"Grinding" noise from engine

corblimey

Over the last few days, I've discovered that my engine makes a loud noise, I can only describe as 'grinding' at what appears to be random times. I only really hear it when I'm in traffic, but there's also a whistling noise when I'm travelling at speed which I think is the same noise, just at a higher rotation, if that make sense.

The car is running fine, but obviously, any noise other than "rrrrr" coming from an engine must be pretty bad, right? Since it's so random, I don't want to bring it to a garage and try to describe it, but if I could get them to look at something in particular that might be causing this problem, if it is serious, then that would be a great help. It's a 98 Punto.

I'm considering trading it in anyway, so maybe I'll just live with it for the time being and hope it doesn't do it when I selling it on

mike65

Is the noisy present form cold? Does it vary at all with the speed of the engine (more grrrrrr with higher revs)? Does it grrrrr in gear or in neutral or both?

Mike.

corblimey

Mike, there appears to be no rhyme nor reason to the grinding; I heard it repeatedly on Monday morning and again on Wednesday evening and nothing in between or since. Once t starts, it doesn't matter what gear I'm in, it'll go for a random number of seconds and then stop and then start up again maybe a little later.

It's infuriating as I can't tell what's causing it, and I'm half afraid that something is hitting against something else and making things worse and eventually the engine will explode.

AMurphy

if it continues even when stopped but ideling, I'd go looking for a worn bearing of some sort.
Rotating items with bearings that fail;
Water pump (also springs a leak)
Timing belt tensioner,
Alternator bearings, PS and AirCon pully bearings.

next time it starts up pull over and have a good listen to the engine.

if it appears to be at the gearbos end, most likely a bearing in teh box + badly meshing gears that result.

LegacyUser

If it was the water pump then the egine would start to overheat. Might not notice it on a short journey. If you start to hear what seems like a buzzing noise from the engine - then its the car over heating.

css

could it be a crankshaft bearing? if so i'd get it looked at asap..

AMurphy

bubby wrote:

If it was the water pump then the egine would start to overheat. Might not notice it on a short journey. If you start to hear what seems like a buzzing noise from the engine - then its the car over heating.

Engines can run quiet happily for months with dripping and grinding pumps, it's not until you get the gushing leak the overheating sets in.
And that "buzzing" you describe woud be more gushing, boiling & bubbling.

Crankshaft bearings get worse and go within a very short while of any noise, eg 30 miles.

LegacyUser

AMurphy wrote:

Engines can run quiet happily for months with dripping and grinding pumps, it's not until you get the gushing leak the overheating sets in.
And that "buzzing" you describe woud be more gushing, boiling & bubbling.

I had a "buzzing" coming from my engine when the pump went - not a gushing, boiling or bubbling.

AMurphy

My apolologies.
However, indicate where the buzzing was coming from and what type or Car & engine.

I've had some strange sounds myself, but I'd describe them as "reed" like sounds and it was the thermostat "hammering".....OK, I'll settle for "buzzing". The onset for a larger scale boil over.
Rad cap under the pressure of steam could sound the same.

So far not heard "buzzing" from a pump, Grinding, rumbling, grumbling and nicking/ticking, even clacking from a loose WP pulley...... but, we learn something every day.

mondeoman

we used to have a '94 punto with a problem like yours(corblimey),it turned out to be the timing belt tensioner bearing,a very common problem with punto i believe,a friend of mine who trained as a FIAT mechanic told me so

RE*AC*TOR

worn brake pads?

AMurphy

Definitely get a "grinding" from brake discs, particularly if there is no pad material left, it generally gets worse on turns.

LegacyUser

AMurphy wrote:

My apolologies.
However, indicate where the buzzing was coming from and what type or Car & engine.

I've had some strange sounds myself, but I'd describe them as "reed" like sounds and it was the thermostat "hammering".....OK, I'll settle for "buzzing". The onset for a larger scale boil over.
Rad cap under the pressure of steam could sound the same.

So far not heard "buzzing" from a pump, Grinding, rumbling, grumbling and nicking/ticking, even clacking from a loose WP pulley...... but, we learn something every day.

Ah okay - misunderstanding. It was a Ford Fiesta 1984. The buzzing was from the right side of the car in front of the passenger seat. I think it was becuase of the pressure in the engine - cause the pump was gone. The pump itself - never heard anything from that. Impression I got from the mechanic was that it had been gone for a while. He tapped it with his hand and lots of water came out. "I think its your water pump" (tap tap) big splash noises !! and puddle on the ground. Car was never the same after that - even witha new pump it would overheat after 1.5 hours of driving. This was before the M1 was finished. So, you'd just about get to Dundalk from Dublin in in before it would start buzzing.

My first car .. was sorry to see it go!!

AMurphy

Interesting, my bro had a car of the same vintage and like you it developed a leak, but unlike you my mother was driving it at the time and drover till it stopped, then when it cooled down drove it home, where it stopped and failed to re-start until we repaired the head, went fine after that, if one could ever assume it "went fine" to begin with.

Anyway, I think you had possibly had a small head gasket leak after your incident, which tends to cause bubbles inthe head, which cause hot spots, which in turn aggrivate the condition, positive feedback to distruction.
And/or if you have a partially plugged radiator, it is only doing half the cooling it should, even with the pump & thermostat working properly.