'97 del Sol noise at 2500 rpm under load

Could be a total coincidence - hard to say.

Perhaps buy a cheap automotive stethoscope and probe around. It could be a bearing in the AC or steering pump (possibly water pump - I wouldn't exclude it just because it is new). Maybe the timing belt idler has a bad bearing.

If it is an automatic, also probe around where the transmission and engine meet up (drive plate and torque converter). Sometimes the bolts that hold these things together slowly walk themselves out and can cause resonance at certain speeds.

There are many other things that could cause resonant noise like this - others here will have more suggestions, I am sure.

Remco

It has a manual transmission.

Yes, noises are difficult. [GG]

I was hoping that perhaps the specific rpm and the fact that it occurs at that rpm only while there is a "demand" on the engine (pushing the accelerator) might point to a known historical possibility.

Thanks!

Best regards,

Scott

dude, you have to be much more specific about the noise, conditions under which it occurs, and what you've done to identify it. saying that you "noticed a noise at about 2500 rpm coming from the engine compartment" only rules out about 20% of the automotive systems.

if my grandmother drove her car to your house and said "there's something wrong with my car", could you help her without doing your own diagnostics? 'cos her description of the problem isn't helping. you want to drive your del sol to my house? i'll tell you the problem. but until you do, you gotta help us help you by being /way/ more specific.

Jim,

I know you are trying to be helpful.

As I have already mentioned, it is very difficult to communicate to others what a noise sounds like via the written word. I was refraining from attempting that to avoid mis-communicating a symptom. The noise probably would be best described as a reasonablly low frequency buzzing or rattling noise - somewhat metalic sounding.

Since the noise occurs at the rpm and conditions that I previously reported after valve maintenance and the timing belt & the water pump were replaced, I thought that might be little more information than "there's something wrong with my car".

I stand corrected.

All I was trying to do in the original post was to plumb the corporate knowledge of this group to see if, after the maintenance I have described, anyone else had experienced a similar situation. I take it you have not.

Best regards,

Scott

Also have a close look at the heat shields. They usually bolt on, but some of the bolting lips tend to rot out, causing them to rattle at some RPMs.

Not sure on a delSol, but some hondas/acuras have a double (as in pipe within a pipe) going from the exhaust header to the cat. They are welded together in spots and these connections tend to break after a while. That can cause weird resonances and, since the sound travels, can be pretty hard to find.

Remco