O.k. I know the series 1 has a clatter to it but man mine is getting very noticible. I can hear it inside now and it sounds kind of like a deisel engine. Its only at idle that it rattles so much, but accelerating its smooth. Any ideas?

The last time I thought I heard lifter clatter, it turned out to be my alternator My suggestion is to spend ten bucks on a mechanic'* stethescope and nail it down.

What is lifter clatter caused by, and what can it affect/ harm in the engine?

Not having enough oil, or having muck in em.

i have a wierd noise sometimes but i wouldnt call it a clatter, althought it does almost fit the name clatter. it sounded like it was coming from under the car, but when i looked under the hood, i think its comeing from the "tension pulley" (not sure if thats the right term). where is your noise coming from?

Clatter in the front may be the Endlinks.... Only make noises over bumps?

Mines got a noise to it for sure, not whisper silent, when you were over Fantastic i didn't hear anything out of the ordinary.

It could be that your crank balancer is coming apart. This is the large set of pulleys down low on the engine that is connected to the crankshaft. There is rubber between the inside of the pulleys and the center portion. With a mirror and flashlight you can inspect the rubber on the face of the balancer and see if it is coming apart.

Or maybe it'* just the tensioner pulleys. You can run the engine with one or both belts off the car, just don't run it very long because you won't have any water flowing. This is one way to pinpoint where the noise is coming from. By the way, the balancer noise will also change depending on if belts are there or not.

My balancer went real bad in a matter of half an hour, so it doesn't really sound like that is your problem.

Does it go away on warm up?? if that is the case dirty or dry lifter would be my guess.... not much you can do to fix that... although I threw a bottle of Marvels Mystery oil in my oil when changing it... quieted it down a bit... Id give that a shot next time you change your oil. :?

Now i'm pretty sure its a noise from a belt or pully because the engine runs smooth and quiet. I was just worried because I thought that my quikly worsening oil leaks might be causing an oil starvation.