Ok, I searched and I didn't find anything that describes what I'm looking for so here goes

My engine is sounding like it's a diesel down low, there is a rattling noise that isn't very loud and only happens when the engine is under load, if I rev the engine out of gear and standing still it doesn't make any weird noise. It also goes away if I take my foot off the gas and it also seems to go away if I rev above 4000, either that or it's happening fast enough that it's blending into another sound I can't hear. This only happens when it's warm outside, and by warm I mean only 65 degrees, the sound seems to go away when it's colder outside.

Am I hearing pinging? I've only filled the car up twice, once from a quarter tank left with valero super gas, and then once today from a half tank with flyers premium.

The guy I bought it from said he ran super in it.

I was going to go for a drive but the sound turned me off and I drove her home slowly. I guess if I am pinging I'll have to wait till it gets cold and burn up some of the fuel to get her full of premium and see if it goes away with that.

 

It's normal.....the SSV opens and it does that

 

good to know, can anyone explain why it rattles?

this is my first rotary so I'm very paranoid about every little thing I hear, I hope I don't get annoying with all the questions

 

The Regional rep told me that it's a momentary lean condition on the SSV opening transition.....He said it was normal...

Funny thing is...mine went away when I replaced the SSV solenoid when the breather fix was done. It came back after a few months though??

 

mine sounds like that when i shifted to quickly and now the rpms are too low, and the engine is struggling. big gurgly diesel sound. it happens to all temps though.

solution: keep the rpms above 2k!

 

the sound I get isn't momentary, it'll keep going if I stay at around 2.5 to 3.5k rpm

It could also be the gearbox, but damn it's loud if it is...

 

:O for me it stops as soon as i pull into the 2k range.

i always thought it was just the engine bogging down. not enough rpms to keep it going smoothly.

 

what you're talking about sounds normal, every car does it, my sound is a bit different and will last if I keep it in the rev range. Which is why I'm still wondering if it's something else. I tried recording it but my camera won't pick it up, the wind and tire roar are louder to the camera's worthless mic.

Should I be worried about this? the car is still under warranty

 

I took it to the dealership and after about 2 seconds of listening to it the guy said it sounds like it's pinging, sucks that california winters are so warm. Looks like this car is going to be a real high maintenance girl.... premium only for my car.

 

oh for sure. for a week i drove with 87 no problem, here in maryland. temps were in the mid 40s. but, i switched back to 93 at the end of the week.

i spent 20k on this car. i wont lose the engine due to what amounts to less than $500/year.

 

it's a flutter valve in the intake, I took it in after it wouldn't go away with higher octane and the computer showed nothing at all. I am getting new front brake calipers too because they were sticking.

oh and condensation in the taillight

 

there's your problem right there.

Valero is a cheap gas. Worse than ARCO.

 

well it never did ping, but valero isn't CHEAP... it's just shitty. Every time I see valero they're always more expensive than someone else close by.

 

Zoom44 did a detailed technical post on how this works and why we get this sound back in 2003. Search that one up under his name or google.com and you should fin out more about it.
Hope that helps,
-Gil