SM owner saying hello

[captainhaddock]

Oh yeah! Course you don't break down, if it's a well looked after one! Apart from my aisling starter motor, the first 13K miles my diesel did not, break down. Don't even have knocks and rattles

[robert_e_smart]

You have been busy Jaap! You'll soon have done half as many miles as I did in that car!

[Dieselman]

It should be 850 Rpm, iirc.

[captainhaddock]

You have been busy Jaap! You'll soon have done half as many miles as I did in that car!

Unfortunatly. Li z driving it now too, save some on fuel costs. 600 miles a week or so commuting, holidaying and going here and there, adds on quickly. I wonder why everybody seems to experience some rattles here and there, should not be possible with annual MOT's.

[Charles M]

Another day out with the car, hunting down antique centres around here. Dieselman will get this, it is a car whose performance reminds me very much of a multivalve 300d 124 Merc - it's all about momentum, using the right foot hard when you need but 10 seconds before I would use the right foot in the 320cdi. Very comfortable indeed, although there is just a touch of lumbar support needed. So far 210 miles on the odometer with about a 10th used - it did take about 160 miles for it to stop reading full though and my rate of progress speeded up.

About the only thing that I have noticed as a cause for investigation is it rattles a lot on half to full lock both ways at low speed. The front bumper is sitting low, so needs to be tightened up.

[Dieselman]

The rattling might be the exhaust catching the subframe, possibly due to worn engine mounts.

[MTXM]

If you have rattling on full lock then it is more likely to be worn driveshaft cv joints or steering or track rod ends surely? With regards, Matthew T.

[Dieselman]

I suspect the rattling is engine speed related, not road speed.
Track rod ends don't rattle on lock as they are under tension, CV joints make a regular clonking, not a rattle.

On the 2.1, the exhaust is pretty tight to the subframe and knocking is not unknown.

[Dieselman]

I spotted a metallic green SM heading South on the M1 near Northampton yesterday at ~4:45pm. A very cool car.

[Charles M]

Definitely engine speed related - at higher revs no problems, low rev manoeuvres the problem.

I've never seen an SM at speed - except from the inside!