'96 355 Spider ... small rattle on shut down ... Question: Will replacing the grease in the fly wheel get rid of the rattle COMPLETELY? Trying to decide if my rattle is normal and I'm trying to get rid of something that is par for the course. Regards, Pete
Mine does that too. Never investigated it, but glad to hear I'm not alone. What makes you think it's the clutch/flywheel? My spider also has a really annoying 'cricket' sound that seems to come from the engine cover. Anyone know what that is and how to quiet it? I've heard it on coupes too, although more quiet obviously because of the glass.
Live with it. If you want to get rid of the noise, youll have to convert to an automatic trans. It's the gears clattering back and fourth. They all do that.
I thought the classic 355 rattle on shut-down was associated with the 'Kluge' (?) grease in the flywheel getting 'weak' and the springs just rattling? Is it the gears or the springs? With clutch depressed .. no noise on shut down. Regards, Pete
My 95 with Tubi only rattles before the engine has warmed up. I am guessing this is caused by the tubi being slightly unhappy in its mounts or some such. I am pretty sure I also get a rattle out of the deck cover grill stuff when I take off with too little gas and the rpm bogs down to about 750. I get the "tubi" rattle at the same time if I am even more careless - say around 600 rpm. I don't get a rattle on shutdown however... I am not worried by the "tubi" rattle, and the deck rattle is just annoying (as it indicates I am driving lazily/badly). Should I be? TIA Dave
I just did a search for '355 rattle' and of the hits, one from Kabowsky confirms what I thought. I'm pretty sure the rattle on shut down is due to the grease in the flywheel being 'weak' and needs some attention. If left alone it can screw up the flywheel itself which is a much more expensive fix. I'm not sure how it can be the gears ... they're soaked in oil and also in neutral...so they're static on shut down. Regards, Pete n the
David, it is very likely you have a broken exhaust clamp, causing the rattle...they are not very robust...being of cast metal.
Vince, Went for a drive this evening...and you're right, leave the clutch in, no rattle! How about that!
Pete - this is normal. You'll let the rattle on shutdown while in neutral, but not if you engage the clutch and shut her down while in gear. It stems from the large amount of weight on the flywheel. The "grease" theory only applies to the 95 single plate clutch. If you want to be 100% sure, facing the rear of the car look at the clutch housing. There is a small square plate about 2" long.. unscrew it from the four corners....it's an inspection plate and stick your finger in there to look for grease. What's interesting is that one it comes time for a new clutch down the road and you replace it with a new throw out bearing, the noise seems to go away and it may be a better design T/O bearing. Anyway, not to worry for now. BTW - Yes other often rattle problems are "loose" by pass valve and exhaust clamps. The cast ones seem to do it frequently and forged replacements are available from Evans Automotive in Ohio.
LOL That's 'Ferrari speak' fer sure!! Glad the 355's can join their 308/Mondial cousins to answer various topics: Gee, my car makes a smoke screen when I start it. Gee, I can't shift into 2nd. Gee, my roof leaks when it rains. Gee, my A/C barely blows cold. Gee, my plastic vents are turning to goo. (I know; 348 but I couldn't resist) Gee, my windows are really slow. Gee, my fuse box is melting. I bet I forgot a bunch too! (Lotus' have their own list so I admit I'm living in a glass house! LOL) Ken
On a 97 spider I change the cluch, T/O bearing, and presure plate (few months back) and the noise or rattle did not go away.I dont much care for the noise any more since it does it when the car being turn off.
Ken - Very funny - good one. Pete - When you stick your finger in there it should be bone dry. If the seal is bad it will splatter grease all over the inside of the housing. Beast is fine. Did full Tubi w/stright pipe. Sounds off the hook, but on down shift get Popping due to zero back pressure. Tried to find a "silenced" test pipe like the kind Tubi makes for the 355 but not available - found one from Quicksilver and it's being installed as we speak. So far 2 car shows and 2 trophys, next show next week up in Tampa Festival of Speed..this is a big show. From the dark side, your pal.
I was surprised to hear this familiar rattle on my 355 6-speed after dealing with it on my C4 Vette. I was informed that the noise during shut-off was due to resonance of the dual-mass flywheel during shut down. This is a very characteristic noise. I had to change the flywheel in the Vette due to it's failure and associated vibration. After replacement, vibration was gone, but the rattle was still present- but much less. Anyway, I found the following on the web. Perhaps it will be of some intrest. Check out the last sentence. C-Ya! _______________________ Double-mass flywheel: Some slight irregularities in crankshaft rotation, caused by the ignition pulses, are impossible to avoid, particularly at low idling speeds. The double-mass flywheel prevents these from being transmitted as vibration from the engine to the gearbox and hence to the car's interior. The double-mass flywheel absorbs the unavoidable residual vibration which the engine's firing pulses would otherwise transmit to the gearbox and driveline. Providing vibration dampening action superior to standard clutch disc dampening technology, this type of flywheel typically cannot be resurfaced, it must be replaced. How does a Dual Mass Flywheel provide superior dampening? A Dual Mass Flywheel relocates the damper from the driven disc to the engine flywheel. This dampens engine torsional vibrations more than is possible with standard clutch disc dampening technology. The new resonance point is below the engine operating speed (idle), causing the flywheel to operate briefly at resonance during engine start-up and shut-down.
Morning ... had a quick look .. bone dry except for a bit of grime .. no signs of grease. Reckon I've just got to live with it! Congrats on the beast! Pete
Thanks for the post and the info. on resonance. It makes sense, and although I don't want to beat this to death... resonance would create a low frequency vibration (below idle/on shut-down)... but you wouldn't HEAR the vibration. So, the fact that you actually HEAR the rattle, does that mean the resonance is CAUSING the springs in the grease to rattle... because the grease consistency has broken down? Fix the grease ... still have resonance ... but no rattle? Has anyone repacked the grease and still have a rattle? Regards, Pete
There are certain areas in design that F never really conquered when moving to the 355 from 348, from 328, from 308. Its a point I've tried making several times here. The 348 took (and still takes) a massive slamming on reliability issues, yet the 355 over time is coming across as being just as flawed in design in some of the same systems/functions. I notice now that even the 360 is starting to throw up the odd reasonably widespread issue being addressed by 'campaign' partly under warranty but partly at considerable owners cost.
