Help, strange noise.

[s3am]

Hello all,

After a fantastic day at Bedford in 'Norman', marred only by a BIG spin at the end of the day, which has torn the front splitter clean off. Punished for my over exuberance, I suppose, whilst chasing a JP1.
The only weakness in the package was the brakes which faded fairly easily in the morning. I will now be trawling through the previous posts looking for advice on brake upgrades.

What I intended to ask was the engine has taken to making a strange whining/clicking noise under throttle in the top 3 gears... It seems to be related to throttle application, not engine or road speed.
The only thing I can liken it to is the sound of a strained pump.

Anyway it looks like a while before it will be resolved, my dealer cant book me in for another fortnight.

Any thoughts on what could be causing the noise gratefully recieved.

Thanks

Sam

[joust]

Does it also make a similar noise if you turn the steering?

If you have a spin, or you "ragg it around" you can get small air bubbles in the power steering fluid. This can make the pump "moan". Just leave it a little while and they should slowly bubble out of the system (well mine do..)

Also, turn off (or on) the air con and see if that still makes the noise.

Otherwise check that you haven't got any mud or similar in any of the belts on the engine.

Failing all of that you probably need it looked at. I see you are in London, there is a new factory approved service centre that's started up in North London that will pick up the car for you if you want.

Vegantune Motorsport Ltd - noble @ vegantune.com or 020 8343 0618.

J

[s3am]

Thanks Joust,

Its not the aircon or steering, will check the engine later.

I am continually astounded by just how much you know about all things Noble, it must be a full time job just being so well informed!

Just out of interest do you know how much a front clam is?



More photos here:
[url]www.tyresmoke.net/gallery/albuo82?&page=2[/url]

Sam

[joust]

s3am said:

Thanks Joust, I am continually astounded by just how much you know about all things Noble, it must be a full time job just being so well informed!

s3am said:

Just out of interest do you know how much a front clam is?

From memory around £1700+VAT (rear is £2600). Why - have you damaged yours?

Nice pictures!

J

[stuh]

Nice pics Sam

Are you at Bedford on the 10th April by any chance ?

[nildram]

I damaged my front clam on Sunday at Donington. Fortunately not on my Noble though, but on my brand new Radical. See here for on-board video.

[stuh]

Looks like you were fortunate only to get a glancing blow as opposed to a full on!

Nice speed though

[joust]

Bloddy hell Adrian you were motoring there!

J

[DanH]

Radicals scare the bejeesus out of me. Especially when you see them at a track with a solid wall next to the track. Bloody quick.

So how much will fixing that cost? All things considered it looks like you didn't come off too badly.

Got a colleague at work who raced a Radical last season and said the costs were pretty astronomical if you wanted to be at all competitive.

[nildram]

The Radical goes through Craner at approx 120mph. The chap in front didn't leave me with a lot of options! If you want to see a clean lap (I qualified 2nd with this lap), look here. Might help you visualise Donington better when watching the GTs next week.

Also, for those supporting the Noble in the GTs, watch out for the Orange TVR in the NGT class. It's being run by my race team, and with Nigel Greensall at the wheel, it'll certainly be one to watch!

[nildram]

Dan - what is his name? Costs for the damage shouldn't be too bad as they'll put the front clam back in the mould. Although I did lose a headlight too. So probably about 700 quid or so. There's also a nasty scratch down the side of the car and some damage to the side section, but we won't bother replacing that until I've bashed it some more!

[stuh]

I would imagine Dan is refering to Iain.

He'll be at Donnington Sunday with his race team...........Vegantune

[s3am]

joust said:

From memory around £1700+VAT (rear is £2600). Why - have you damaged yours?

Yes, and erm ouch.

Chasing a JP1 I came off at about 70-80mph, fortunately travelling straight onto the grass, which wsnt as smooth as I was hoping. A few bumps and bangs later we came to a halt. The front splitter has been shorn off, and the force of its contact with the ground caused the front clam to flex and crack slightly over the wheel arch... its not too noticable though. I will probably leave it, unless the splitter is essential. I want to make sure the engine is Ok first, and upgrade those brakes!!!

Cheers

Sam

[amg merc]

s3am said:

unless the splitter is essential. Cheers Sam

Sam, they told me at the factory last week that the splitter wans't essential but this'll probably start a huge, long thread!!! :-)

[m12_nathan]

You get get a new splitter put on easy enough (£80 + vat paint & fitting), if the cracks aren't noticable from a distance then I'd leave it until the front clam is peppered with stone chips and worry about it then.

Cheers

[s3am]

m12_nathan said:

You get get a new splitter put on easy enough (£80 + vat paint & fitting), if the cracks aren't noticable from a distance then I'd leave it until the front clam is peppered with stone chips and worry about it then. Cheers

My thinking exactly, especially if the splitter is relatively non-essential. Unfortunately the a new splitter cant be bolted back on as the bolts have been torn out fo the clam.



Sam

[s3am]

stuh said:

Nice pics Sam Are you at Bedford on the 10th April by any chance ?

Possibly; if the car is running well again by then. Is it an RMA day?

Cheers

Sam

p.s. -some more pics and video added. (not of the 'off' though!)

[url]www.tyresmoke.net/gallery/albuo82?&page=2[/url]

(Right click and save video -its only a few seconds.)

[joust]

s3am said:

My thinking exactly, especially if the splitter is relatively non-essential. Unfortunately the a new splitter cant be bolted back on as the bolts have been torn out fo the clam.

Sam - it's probably not that bad then.....

Any decent GRP place will be able to stick you on a new piece of GRP and then drill it for the splitter - they'll just bond new GRP onto the old one on the back, then line up a new splitter and re-drill.

If it's just a crack on the wheel arch, then you can do a repair there as well.

There are some TVR bods over on the TVR forums that have had similar things done. If you can't find it give me a shout and I'll see if I can search them out.

J

[actech]

nildram said:

I damaged my front clam on Sunday at Donington. Fortunately not on my Noble though, but on my brand new Radical. See here for on-board video.

I wondered why I didn't see you in the results table Adrian. Got to admit though the SR4 does sound nice.

Anthony

[DanH]

stuh said:

I would imagine Dan is refering to Iain. He'll be at Donnington Sunday with his race team...........Vegantune

Yep!