yiannisthegreek

Hi All,

So I have a 2000 Mustang 3.8L 5 Speed Base model and I have a question. I have had the car now for approx 2 months. Purchased it for $3500 dollars (Canadian) and the car had 168500Km (approx. 104000 miles) on the clock.

The car has an exhaust leak on the drivers side manifold so it makes a constant ticking sound until the engine is completely warm and then it goes away and I unfortunately just had to replace the intake manifold gasket ($650.00 repair).

The car runs good with a slight stutter at idle (likely a dirty MAF sensor or something) and I think the clutch may be a bit weak but it runs and drives pretty good.

The question I have however is... Why is my engine soooo LOUD when driving?

When I say loud, I dont mean like from the exhaust or anything like that, what I mean is when Im driving the engine is just really loud sounding even with the windows all rolled up and the radio on for example you can hear this engine just rumble / growl.

Is this normal or a sign of something bad? Please advise...

Thanks,

yiannisthegreek

yiannisthegreek

Oh and PS... The car is NOT as loud outside the cabin as it is inside. Like if you rev the car with the throttle cable under the hood it sounds like it "should" if that makes any sense...

Derf00

Could be the clutch TO bearing. Is it only when you are driving that the car growls or is it just at idle?

yiannisthegreek

Hey Derf. Thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention that the TOB (Throw out bearing) is pretty shot. I get the infamous squeaking / squealing from the clutch pedal unless light pressure is applied.

Yes... The car is only this loud when driving and when in idle it just seems "normal" sounding...

yiannisthegreek

Friendly bump...

Anyone else have any ideas by chance? Could this really be being caused by a bad TOB?

PNYXPRESS

I would check for holes in the exhaust pipes or absense of catalytic converters an/or muffler.

yiannisthegreek

Hey PNY, Thanks for the reply.

As I mentioned, I have an exhaust leak on the drivers side exhaust manifold which ticks and clicks till the motor is warm but I have looked and the pipes are good (look old but no holes), Cats are all there and the muffler is good as well (again, looks older but no holes, etc). Exhaust system is all stock - single muffler set up.

Again, this only happens when I'm driving. At idle its quiet, playing with the throttle cable under the hood sounds normal or if I just rev it its normal but when I drive it its loud as hell in the cabin. ???

Derf00

Have the TO bearing replaced (and clutch if needed).

Since the car is new to you, I would recommend having the Tranny fluid drained and refilled. What you are hearing most likely is coming from the tranny. Worn Gears.

The groaning could be from crap build up in the tranny. If the TO/Clutch doesn't resolve it, it may be the syncros in the tranny or the differential gears are worn (that last one is not likely).

yiannisthegreek

Thanks for the reply Derf. I have the clutch and TO Bearing on my list of things to do but after spending close to $700 bucks for a new Intake Manifold Gasket repair my wallet is a bit on the light side.

The mechanic at the used dealership I bought the car from lifted the car for me while we were determining what the squealing was coming from the clutch which ended up to be the TO bearing. He opened the drain plug on the tranny to check the fluid and it was like new he said. He also told me that at least ONCE in the cars life that the tranny had been dropped for service based on the "factory bolts" being removed and replaced.

With regard to the gears and such, I have to say that the car is quite whiny while RPMs increase between shifts. You can of course hear the engine reving up but there is also a distinct whine sound and it is most apparent in 3rd gear. I have read a bunch of threads that say this could be bad gears, etc but it sounds like the whine is coming from the front of the car and not the rear.

One other thing I have noticed as of late as it pertains to a "whining" sound is when I shut off the car lately there is a prolonged sort of whining sound after the car is off - kind of a mellow "whirrrrrrr" like something is winding down if that makes any sense... ???

Daehawk

Our car is loud on startup but it slowly gets a little quieter. Im getting tired of draggin my headers all the damn time. every parking lot and fast food place in town has some kinda of raised entrance to them it seems. I scrape the header end where it connect to my h pipe a lot. Starting to wonder if I've scraped a hole in them lol.