When my car is cold, on the first few take offs, there is a sound that I can only describe as a tiny horse galloping on a plastic box. Seriously that's the best thing I can think of to describe it. It sounds as if it's coming from under the front end. The noise only appears or is audible when halfway through 1st or 2nd gear, and goes away completely after about 5 minutes. Any ideas?

 

Sound clip?

 

A little rattle from the clutch may-be? when you say halfway between 1st and 2nd, i figure it's when your changing gear, a bit of clutch noise is normal. but a recording of the sound would make it easier to identify.. I'm a recording engineer so, "rattles" are high on my list of annoyances..

 

I'll see if I can get a good recording of it. It doesn't happen in between gears, but rather in the higher end of normal acceleration (maybe 2-3k rpm range). I would almost call it a slow galloping sound, similar to the noise it makes if you pick up your computer mouse up slightly off the table and tap it side to side. There isn't exactly a consistent tempo to it.

Rattles drive me crazy, luckily this one doesn't happen all the time like the leatherette seats in the plastic shells (more of a squeak). I'm still trying to find a way to fix that one. Probably some kind of leather/vinyl conditioner would do the trick there?

 

youtube "mini death rattle." It's not that, huh?

 

Thankfully, I don't believe it's that.

 

After listening to it a few more times, I'm fairly certain that it has nothing to do with engine RPM. I'm still not sure if speed changes the noise, so that leaves either something with the clutch/transmission or possibly a screwy wheel bearing or suspension component. Not sure why this would only occur on the first couple accelerations.

In other news, I feel like my chain tensioner is making some noise. It's not really like the R56 death rattle, but is maybe similar. Do R53 timing chain tensioners go bad, and if so, are the symptoms the same? Seems like a really easy and inexpensive part to replace.

 

Death rattle is a gen2 timing chain issue....
Gen1 has a totally different motor....

 

How many miles? What year? Ever had the head or block machined if the head was off?
Timing chain issues are pretty rare on a gen1...
Tensioners are like anything mechanial..they can fail....but issues are often related to having the head/block having been macined out of spec on a rebuld, resulting in a chain that is a bit too long...but a washer on the timing chain tensioner can fix that..

 

The car is a 2004 MCS with 70k miles. The head has never been off as far as I know. It does seem to have a bit more of a tractor sound at idle than it did when it was newer. It may not be timing chain related at all (heck, it could even be normal).

 

Record the sound!! ") your phone will work!!