Hi,

I noticed something weird today - with someone revving the engine, i could feel a jet of warm (but not very hot) air coming from the engine block. The jet was intermittent (on/off very fast). It was coming from the direction of the engine block, in the area highlighted in this picture:

Does anybody have any idea what this might be? Is it normal?

Another issue - I can hear a rattling sound, sort of like a loose or rusty piece of metal that vibrates, I can hear it when I drive with my window down and pass near other cars, I can also hear it on very low revs, like if I don't give it enough throttle when backing up. It could probably be anything, but I thought I'd ask anyways maybe someone had the same problem. The car is very rusty, especially inside the engine bay (nasty weather in the area), I bought it like that and I have no idea how to get rid of the rust (if it all possible)..

Thanks!

 

Cracked Manifold or Blown gasket.

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Sounds exactly the same as my car about 1 month ago. I cracked a stock header and the jet of hot air escaping was exhaust gas, the rattling is possibly the heat shield. After I replaced my cracked header, the sound seemed to come back, but this time after a few thousand kilometres it had blown out the gasket.

I called it quits on replacing it when I pulled the heat shield and found that the manifold was starting to crack again. I ended up saving and getting a entirely new exhaust with 4-1 headers.

Go get some 4-1 headers and a new exhaust gasket. Then you'll just have to put up with header buzz (unless you go for maintec headers, so I read) laugh.gif

 

Thanks for sharing that!

I doubt that the ex manifold is cracked, I had the recall checked recently. In any case, if the air is exhaust or a leak from a cylinder, shouldn't it be REALLY hot?

I'll remove the heat shield and see if anything changes, thanks! It is missing a screw, so that may very well be the cause!

Oh, a clarification: the warm air does not feel like it's coming from bottom up (from where the exhaust is), it feels like it's coming from the engine block itself (from that thingy that looks like a hole in the center of the circled zone maybe?)

 

Your exhaust wouldn't be coming out of that round casting, block or head, unless you had one of the biggest internal head cracks which would be miracle that your motor is still running....

It's coming from your exhaust. It's either Manifold, Gasket or downpipe joint.

 

Again, thanks for the info.

So just to be clear, the gasket you're talking about is that which is between the engine block and the headers?

Also, if it is a problem in one of these, shouldn't be too serious, right? A leak in the exhaust path does not sound like the worse thing that can happen smile.gif

 

Yes, the gasket is the material between the Manifold and the head to seal the exhaust gases. I'm betting your gasket has blown. It's not serious, your car will be fine. It'll just make some horrid exhaust noises.