[V3NOMOUS97COBRA]

I have a 97 cobra and today I noticed a clicking sound coming from the engine compartment. It only happens from 2500-3500 or so RPMS and only when my foot is on the accelerator (no sound in deceleration or idol) and its definitely only in that RPM range. Im not exactly sure what it could be other than maybe a valve sticking or something but its loud enough to notice while driving down the interstate. no power loss, smoke or anything like that and all the gauges are reading normal..i did fill it up today and used the dreaded "Regular" cause gas is getting ridiculously high here for some reason but I have ran "regular" in it before without issue..anything guys or gals?

[97mustanggt]

its tha regular gas, they began to knock...run ur car dry then put premium and c if tha problem gets fixed.

[Ryan Paymaster]

First: Don't run regular! It's an entire (at max) $3.00 extra per fill-up for Premium assuming Premium is about 25 cents more.

Also, the noise you are hearing was also heard on mine. From about 2700-3100 or so it would rattle. I ran only premium gasoline all the time and still had this happen. It happens on my M3 as well.

I'm fairly certain nothing is wrong with your vehicle. If chatter ever gets obnoxious check your clutch pedal. There's a grommet or something like that that can go bad and lets the clutch rattle all over the place. This is completely unrelated.

[acidtonic]

Is it loud enough a camcorder/cellphone could pick up the noise for us to hear? Does it do this all the time no matter what? Or only when its hot/cold? Before you do anything, put 93 octane in from an empty tank and see if it goes away.

Mine doesnt click, and when it did I had a bad lifter which a quart of Marvell Mystery oil cured in 200 miles. Except mine was really silent at idle, and only made noise at light throttle from roughly 1500-3000 and got quiet above that. I could barely hear it and I mean barely while driving, but while driving next to concrete medians (the tall ones) I could hear it bouncing off the wall and it was quite loud.

It could be something with your clutch but you'd probably rule that out by revving it with the clutch in and seeing if it still does that.

Could also be injector noise but the fact that its not all over and just a set rpm range makes me think otherwise on this issue.

So check your oil, look for metal at the bottom of your catch can (which you cleaned first). Grab a Q-tip and swab around the bottom of the oil pan and see if you collect any metal or feel anything solid in there moving around. Just in case something failed or cracked but hasn't let go. If you find any metal in there dont start it up any more. If you dont keep reading. (EDIT: In case I wasnt clear, dont use the Q-Tip on the pan you put the oil in, I'm talking about the actual engine oil pan, swabbing through the hole left by removing the nut that holds oil in the pan.)

Do an oil change and put a nice synthetic in there and instead of 5w20 try a slightly thicker oil and see if it quiets down.

If it still doesnt I'd do another change and replace one quart of oil with a quart of the product I mentioned above. Worked wonders for me, no I'm not paid to recommend it. Give it 200 miles at least to start working. Mine started getting more quiet and quiet until it just stopped. Also felt like a lot of power came back.

IF you are unsure about the metal thing you can send your oil to Blackstone and they can do a test for like 20 bux and detect fine particles along with other cool analysis. They can spot failing engines months before they truly let go and recommend changes.

I know thats a lot of info, but hopefully it assists you with your problem.

[V3NOMOUS97COBRA]

