HELP!! Rattling noise when stopped

[boostinpleazure]

Alright guys, I just bought a 92 TSi last Thursday. Now when I started it up late Thursday night it started making this crazy rattling noise, really loud. The guy I bought it from said it was the tranny. But I don't think so. The motor has 20k miles on it, rebuilt. I know it's not lifter tick, it's 10x louder. But speaking of lifter tick, I have that also About 10 minutes ago I popped the hood while it was running out front just to see if I could notice anything strange, and the alternator was vibrating like crazy. Not sure if it was rubbing up against something or what. Could anyone tell me if they think that might be the problem or if they've heard this happen before and it's something else? I guess you can say I'm a noob to DSMs. I've had 2 before *93 base eclipse, 90 TSi* but I've never did any tuning and did not have them long. So I'm not sure wtf this is. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Justin

 

[BUCK]

Well it could be the Tranny rattling - It could be the Harmonic Balancer rattling - It could be you Alternator bolt has rattled loose - Your AC - It could even be a rod rattling around in there, 20K rebuild or 20 mile rebuild - CHECKED THE OIL LATELY?? Just get some qualified to find out what it is NOW before it mushrooms into a death sentance for your new ride... Some more details would be nice.

 

[boostinpleazure]

Sorry, rebuild was 20 thousand miles ago. And as for more details, that's all I really have. The alternator is shaking like crazy, so I'm pretty sure a bolt has come loose, I was planning on checking that here in a few. And as for the oil, I said I was going to go get some here in a few. I'm changing it tonight. Oil level seems to be good and it's not too dark.

 

[DJ23GSX]

Does the noise go away when you push in the clutch? I had a rattling sound under my car but it went away when i pushed the clutch in. Kinda sound like a heatshield rattle. I knew my tranny was shot so i just swapped it out and put in an ACT clutch and it was gone for a while then it came back so had the tranny replaced under the warranty. I was told it was probly the throw out bearing making the noise but after the second tranny i never heard it again and i never touched the clutch between swaps.

 

[BUCK]

You need to get it up on Ramps or Jackstands to access that Alt & MAYBE pull the inner Wheel Cover if you have to remove the long Alt Bolt. You MUST check the Harmonic Balancer while you are down there too!

 

[boostinpleazure]

Alright thanks guys. I just read something about a heatshield rattle and I was wondering if that was it too. So I'm gonna check into that also. I'll get it up on jack stands tonight and tighten down that alternator. And I was also thinking it might've been the throwout bearing. Because my friend has a mustang 4.6 and his throwout bearing is bad, and it makes a rattle sound, but it's nowhere near as loud and sounds different. But I'll check into all this stuff as soon as possible and DEFINITELY not drive hard in the mean time. Preferrably not at all. Thanks guys. I'll update ya when I find out.

 

[boostinpleazure]

Well, I took off the exhaust mani heat shield, because I checked it and it seemed really loose. Loose enough to rattle against the manifold. Well, it came off and it still made the rattling noise. And I started listening really closely and it was actually coming from the tranny side. So we checked to see if it was the throwout bearing and it actually ended up being it. Put the clutch in and it stopped or like half a second later it would stop. So it doesn't seem that big of a problem. Seeing as my friend's is out in his car and it hasn't did a damn thing to him except make an ugly noise. So thanks for the help guys. Later.