some videos

[philb]

I'm trying to convey to others what my car sounds like, in an effort to find what the hell I need to repair to make the engine run smoother. It starts to sound like a strangled cat much over 3500rpm. I've driven and heard other 16 valve turbos, I know this is not what it should sound like. A certain amount of noise is due to the exhaust, but at this stage I can isolate that. I will be replacing the timing chain, but I'm just wondering if theres anything else that needs replacing.
I made some crappy videos, available here
15 is just the engine revving, ignore 16, 17, 18 and 19 are driving.
The sound quality is still not what I'm looking for, its too muffled. The car actually sounds ok in the video because of this Anyway, if anyone has the time, and broadband, have a look, let me know what you think of the racket.

[saabchilten]

while i can't see much, i do have to say the car sounds nice. no modifications to the exhaust?

[philb]

Yeah, theres a few strategically placed holes in it
Its funny, the car actually sounds good in the video, defeats the purpose of making it really. When you are in the car, theres just way too much racket from the engine, it sounds strained, which is a bit annoying, as it goes really well at high revs. If anyone has any videos of their own car, I'd appreciate links I've already watched all the 900 videos on streetfire I think.

[Vince T]

I agree - I can't hear very much, it sounds quite normal.

Have you looked at the lifters? If any of the lifters are not working properly anymore, they can get noisy. What else sounds bad?

I once spent a couple months trying to track down a rattling noise on my then freshly built engine. Turned out to be a broken wristpin! Wasn't pretty. Ended up tearing the whole thing apart and starting over again. Not fun. My engine builder figured that the poroblem was due to a manufacturing fault in the wristpin (these were aftermarket pistons). Hopefully there is nothing that serious on your car!

[philb]

One or two lifters are noisy when cold and if you leave the car idle for a while. I was thinking of changing them at some stage, apparently though it can be quite hard to track down which ones are faulty.
Bottom end - I hope theres nothing wrong down there. One mechanic reckons the crank is slightly worn, allowing too much end float, and this creates vibration.
Engine has to come out for the timing chain anyway, so I'll try to check it all out then.

[Matthew]

How many miles are on this car?

An engineer's stethoscope will help you to locate the lifter that's failing. You could pick up a set of sixteen from a scrapyard. Remember to store them in an oil bath.

[philb]

146200 miles. Surely it would be impossible to tell, even with a stethescope, whether they are making noise at anything much over idle? Maybe I should just go and replace them and shut up about it

[Matthew]

Anything over idle and you'd probably be deafened

I guess that method works best when it's clearly a lifter that's noisy, and you need to identify which one. However, the stethoscope can help identify where the noise is coming from.

Any engine sounds knackered though a steth

[Vince T]

What I've done to find a dead lifter is remove them entirely from the head. Of course, this needs the cams out, and the timing chain too - so when you have the engine out, check them out. If I remember right, you are supposed to press on the bottom of each lifter with a piece of wood (I used a chopstick!) and then see if it comes out or not. Or something like that, and I can't check coz the Bentley's at home...

[woywitka]

your car sounds like it has a bad timming chain. check the tensioner. sounds like a hiss/jar of nails.