Metallic sound when passenger present

[pandemonium]

I get a metallic sound when I have passenger in the car, it is coming from under the car passenger side, it happens when setting off and riding over speed bumps.
I have looked underneath checked exhaust brackets gearbox mounts but never found the cause.
When I am alone car drives perfect.
Any ideas apart from not carrying passengers

[supercass]

I think the exhaust is the most likely culprit. The exhaust can be touching / scraping on speed humps without necessarily damaging the exhaust brackets or exhaust. The rubber mounting rings also stretch over time and the exhaust may appear to be well secured but is actually lower than it should be. supercass

[saabfast]

Or conversely, it is hitting the body/chassis somewhere as the weight of the passenger is lowering the body. I had this as the exhaust is fixed at the engine (and bellhousing if you can get the bolt in which I can't with a tubular exhaust), then on rubber bands to the body. Somehow the body seems to move relative to the engine fixing.

[busheytrader]

As well as the exhaust, have a look at the remote gearstick housing.

If the bushes have disintegrated, the remote housing can drop and scrape against the propshaft underneath it. This happened to me and I had metallic noises on some gear changes and on hard acceleration.

The extra passenger weight will cause the suspension to sit a little lower and bring the propshaft and remote gear housing closer together. If the bushes are shot, pushing down on the gearstick whilst driving will make the propshaft grind against the housing.

As the bushes fall apart the gearchange becomes vague but as it happens gradually it's hard to notice.

Hope this helps,

Adam

[Hasbeen]

Could be any of the above, but could also be the exhaust pipe hitting the radius rod on bump.

I don't think I have owned a single 7/8 that has not had this problem, & currently have it on the 8. My son had a top custom exhaust shop build a new large bore twin exhaust for it in NSW when he had the thing down there, But could not get back to them to get this fixed, before returning to Queensland.

There is usually a slight witness of bright metal where the 2 come together, making it easy to find, if not fix the problem. Fortunately I have an excellent little one man exhaust specialist shop, in a nearby town, who has fixed all mine, I will take it to, once the new manual gearbox is in.

Hasbeen

[john 215]

Hi,

Difficult to diagnose with out hearing but....

Have you checked underneath with someone else in the driver seat and a passenger in the car, ie. the car loaded as when the noise occurs. Check the exhaust rubber rings, they are rubbish nowadays and stretch, allowing exhaust to run low or they break allowing it to swing free !

Cheers John

[pandemonium]

Finally got this issue sorted. I got the car over a pit but couldnt see anything amiss, talked to Steve Wilcox at SS Preparations who was so helpful, he suggested I purchase a used propshaft for £50, one with UV joints, mine original had CV joints, he also said dont buy the new ones that are on the market, manufactrued in India and are not very good.I painted the used prop which Steve sent over and fitted to the car, now the car has been transformed, no sound at all now, the car is so tight, and handles far better, strange how you drive a car around for so long and just accept things as right.

[Howard_B]

Check the springs - I had issues on my 7 as they softened over 5 years and the car was scraping the ground when it should have been well clear.

[gaz]

What condition are your bump stops in?
Originals turn to a crumbly foam, with the extra weight in the car might be bottoming out?

[Hasbeen]

Check your exhaust pipe, where it goes up & over the radius rods, & the rods for marking.

I have had 3 of my 7s & the 8 all hitting the exhaust on the radius rods when there was a passenger in the car. I am fortunate that an excellent smart exhaust bloke opened up just 24 kilometres away a few years back.

He added between 1.5 & 3 inches to the pipe infront of the radius rods, & modified the rear muffler mounting so it didn't then hit, depending on the system. It does appear that most exhaust designers under estimate the range of travel of those radius rods.

The imported Rimmer Bros one needed most modification, but that could be down to how it was fitted by the PO.

Hasbeen

[jeffremj]

Finally got this issue sorted. I got the car over a pit but couldnt see anything amiss, talked to Steve Wilcox at SS Preparations who was so helpful, he suggested I purchase a used propshaft for £50, one with UV joints, mine original had CV joints, he also said dont buy the new ones that are on the market, manufactrued in India and are not very good.I painted the used prop which Steve sent over and fitted to the car, now the car has been transformed, no sound at all now, the car is so tight, and handles far better, strange how you drive a car around for so long and just accept things as right.

The propshaft would have been my idea as well. I had a 'graunching' noise when the rear suspension compressed and power was passing through the propshaft - I guess it is the large CV angle and the CV 'balls' moving long distances at high speed. I lived with it as it never got worse over the years.