Well I don't know if this car is doomed, cause I seem to be riddled with problems with it. My problems are as listed, and i'd appreciate any help someone can give me with them:

1. When revving the car, even if the gear is in neutral, you can smell the car's clutch burning. If I have it in gear it will lurch forward, even with the clutch fully engaged.

2. The toggle switch will only stay on 1 map. My buddy and I tried to switch it inbetween the 91 and 104 map, and it isn't working. We left it on the 91 map, because the car was on the 104 map without me knowing it at one point in time.

3. Whenever I accelerate the car makes a weird exhaust like rattle, but I see no leaks as far as the catback, or downpipe are concerned. This has caused a dramatic loss in power (About 3 mph trap slower then last time I was at Speedway). It sounds like it is coming from the front of the car.

Can someone please refer me to a good evo mechanic. I tried to reach RRE several times, and left a message, but I guess they are too busy to return my calls. I really need help with this car, otherwise it looks like i'm going to sell it shortly.

The mods on the car are: Xede, K&N, Clutch Master's Stage One Clutch, HKS Hiper Catback Exhaust, Vishnu Cam Gears, Helix Downpipe, and a Walbro Fuel Pump.

 

Your primary problem, your clutch, is serious but super easy to fix. There is a little adjustment rod above your clutch pedal. You might want a more mechanically inclined person to adjust it 'cause it is a beotch to get to. I'll bet money that this adjustment will completely solve your clutch issue.

The Xede map switching feature is NOT an issue. If done correctly, it switches. Period. My guess is that you either have no map in your second map bank, or you have the same map in Bank 0 and Bank 1. It isn't too hard to inadvertantly delete or upload the wrong map. So fixing that will be easy as well. This would the more likely reason you are running slower. Not your exhaust rattle.

Finally, your exhaust rattle should be easy to diagnose. My #1 guess is that your downpipe is banging off your lower tie bars. #2 your downpipe isn't isn't flush with your o2 housing. Loosen the two spring bolts and retighten. Check to see if any welds have broken, check to see if your Cat or race pipe is hitting the heat shield.

 

I may have the same problem as #3. Does it start to rattle above 3500 rpm? and is it more noticable the warmer the car gets? It is definitely tough to diagnose this particular rattle. I already checked the stuff that smogrunner mentioned and more still no dice.

 

Yeah, that precisely the problem awdmofo.

 

another strange thing my rattle does not happen on 5th gear, just 1-4th gears and I can't hear the rattle when driving with the windows down. please post and pm me if you ever find the source of the rattle, i will do the same if I find it. good luck.

 

AS far as the rattle goes, get the car up on a lift. With the car turned off, get underneath andmove the exhaust with your hands, tapping it, and see if you hear the same noise. Try to source it.

I was having that problem a while back ago and it ended up being the heat shield where the cat was, it was banging against the exhaust. So I adjusted it, no more noise...

 

Kartboy exhaust hangers can also be helpful in removing exhaust rattles.

 

Denom you and your current mechanic are killing me. I think you should start going to a reputable shop to get work done, or to someone who knows how to work on Evos.

I hope you figure out what the heck is wrong with that blue Evo of yours because it sounds like it spends more time in the shop than on the road...

 

Just curious, those with this rattle from the front of the car, have you ever had your timing belts off? I ask this because when we had to pull my head this summer my balancer pulley flipped 180 degrees putting the counterweight in the pulley facing down instead of up. It is really easy to allow this pulley to spin over due to gravity alone. I was getting the same rattle that you guys seem to be experiencing. I drove myself nuts for about 2 days trying to find out what the hell in my exhaust was doing this until a tech suggested the fix.

 

That is very interesting to me. I'm going to look into that. I wonder if that is the case in my ride. Thanks Mitsuorder. Hey, BTW, are you still in the Dynoflash camp? David@V speaks highly of you but says you are very loyal. I'd love to see David hook you up with an Xede one of these days.

 

I want to stress that this does not appear to be an exhaust rattle at least in my case because there is plenty of clearance everywhere around the whole exhaust. I think mitsuorder is onto something. mitsuorder, is this something easy to check myself w/ a jack and jackstands? Some direction would be appreciated thanks for your input.