Don't know if anyone else has experienced this problem but hopefully someone can enlighten me.

First off you can only hear the noise with either the passenger or driver window open, the noise only seems to appear when the engine has built up some heat and is in gear anywhere from 2nd onwards and about 2,500 RPM. When you put your foot on the clutch the noise dissapears but re-occurs again when you drop the clutch again and start accelerating or if the car is idling along in gear.

The only way I can describe the noise is it resembles a metal on metal noise but at the same time it's kind of rattling, I did have the car taken to garage for it to be looked at but I guess they ignored winding the window down on the test drive as they apparently could not hear it.

I know I'm not imagining the noise as my friend could hear it when he was in the passenger seat with the window down.

The brakes were replaced two weeks ago when I had the car looked at but that hasn't solved the problem either (the brake shoes needed replacing anyway).

Hope someone has some ideas on what it could be as it's really annoying!

Hi mate.

This sounds like and may just be the 'classic heatshield' rattle:

Have a look under your car, follow this link andhopefully thats what the problem is!

ttfn Phil


[url]http://www.club323f.com/ba/tuning/exhausts/heatsheild/heatsheild.php[/url]

No that got removed by the garage when the brackets had rotted through and it rattled about when accelerating, they said it wasn't worth replacing since the shield is only supplied with a whole new exhaust.

This is a different noise, it's a regular ticking/squeaking noise when the car is either accellerating or idling along in anything above first gear and at 2,500 rpm, but cannot be heard if the car is out of gear or free wheeling.

i've got exactly the same problem myself and its annoying as hell, it stops if you lightly pres on the clutch while driving aswell, cant think what it could be. but im guessing the gear box, clutch area would be a good place to look, i will on the weekend.

Smotter any thoughts?

maybe you run over a hedgehog and its stuck hehe nah on a serious note i too have that problem, deff not the heat shields. Could it be belt related? within the engine bay? i remember when i had a few squeals when accelerating ect and then i nuked all the belts with WD40 and the squeals were all gone.

There are wayyyy too many heatshields on the F... Trust me.. its a heatshield...

You think you got rid of allll the lil shit heads... But no...Theres still one hangin around... Just take a veryyyyy good look...

if you took them ALL off... would it cause any damage or anything negative to the car?

That my friend is debatable...

Mazda have obviously put heatshields in place because the car needs them... But alot of people including Smotter who lives in a warm country (SA) have taken theirs off with no ill effects...

The only complaint ive heard is someone saying that there centre console gets unusually warm after the engine has been running a while... This is right above the catalyst converter which burns at high temperatures which usually has a heatshield around it...

Ive taken the top and bottom shields off the catalyst with no problems...

i've checked under the car and its definatly not a heat shield, but i cant think what it could be, the belt idea sounds likley though, i'll get her on the jack on saturday and have a look.

well after i drive a tad on the fast side weaving in and out of traffic like a joburg taxi i find my gear stick and knob (aluminium) get pretty warm any ideas why?

I find my gearstick knob gets warm when left in direct sunlight... I nearly burnt my fingers on the bugger yesterday, bloomin steering wheel was same ...

Okay Richboy, let us know what you find when you do jack the car up as the clutch was my next thought as to what the problem might be since the noise only occurs when the car is in gear, I already cleaned the injection system with the STP cleaner addative for the fuel and that hasn't solved the problem but the car seems to run a little bit better and quieter than normal.

And another small question, do those super 4 spark plugs really make a difference to how the car performs?

im hoping its not the clutch, i only replaced it 4 months ago, and its upgraded too, £375!! if its nackered im gonna be well pissed!!!

outamyhesd, i had exactly the same problem. had my timing belt changed, noticed the sqeaking o the way home. turned out to be the alternator and steering belts, both were not tensioned properly. check them, they may require replacing...
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Well the noise took an interesting turn after Friday last week, took the car for a drive to my friends place while it was raining and since that day the noise has vanished?

The car also seems to have a little more grunt and isnt so damn noisy since I stuck STP injection system cleaner in the fuel, it does what it says on the label.

Okay now the chuffing noise is back, guess the car has dried out from the rain from two weeks back.

I have narrowed the noise to the passenger side of the car and it's still only happening when the engine has warmed up and now it doesnt matter if I engage and disengage the clutch, it's still there unless I have the car free wheeling along.

May as well ask while I'm here, anyone got a guide on how to take apart the wing mirrors as I want to replace the front covers as one is slightly cracked and they are both fading to grey (not doing so bad for an almost ten year old car I guess).

I have had the same problem for the last 12 months no body seems to be able to fix it but its hard to show a garage as the car has to be nicely heated up before it starts, my soultion was just to fit a better head unit, amp and 12" sub! I always though it was the brakes but 2 full services later , new brakes, new belts etc and it still make the noise!


But now i have got a loud rattle which i have been told is the CAT...could be a heat sheild i guess...maybe the noise is the start of the CAT going or a heat sheild is working loose?

(i did'nt start until i fitted a ecoteck dont know if that’s connected..do you have 1 installed?)

Engine is all standard, took the car to the garage today and was a passenger when the service manager (damn good mechanic as well, also helps that he has owned several 323's) took the car for a test drive.

He could also hear the noise and reckons that the noise could be the flywheel bearing or the thrust bearing on the clutch, but he said that the noise is so light from what would be regarded as serious he said I should wait until it sounds like the noise of a tractor or at least a grinding noise since it still won't do any damage but the bearings will be shot. When it gets to that stage then they will replace the clutch and bearings at the same time as it is too costly to just replace one bearing and possibly not clearing the problem.

He is surprised though as the 323's are normally not a problem with the clutch, and they are his favourite of all the models that Mazda make...although he would love an RX-8 like I would.

Umm mine never reallyu got any louder until the until the latest noise started up (rattle) but I think that’s a heat shield or CAT issue, once that’s fixed I will probably be able to hear the whining noise again!

Post again if you get it fixed! Would love to know the cause of it!

My own personal experience of the exhuast heat shield located underneath where the gearstick would roughly be, I found that when the heatshield was coming loose I noticed it rattled like hell when I was 2k+ on the revs from second gear onwards, don't think it made so much noise when in 5th gear but that could be due to going at speed on the roads.