Critical Information

[franco1010]

okay, so i finally got my car back and my mechanic took my valve cover off and checked all of my vital engine parts. he found nothing broken or that could be making this rattling noise that i told him. just to refresh (i hear this rattle only when the engine has fully warmed up). the car is a 1995 318i with 98 000 kms on it. my mechanic did tell me that once the engine fully warmed up there was a drop in oil pressure (i think he said 18 psi to 16psi). i think this is a critical piece of info towards getting this rattle fixed. responses would be great, as i am only wasting a ton of money getting my mechanics to fix things that arent the cause. thanks guys

[Pirate_copy]

Are you losing oil/coolant at all mate?

[franco1010]

no i'm not loosing either. my mechanic told me to keep on driving the car with the sound.i also noticed that once the engine has warmed up(and is making the noise), the noise goes away for about 3 seconds once i throw it into Park but then returns even while in park. the noise does not increase when i accelerate, it only does it at idle and when FULLY warmed up. thanks again, i have a video with sound but i am just trying to figure why it wont allow me to post it up. i'll keep trying, once you see it and hear it, that should give it away.

[franco1010]

come to think of it, i did a coolant change with my friend in september. the kind of coolant that i used is prestone (for all models). also when my friend was helping me, we just used plan tap water rather than distilled water to mix the solution. is it possible that we did something incorrectly that could have caused this noise or maybe i didnt use bmw coolant from the dealership? just another thought. once i think about it further i dont remember ever hearing that noise prior to doing that coolant change

[Pirate_copy]

is it a tapping mate?

[franco1010]

its not a tapping, its more like a clattering. since i got it back yesterday, its hasnt been doing it all the time like before. by the way do you have an hotmail account so i could email this video?