P38A P38 rattle at idle

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Well I didn't crawl underneath to do all the checks as the noise was gone friday morning. Aaand it was ****ing down the last few days I was in Ireland so I didn't feel like crawling around in the mud to look for something making a noise that wasn't there. I didn't feel movement in the crank pulley btw, but will check this again properly with a larger pry bar. I didn't have the other symptoms of a bad flex plate but will pop the inspection cover and have a look as now I don't trust it anymore... However my gut feeling is pointing towards something exhaust related.

Another reason that I didn't further investigate after the noise went away is that I have a recovery insurance and I found out it requires a certified roadside assistance company to declare that the car is not driveable --> I needed to break down with symptoms... Recovery on my own initiative to be cautious would probably have cost me a new engine in total. So if you know there's something maybe not right you have to drive until it breaks. Ah insurance companies love them!

I'm happy I could complete my trip and thankful for all the input here! That's what makes this site great! Now time to get the car on a lift and get to the bottom of this!


Anyway, thanks for all the input here! That's what makes this site so great! I'll give an update on my findings.
 
Soo I finally got round to checking on this, spent the end of the year moving and didn't have time for car stuff. Right cat is the culprit, the innards have come lose. Als the heat shield on the downpipe on that side is loose but don't think that produces any rattle yet.

Not sure if I'll replace the cats.. I would like to do a tune up of the injection system to get my fuel usage down a bit, faulty cats wont help on that front of course.
 
MrGorsky said:
Mine rattles a bit like that and it's the exhaust pipe touching the crossmember. Doesn't do it all the time... but I can't be arsed to crawl underneith to fix it...yet.
Click to expand...
Mine's fixed too!! New CATs sorted the rattle. The new ones are a much better fit and don't rattle the cross member. To be fair, I think I'd misaligned the entire exhaust when I re-fitted it after replacing the engine. Loosening all the joints and massaging the positioning of it all helped stop the rattle more than buying new CATs.
 
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MrGorsky said:
Mine's fixed too!! New CATs sorted the rattle. The new ones are a much better fit and don't rattle on anything!
Click to expand...

Did you use aftermarket CATs, i seem to remember you did. Asking as I think I may need a couple soon.

J
 
MrGorsky said:
I did. Cheap from CATS2U.

I went for a Y piece in 3 sections to make it easier to fit. Pretty good so far and passed the MOT emissions with ease.

Here you go…. £156.16 delivered.

LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER 4.6 09/94-11/98 Catalytic Converter LD8003

LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER 4.6 09/94-11/98 Catalytic Converter LD8003
www.dieselparticulatefilters2u.co.uk www.dieselparticulatefilters2u.co.uk
Click to expand...
That seems interesting!!
Having to drop the crossmember is one of the things holding me back from replacing the cats 😅

But how's the quality? Given they're half the price of a Britpart one..
 
ar1g3 said:
That seems interesting!!
Having to drop the crossmember is one of the things holding me back from replacing the cats 😅

But how's the quality? Given they're half the price of a Britpart one..
Click to expand...
Getting the cross member out is easy enough. You just need "the 4lb persuader" and enough room to swing it.

The cheap-o CAT is as good as the Britpart one I'd say. The rest of my exhaust is Britpart, and I can't say there's much difference. The actual CAT elements might be better on the Britpart one.... but seeing as my car is waaay before any type approval certification, I just went for the cheapest and "we'll see".

I've just spent quite a tidy sum at V8 Developments so didn't really have the wallet for loads of extra on exhausts and 02 sensors. It's made by EEC... a massive company that probably make loads of them all with parts from China or somewhere like that.

I did run a tap down the holes for the 02 sensors before fitting them because they felt very tight when I test fitted them. My GEMS has a funny thread size too, like M12x1.25 I think.

CATS2U do sell more expensive ones too if you want to spend a little more...
 
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I've experienced liner movement on my own 3.9 years ago & also on a friend's RV8.
Playing the sound I have to say the timing of the noise does sound like it's in time with the engine's RPM but the sound itself is different to any liner I've heard .. more hollow, for want of a better word, whereas a slipping liner is a distinct 'tap' that will usually become audible quite suddenly as the engine warms up.

I continued to drive mine for quite a while before biting the bullet & having a new block installed.
Hope this helps.
 
ar1g3 said:
That seems interesting!!
Having to drop the crossmember is one of the things holding me back from replacing the cats 😅

But how's the quality? Given they're half the price of a Britpart one..
Click to expand...

Put it this way, if you don't drive it for a year they rust out from within and block the exhaust. Use it daily and probably not an issue.
 
MrGorsky said:
Getting the cross member out is easy enough. You just need "the 4lb persuader" and enough room to swing it.

The cheap-o CAT is as good as the Britpart one I'd say. The rest of my exhaust is Britpart, and I can't say there's much difference. The actual CAT elements might be better on the Britpart one.... but seeing as my car is waaay before any type approval certification, I just went for the cheapest and "we'll see".

I've just spent quite a tidy sum at V8 Developments so didn't really have the wallet for loads of extra on exhausts and 02 sensors. It's made by EEC... a massive company that probably make loads of them all with parts from China or somewhere like that.

I did run a tap down the holes for the 02 sensors before fitting them because they felt very tight when I test fitted them. My GEMS has a funny thread size too, like M12x1.25 I think.

CATS2U do sell more expensive ones too if you want to spend a little more...
Click to expand...

Most sensors are metric fine. So 1.25 pitch sounds right.
 
MrGorsky said:
Getting the cross member out is easy enough. You just need "the 4lb persuader" and enough room to swing it.

The cheap-o CAT is as good as the Britpart one I'd say. The rest of my exhaust is Britpart, and I can't say there's much difference. The actual CAT elements might be better on the Britpart one.... but seeing as my car is waaay before any type approval certification, I just went for the cheapest and "we'll see".

I've just spent quite a tidy sum at V8 Developments so didn't really have the wallet for loads of extra on exhausts and 02 sensors. It's made by EEC... a massive company that probably make loads of them all with parts from China or somewhere like that.

I did run a tap down the holes for the 02 sensors before fitting them because they felt very tight when I test fitted them. My GEMS has a funny thread size too, like M12x1.25 I think.

CATS2U do sell more expensive ones too if you want to spend a little more...
Click to expand...
I used a lower cost one from Cats2U on one of my P38's. The emissions were vastly improved, but only just in spec.
MOT man passed it though as the cats were obviously new !!
 
Grrrrrr said:
Put it this way, if you don't drive it for a year they rust out from within and block the exhaust. Use it daily and probably not an issue.
Click to expand...
....also if you thrash the hell out of it whist it was sitting gently (for a year) waiting for the return of it's owner, the catalytic honeycomb element may be fired half way accros the back lawn.

pwood999 said:
I used a lower cost one from Cats2U on one of my P38's. The emissions were vastly improved, but only just in spec.
MOT man passed it though as the cats were obviously new !!
Click to expand...
I also replaced my O2 sensors with new from Island, that probably helped also.
 
Thanks all for the input!

My main concern with the cheaper ones is the flow. If I install new ones they should help my fuel consumption, otherwise it's not worth it atm. Any ideas about that?

About dropping the crossmember, dropping is not the issue but getting it back in place was a major pain in the ass last time ...
 
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