1992 B230F Regina with 199k.

I am getting some metallic "clackety-clack" noise from the front of the motor, almost like a rod knock, going in unison up and down with the RPMs. First suspect the water pump so I took off the belt, and ran the motor and the noise was gone. Easy! I replaced the water pump which looked fine and had no visible problems, and the noise was gone and I was happy.

Now, a mere week later the noise is back with a vengeance! I am sure that it is not the water pump AGAIN, and I am wondering if the P/S pump which is the only other thing on that belt could be the source? Oh, and the noise does go away after the car is driven 10-15 minutes...

I have a 92 940 Regina, and have pretty severe piston slap when the engine is cold. It's quite clackety, as you describe - especially in colder weather. It was actually mis-diagnosed as a bad bearing by the garage down the street when I first picked up the car and had it inspected - "this car won't last long" they told me (about 70k miles ago!). After about 10 minutes, when the engine has warmed up, it's gone. Otherwise, the car runs perfectly.

I have a 92 940 Regina, and have pretty severe piston slap when the engine is cold. It's quite clackety, as you describe - especially in colder weather. It was actually mis-diagnosed as a bad bearing by the garage down the street when I first picked up the car and had it inspected - "this car won't last long" they told me (about 70k miles ago!). After about 10 minutes, when the engine has warmed up, it's gone. Otherwise, the car runs perfectly.

I am familiar with piston slap, and that was not it. It was indeed the belt! Strange, as the noise was definitely "metallic" sounding... That's what makes this "fascinating" I guess... Learn something new every day!

The belts can make the strangest noise. I was sure the servo pump was due for replacement from a very mechanic sound. But I sprayed the belt with some water and the noise went away. It was enough to tighten up the belt to make the noise disappear.

HTH
mila

Yes, I did the same, I put some soap on the P/S-Water Pump belt and the noise went away. Then I tightened the belt some and the noise so far has not returned. I am surprised as the noise was definitely METALLIC sounding... If the noise reappears I will change the belt before anything else...

Get a cheap mechanic's stethoscope to locate the source of the noise.
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