The Dispatch | Expert | Scudo Hub

Ciaran88

Member

Registered: 2025-02-21

Posts: 2

2021 Dispatch intermittent tapping sound at bottom of engine.

Hi New to the forum.

I bought a 2021 dispatch recently and seems to be driving great however it was in today for a service and while the van was running to heat the up oil for changing. The van started to intermittently tap around bottom of engine for 10-15 secs and away again and come back again 5 minutes later. After head scratching the next time it started tapping I pressed in the clutch and the tapping stopped and once released clutch started again and then done it’s regular intervals of tapping. Mechanic thinks it is the flywheel.

Has anyone here ever experienced this?

Thanks
Ciaran

Last edited by Ciaran88 (2025-02-21 00:40:30)

OAT

Member

From: Borders/Dales

Registered: 2017-01-03

Posts: 1,013

Re: 2021 Dispatch intermittent tapping sound at bottom of engine.

Not unusual with any vehicle.  Clutch release bearing loosing a few bits from the edge, maybe.  Could even be a bit of old gasket or hardened grease come loose and rattling against the flywheel.  So long as it's not a nut.
Of course not so simple to just drop the bell housing to have a look.
If it a fairly light tinkling sound and unless I already had concerns about the clutch, I would keep an ear on it and see if fixes itself.

Ciaran88

Member

Registered: 2025-02-21

Posts: 2

Re: 2021 Dispatch intermittent tapping sound at bottom of engine.

It hasn’t done it since however when I was putting it in reverse gear yesterday while parked on a hill it was a hard to get it into reverse gear. If it was was internal engine components would it not be constantly tapping?

OAT

Member

From: Borders/Dales

Registered: 2017-01-03

Posts: 1,013

Re: 2021 Dispatch intermittent tapping sound at bottom of engine.

It hasn’t done it since however when I was putting it in reverse gear yesterday while parked on a hill it was a hard to get it into reverse gear. If it was was internal engine components would it not be constantly tapping?

If it were a broken component still attached, you would expect the noise to be a consistent tap or knock in time with the revs.  Something broken loose would tend to be more random.

It it's something loose in the bell housing, it can rattle around a bit then get hooked up somewhere for a while.  So the rattling sound tends to be intermittent and unpredictable.
If it's something like a nut in there, that could occasionally lodge somewhere in the drive and lock it up.  Changing drive direction could then allow it to drop back out and the drive to turn again.

Other culprits apart from broken bits of clutch plate or release bearings are a nut from the pressure plate or a spring from the release arm.

Of course if could be a symptom of a more serious problem, but you would need to split the box to examine further anyway.

Last edited by OAT (2025-02-22 21:17:30)