Hum from transmission tunnel area?

[Daniel81DMC]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys; the car is going back to my mechanic next week (I have a really good shop out here that's brave enough to work on the car), and it's going in to have the passenger-side emergency brake cable installed (old one snapped). The car was in last week for a full coolant flush, and I couldn't get it done at the time due to lacking the part.

So - check transmission mounts, check accumulator (is that easy to get access to?), and... I have no idea what is being referred to by the rubber cover on the shifter - I've never really had even seen a pannel off on the DeLorean before, and I assume we're talking something visible from underneath the car, only.

I take it the most likely issue is something related to the accumulator, though - either the part itself or the way it is mounted? If the accumulator actually "dies", is it much the same as a dead fuel pump - i.e. the car won't even start?

Any other suggestions? Thanks for the help, I appreciate it - this problem is rather weird, I know.

[jackb]

I have no idea what is being referred to by the rubber cover on the shifter - I've never really had even seen a pannel off on the DeLorean before, and I assume we're talking something visible from underneath the car, only.

Lift up the leather boot and you will see a rubber "thing" that fills the square hole in the body that the shift lever comes through. It lifts out of the body easily and if the shift know is off will come all the way off.

[sdg3205]

Hey Daniel,

You're always welcome to drop by my shop with your car if you ever feel like working on it or if you want a hand with a repair.

I'm in Surrey now.

Where is your mechanic?

Cheers

[Daniel81DMC]

Hey Daniel,

You're always welcome to drop by my shop with your car if you ever feel like working on it or if you want a hand with a repair.

I'm in Surrey now.

Where is your mechanic?

Cheers

Hey there - do I dectect a fellow DeLorean owner in Vancouver? Ye gods, I thought there were only one or two in the whole city, of which mine was one.

I live in Coquitlam, and my mechanic is in Maple Ridge - a place called Scandia Motors. More or less they're Volvo specialists, but they do amazing work, and have never minded taking the time to figure out how to do a repair on my car in the eight years that I have been going to them - they don't even charge me shop time for the "figuring out" part, only the labour, which in my experience is rare (I used to be a mechanic's assistant at a dealership, back in my university days).

This problem is annoying me - the noise isn't loud enough that I'm panicking that something is about to horribly go wrong, but it conerns me that a part of my fuel system may be wonky, which could (theoretically) mean that the car could die at any time.

[Daniel81DMC]

Audio recording of noise - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pknNE7x13I

Last update - took an audio recording of the hum by hodling the audio received up to the transmission tunnel area from inside the car (I basically held the speaker against the padded center console/shifter area).

The noise is separate from the cooling fan noise up front, and you can hear the slight valve/exhaust issue in the back end I'm needing to deal with, but the hum is pretty audible.

Sounds sort of like a fuel pump, so I'm leaning towards the fuel accumulator suggestion I read, but if anyone else wants to take a guess...

[Ron]

I've never tried it to know how long you might have to listen, but you might try killing the fuel pump while the engine is running and see if the sound goes away/changes before it dies...?

[Ryan King]

I would be worried that the transmission nut is backing off...I would suggest you take a look at that to be sure. The early VIN cars were very prone to this happening...

[Daniel81DMC]

Interesting about the transmission nut - where is that and how would one check it?

I actually drove over to a local DeLorean owner's place (there's all of three in our rather large city), and his best guess (and one I'm inclined to agree with) is that it's the fuel pump - I opened the trunk, and the humming was definitely audible in there. The thing that ticks me off is that it's a new part (well, new-ish), and was installed only four years ago, replacing the original which lasted over 25 years.

I'm not 100% certain, of course, but this really is looking like the pump. Thanks for the previous suggestions, guys (and any others that might come up) - most kind.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Interesting about the transmission nut - where is that and how would one check it?

I actually drove over to a local DeLorean owner's place (there's all of three in our rather large city), and his best guess (and one I'm inclined to agree with) is that it's the fuel pump - I opened the trunk, and the humming was definitely audible in there. The thing that ticks me off is that it's a new part (well, new-ish), and was installed only four years ago, replacing the original which lasted over 25 years.

I'm not 100% certain, of course, but this really is looking like the pump. Thanks for the previous suggestions, guys (and any others that might come up) - most kind.

I was going to suggest the pump may just be getting louder. After thinking about the talk of the accumulator, they don't really fail compleatly so it would still be absorbing the pump pulses.

[DCUK Martin]

Lift up the leather boot and you will see a rubber "thing" that fills the square hole in the body that the shift lever comes through.

Given your vin# this may be missing and the fuel pump buzz sounds as though it's coming from under the gear stick.