(no subject)
About two days ago I noticed the Del Sol had started making an odd, chattery, rattling sound at certain speeds and throttle settings. It was intermittent, and the sort of thing you really couldn't hear well unless the stereo was off. I couldn't duplicate it by revving the engine in neutral. It bothered me because I couldn't identify it. Today I inspected the engine bay (again) and finally noticed that the center bolt on the left engine mount had backed out most of the way, letting the engine drop slightly lower on that side.
Fixing it was a simple matter of jacking the engine up to take the weight off the bolt and tightening it back up. One minor complication was I found the car was too low to get my floor jack under the oil pan; I ended up using the tire-changing jack instead, because it's a scissor jack and collapses down a couple inches thinner than my regular floor jack.
My original reason for being in the engine bay was to confirm the engine number, so I could order a timing belt kit. I'm going to take on that job in the next few weeks, since it appears to be due. I'm going to replace the tensioner and water pump as well, as long as I'm going to the trouble of getting in there.
Fixing it was a simple matter of jacking the engine up to take the weight off the bolt and tightening it back up. One minor complication was I found the car was too low to get my floor jack under the oil pan; I ended up using the tire-changing jack instead, because it's a scissor jack and collapses down a couple inches thinner than my regular floor jack.
My original reason for being in the engine bay was to confirm the engine number, so I could order a timing belt kit. I'm going to take on that job in the next few weeks, since it appears to be due. I'm going to replace the tensioner and water pump as well, as long as I'm going to the trouble of getting in there.