Hey, the grinding noise fixed itself this AM!

[soundmotor]

So I have this ishbox MK3 Jetta vow of poverty that I am taking for a couple years while we remodel. I've put ~20K on it since last August and it has been pretty good. A few weeks ago it developed a bad vibration between 2500-4000 RPM's that seemed to coincide with putting the clutch in. I could feel it through the pedals & shifter and figured that the throwout bearing, after many years of unremarkable service, had decided to pack it in.

This morning as I am slogging up the highway I was greated with an ungodly grinding when I put the clutch in to shift that did not go away as I let it back out. Fantastic occurance on a Monday AM commute. I start working my way over to the shoulder and as I go over the corrugated wake-up bumps there is a bang from farther back and then the noise completely stops. I checked the mirror and just caught sight of a largish piece of metal flying off into the weeds. I have not got under it yet to see what it was but I am betting it was the shield on the catalytic and the rivets finally rusted through and let go when it hit the bumps. Fortunately no one was behind me when it flew off!

I wish all my vehicle problems were so easily solved!

:banana:

[cabinover]

Either that or a piece of the bell housing after the flywheel grenaded. Hope you are right in your assessment!

[onepixel]

hmm... I don't think "largish" pieces of metal flying of any car is a good thing.

Better take a good look.

[MitsuMan]

My MK IV Jetta would do weird stuff all the time. Fun to drive, but the most unreliable car I think I've ever owned. What I found the most ironic was all my Audi, VW, BMW buddies called that kinda stuff "a quirk" when stuff like that happened with their cars. But if anything like that happened with an American car, they called it poor engineering and poor quality control. :headscrat

[soundmotor]

Car now race prepped w/ superfluous catalytic converter shield removed.

[jhal]

Go find the piece that flew off and put it in your glove box. You may need it down the road. :D

Seriously, if that converter shield was between the converter and the floorpan, you may be creating a fire hazard. Don't park in the grass either.

[onepixel]

Go find the piece that flew off and put it in your glove box. You may need it down the road. :D

Seriously, if that converter shield was between the converter and the floorpan, you may be creating a fire hazard. Don't park in the grass either.

Yup... I've seen fires started that way. A whole lot of cars up in smoke.

[Rodzilla]

in all seriousness...i work in a dealership,unless the car is pretty near new,loose and or rattle prone heatshields don't get replaced,they get ripped off and tossed out..yes they are put there for a reason but are not deemed strictly necessary..i personally would like to know just what was going on under there and would have a look,but if that's all it was.....i wouldn't lose any sleep over it

[soundmotor]

i wouldn't lose any sleep over it

Nope, not a bit.

Brake & fuel lines A-OK!

I don't take it into the weeds and the amount of heat shielded from the underside by a 10 gauge perforated steel plate is, not much.

[soundmotor]

Go find the piece that flew off and put it in your glove box. You may need it down the road. :D


When I threw my driveshaft out the back of my Mustang, I went looking for it.

An 11YO corroded piece of steel however I will expend no energy upon.

:no:

[240sx4u]

Go find it and put it on ebay.

Evan

[soundmotor]

Go find it and put it on ebay.

Evan

Not with the new fee structure I'm not.

[LBPete]

Keep an eye on your carpet. It may start melting.

- Pete