Originally Posted by acidtonic Is it loud enough a camcorder/cellphone could pick up the noise for us to hear? Does it do this all the time no matter what? Or only when its hot/cold? Before you do anything, put 93 octane in from an empty tank and see if it goes away. Mine doesnt click, and when it did I had a bad lifter which a quart of Marvell Mystery oil cured in 200 miles. Except mine was really silent at idle, and only made noise at light throttle from roughly 1500-3000 and got quiet above that. I could barely hear it and I mean barely while driving, but while driving next to concrete medians (the tall ones) I could hear it bouncing off the wall and it was quite loud. It could be something with your clutch but you'd probably rule that out by revving it with the clutch in and seeing if it still does that. Could also be injector noise but the fact that its not all over and just a set rpm range makes me think otherwise on this issue. So check your oil, look for metal at the bottom of your catch can (which you cleaned first). Grab a Q-tip and swab around the bottom of the oil pan and see if you collect any metal or feel anything solid in there moving around. Just in case something failed or cracked but hasn't let go. If you find any metal in there dont start it up any more. If you dont keep reading. (EDIT: In case I wasnt clear, dont use the Q-Tip on the pan you put the oil in, I'm talking about the actual engine oil pan, swabbing through the hole left by removing the nut that holds oil in the pan.) Do an oil change and put a nice synthetic in there and instead of 5w20 try a slightly thicker oil and see if it quiets down. If it still doesnt I'd do another change and replace one quart of oil with a quart of the product I mentioned above. Worked wonders for me, no I'm not paid to recommend it. Give it 200 miles at least to start working. Mine started getting more quiet and quiet until it just stopped. Also felt like a lot of power came back. IF you are unsure about the metal thing you can send your oil to Blackstone and they can do a test for like 20 bux and detect fine particles along with other cool analysis. They can spot failing engines months before they truly let go and recommend changes. I know thats a lot of info, but hopefully it assists you with your problem.

Yeah it still does it with the clutch in and it is really quiet until around the same RPM's as yours..im gonna go try some of that oil and premium fuel and see if that fixes it

[ReverendDexter]

Don't ever put regular in your car. If the extra $3/tank is the difference between you being able to afford to drive it or not, sell it and buy something fuel efficient.

[Ryan Paymaster]

It should be worth noting even though I had this "rattling" that I had a bad head and my valve guides were worn.

Is a bad head or valve guides your case? Who knows. Probably not. I doubt that is what causes this rattling. If my camera or phone could pick the noise up in my M3 as well I'd do it. I think this is fairly normal. When you drive against a median in a road or especially against a brick wall you probably REALLY hear it.

For some reason I'm really certain this is just a common occurance in these cars. acidtonic had the same "described" noise as we seem to have. In his case running engine honey seemed to stop it.

Go to Blackstone Labs with a sample for $20 to cure a lot of "is my engine blowing up" questions.

[BayAreaCobra77]

hey bud i have a 99 cobra that was making the exact same noise. check your oil regularly because it could be a spun rod bearing.

bad valve guides = burning oil which will spin the metal right off of your journal in a heartbeat. i ended up pulling mine and replacing with all forged internals and having the heads done, free'd up a TON of horsepower, feels like a brand new car,

Along with the ARH longtubes and Spec Stage 2+ clutch i treated myself to while the engine was out

[V3NOMOUS97COBRA]

Nice 77..well I hope its nothing expensive cause this is my daily driver and I really rather spend the money on other things like spaceships and prostitutes LMAO..How much did you spend on all that if you dont mind me asking

[BayAreaCobra77]

lmao money well spent.. well you can do a cheap fix by having your crank journal remachined for about 200 bucks, and a set if tri-metal rod bearings is about 150 with the mains included. alot of times there will be one bad rod from the journal that spun, so its good to Mic it out and replace.

so if it is spun, the cheapest fix would be around 500 bucks im guessing, if you do it all yourself, but it means pulling the engine -_-

but if you do decide to pull it, its almost worth it to check your rings and upgrade at least your rods if you have the money. you can buy a full set of forged H-beams for around 650 bucks

good luck man, i hope its in your heads and not your bottom

[BayAreaCobra77]

oh and my longtubes were 1,400 with the catted X pipe,
clutch was 330 i believe
pistons were 800, along with rods which were 650ish

plus all the gaskets and other bullcrap you end up buying when you pull it, water pump, etc.

ended up painting the car while it was out, and i believe i spent around 2,800 on everything, minus the paint

the cars feels brand new though man, plus some

[V3NOMOUS97COBRA]

Very cool

[97mustanggt]

man if i ever have to pull my engine out, i would do alot of perventative maintance on it, change everything i could, and headers while its out.

[BayAreaCobra77]

yessir thats the right way, unless you plan on pullin it a few more times in the future lol.

im hopin to be running around 400hp N/A, with the higher comp pistons, longtubes, a tune and my JLT intake