strange rattle

Brendan

Well-known member
some times i have a strange rattle in my 36 Pickup its all original, with a 35 21 stud motor. the noise is a rattling sound, when you come to a stop sign . you can hear it when you slow down and then stop. its there with your foot on the clutch and off the clutch, but then it stops i just put in a rebuilt 39 trans with a new throw-out bearing i bet i don't have 50 miles on it yet. it used to do the same thing with the old trans. also i have checked the Bendix on the starter motor i have a friend that had a 36 pickup and it would do the same thing
 
I had a very similar noise with my '51 club coupe. I thought it was the throwout bearing because it varied when depressing the clutch, so I pulled the engine out, to replace it with a good '51 Merc engine I have. When I pulled the '51's pan to clean it and install it on the Merc, I found a chunk of the flange off the rear main bearing about 1 inch long in the in the sludge in the bottom of the pan. Since I learned a long time ago not to have too many projects going at the same time, I am going to finish up installation of the Merc before I tear into the '51 engine, but it was for sure a chunk of the main bearing flange. I have never heard of anything like this before.
 
Rule out the easy stuff first. I had an intermittent but speed related dry bearing howl on my roadster. Turned out to be the speedo. I disconnected the cable and it stopped. I was just getting around to planning pulling the gearbox again, when I touched the glass on the speedo and it stopped.

Easy to rule it out by disconnecting the cable.

Mart.
 
Be sure that the exhaust system hangers are all working. If any of the hangers have loosened or come part allowing the system to shift against the frame, you will have a rattle, usually when the engine shifts on its mounts. The system changes considerably as it heats up, narrowing the gap between the pipes and the frame, and the rubber parts of the hangers may allow movement.
 
the rattle starts sometimes when i slow down then i hear it when i am stopped. this there with the motor idling foot off the clutch and in neutral. its not the tail pipe or a hanger .
 
its also intermittent. it dose not happen all the time. the sound would happen when i drive harder and faster, but always when i come to a stop
 
I had a very similar problem. Mine sounded like a knock and only when my foot was off the clutch. I thought for sure it was a throw-out bearing. It turned out to be the clutch adjustment, I had it adjusted too high and little play on the peddle. I can't remember what the correct measurement of play is (I think around 2½" ) however I did some forum searching here on the barn and adjusted accordingly. Good luck.
 
Is the clutch pedal return spring returning properly.If not the inertia of stopping could move it forward enough for the release bearing to rattle on the fingers. Cheers
 
Hmmm. I chased a very similar sounding rattle in a flathead for over a year. It WAS the bendix gear hitting the flywheel every now and again. I narrowed it down one day when I removed the starter and push started the car. Noise was gone so I knew it was the bendix. I might look in that area again.. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Brendan.
 
I'd check the fuel pump rod. I had one where the baffle came loose in the pump stand and did as you describe.
 
I would pull the drums and check for a brake shoe spring or clevis pin, etc. that has come loose, especially around the emergency brake shoes.
 
You might try disengaging the speedo and cable by removing the cable from the turtle at the torque tube and trying to make the noise to reappear.
 
If it continues to rattle when you are stopped, it seems likely it is in the engine and possibly the trans section. Does it still rattle when you are stopped, the clutch depressed and the trans in gear? In this case nothing in the trans is moving so it would have to be forward of the trans.
 
Brendan, I had a strange rattle/vibration at certain r.p.m.s in my 36 pickup that I thought mechanical. Ended up being a worn tip on the rear of the hood center hinge rod. 5 cents worth of heat shrink tubing fixed it.
 
Count your wrenches. I found my 1/2" laying by the intake and could'nt see it. Rattle stopped!
I could count my wrenches, but it would do no good as I have no idea how many I normally have. I have multiples of each size and style....must be at least a half dozen 1/2" x 9/16" combo wrenches. Couldn't tell you if I was missing 1 or missing 10.
 
I could count my wrenches, but it would do no good as I have no idea how many I normally have. I have multiples of each size and style....must be at least a half dozen 1/2" x 9/16" combo wrenches. Couldn't tell you if I was missing 1 or missing 10.

I think mine are changing size, I have at least half a dozen 11/16 but all my 3/4 are gone except one.
 
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