to find out would be by running her trying to reproduce the abnormality but not on a highway drive, something very similar happened to me in my 67 chev malbu. 6cyl, same type of noise then stopped for a while, at the time i had no other means of transportation so i just pressed on, it resulted in a thrown connecting rod that left me stranded on the b.q.e. near laguardia airport on my way home from school. i wish you and agatha well. your, anthony. :savewave:
 
If you smelled burnt fan belt accompanied by the noise, perhaps it was a locked-up generator. You can remove the belt and spin the generator by hand and see how the bearings feel- my '62 GMC just had this issue. After driving about an hour it locked up...I pulled over, it cooled off and I was able to drive it home. I had it rebuilt, and replaced the water pump too while I had it apart. My 2 cents.
 
The noise could have been anything already suggested, even if a piece of road debris got flipped up into the fan it would leave some sort of damage you could see. Sometimes the impeller fan on the generator will rub on the nearest fixed part. If one or more generator bearing has failed or the impeller is broken, the suggestion of taking the belt off and checking both the water pump and generator for smoothness of rotation is a good one. Make sure all the blades are on the generator impeller. I'm curious as to why you say it was running richer. Do you mean before the noise, or after?
 
Firstly thanks for all the possible problems/remedies. I just got back from the car show which as fate would have it way too much fun. Free food and some really happy younsters. Must have had at least 20 photos taken of the youngster sitting in Agatha.

I digress.

I decided on the interstate as she appeared to be running nicely and cruised along with traffic into Albuquerque. She continued to run without any events. Also took the freeway back and again she ran nicely.

I did check to see if there was any damage/scrapping and could find nothing. As to her running rich - that is my fault as I think I adjusted the carbuerators too much. I should have let her warm up more before trying to encourage the rpms. Also over time this happens and might well be from the road vibrations. It is time for an oil change, spark plug change and general tune-up.

It might well have been road debris or now you can all laugh in unisom - the car in front of me pulled to the right lane the same time that I did and took the same exit and went exceedingly slow - perhaps they had the problem and not me. I should add I always drive with the top down and hear everything.

For those of you who don't know - I am admittedly female and because you guys have locked us out of your realm we are still learning and playing catch-up. Mostly my explanations are far too simplistic for even the best of mechanics.

Thanks for all your suggestions to my problem and I'll post if indeed it was Agatha that was acting so badly! You've been great!

:thankyousign:
 
My troubleshooting philosophy is to do the easy and inexpensive things first. I think you have hit upon a fix that we rarely get to use....blame it on the car near you. How many times (when I'm not driving the Healey) do I get to blame the oil puddle in the supermarket parking lot on the car that occupied the space before me? Was it there when I pulled in? Believe it or not I check evey time I park. I always like to think the squeaky brakes are the guy next to me.....
 
judow said:
For those of you who don't know - I am admittedly female and because you guys have locked us out of your realm we are still learning and playing catch-up. Mostly my explanations are far too simplistic for even the best of mechanics.
Click to expand...

Ouch. That hurts. I for one would never have a problem letting a female into my 'realm'--I just don't get many opportunities. Please let us know how us guys can be more accommodating.

Anyway ...

I had one transient noise issue, but it didn't make the sound you described so I didn't mention it, but I'll throw it out there anyway:

Once, my BJ8 developed a sudden scraping noise from the direction of the front right wheel. I stopped ASAP, thinking I had a bearing go bad but couldn't find any problems, even with the wheel on a jack. When I got back on the road the noise was gone, and never happened again. I thought maybe a piece of grit had gotten between the brake rotor and the brake pads.

When I finally got into the wheel hub I found that the large flatwasher--the one with the protuberance that fits into the axle's slot--had rotated about 90deg. It was probably the protuberance--what's the PC word, here?--being ground off by the axle threads that caused the noise. Have to believe the axle nut wasn't tight enough, but it's easy enough to do since it's a castellated nut with cotter, and you have to torque to a slot and can't just crank it down.
 
Roscoe :laugh: If it works, my philosophy is go for it.

Bob - I think you might be on to something even though I don't really understand it. I'm going to tell my mechanic to check the brakes as well as the wheels, in fact a thorough check as he will have it on the lift. Might as well be safe rather than sorry.

Aain thanks all.
 
How many miles on the engine?
You mentioned running a bit rich.
Oil consumption?

I have seen and had a chunk of carbon break loose from A) over rich and B) oil consumption, generally on the highway, scares the snot out of you, the carbon breaks up, and away you go.

Did your oil pressure fluctuate when this happened?

If said chunk of carbon lodged in a valve face you would have A) some loss of power (noted), B) noise (noted), C) normal oil pressure (not yet noted) and D) valve train noise, as one rocker lash would be greater than normal by the amount plus leverage of said carbon stuck in valve.

Oil vent from valve cover into intake, plus rich or rich by itself, can build up a fair sized bit of carbon on the intake runners.

BTDT.

Doesn't matter if yer male or female, carbon don't care.


Dave
 
bob, "because you guys have locked us out..." humm, i myself have attended such social events so im writing that statement off to perhaps ones proximity to the punch bowl. :jester:
 
Brings to mind a similar problem I had, strange noise very loud, I thought the car was literally falling apart. Turns out the battery hold down (BN7 car with twin batteries) broke loose and hit the driveshaft. You might have a similar problem only maybe the E brake bracket???
 
TOC - oil pressure didn't fluctuate at all. 17,000 miles since restored although the gauge didn't work for about 6 months.

Your carbon theory makes a lot of sense to me.

Agatha will be seeing her mechanic next week and I am going to print this thread. My mechanic likes me to offer what might have happened NOT. I call him Mr. Snippy and expects me to be cantankerous.
 
Johnny - Another theory to give to Mr. Snippy. He's going to love me. He'll probably tell husband to leave me home next time. I wished I could get it there sooner but I need transportation back so that Mr. Snippy doesn't have to put up with me in his world. lol
 
LOL What do you mean 'punch' bowl - my liquid narcotic of choice is scotch, neat!
 
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