Metal Scraping?

Alright well this problem just started a couple of days ago. I origianlly thought my radiator must be going out but now I'm not so sure. There is this extremely loud scraping sound. It sounds as if the piston was grinding at the wall or something like that...But the weird thing is that it changes from when the radiator fan turns on and off. When the fan is off I hear this high pitched metallic sound but when it is running the engine knocks really hard, like visible shacking corralating with the knocking. Any ideas? Is it the radiator? Because the radiator is about to go because it has started cracking and becoming discolored. Also I dont hear any sounds comming out of the exhaust so wouldnt think that it was a cylinder going...Thanks again.

Yo buddy, what kind of car do you have and what year?

sorry, I have a 95 Gst Eclipse w/ about 106 thousand miles.

now that you have told what type of car you have put that info into your signiature so nobody jumps on ya again about it....as for your problem endlessheart666.... not a clue...doesn't sound good
Where is the higher pitch noise coming from?
I assume you have checked your oil and antifreeze/coolant?
What were you doing to the car when it started? Pounding on it from a light? What MODS have you done to the car? Put that info into your signiature also...The more info we get from you the less time it will take to diagnose your problem...

Have you done basic things like new plugs and are they gapped correctly? That can do it if the aren't gapped right but that is usually under boost....and won't cause it to make high pitch noises...
Maybe the Tbelt jumped a tooth.... has the Tbelt been replaced? I don't know just throwin out questions...

ya it has brand new performance plugs and wires, and a brand new timing belt, water pump and clutch. The car has slight mods like exhaust 1g head swap and etc. The coolant if full and the oil is good also, just changed it 2 weeks ago. I dont know what it could be. Ive heard of the whole Crankwalk issue but something leads me to believe thats not it. Ive had none of the symptoms and if the sounds I was hearing was the thrust bearing scraping then why would it quit and then come back....So...I was thinking that maybe it could be a faulty water pump? But I was thinking, wouldnt there be a significant loss of power if the cylinder was scraping??? I have no loss of power what so ever, just annoying sounds that started randomly. I usually never "gun" my car so it wasnt from driver error. Please let me know. Thanks again.

Reading what you've described definetly make me think. Now if all the maintenance/service procedures that you mentioned have been done correctly, then my "Internet diagnosis" would be that maybe your radiator fan is shot, most likely the bearing in it. Run you car while parked with the hood open and try to listen to where the sound(s) are coming from. This looks like it's just another one of those problems that is hard to diagnose unless physically examined

That was the first thing I checked. I first found out that the right radiator fans bolt came off so I put on a new on and then sprayed it down with some wd-40. But I dont think that's it though because the high pitched metallic sound comes on when the fan is off and when it turns on it goes away(at idle) and then the thumping starts(at idle). When driving all you hear is the metallic sound. Kind of scary though, never heard or experienced anything like this before. Thanks again.

Okay I isolated the area but Im not sure what this part is. It is across from the idle pully closer to the firewall. It is a big bronze colored pully with one of the smaller belts. Im pretty sure that this is making the thumping noise and the metallic noise. Anybody know what this part is? Thanks

If it is down by the bottom of the engine block by the firewall it is most likely your AC compressor.... mine seized up and smoked the belt right off the pully!!! Come to think of it my engine made kinda the same symptoms yours did... kinda forgot about it...does your AC still work? I've heard that with the AC comp. in such a low spot that they shit out somewhat easily...

Alright awesome, Ya I checked it out and it is the ac compressor. How hard is it to change one of those? Also when it goes out will it affect anything else on the car? Thanks again.

Not a very difficult job but i can be frustrating. Also you probably don't have a recovery tool for your refrigerant meaning you'll increase everyone's chance of skin cancer if you release it into the atmosphere.

Anyways, if you goto a shop they will give you the following quote (Not including recovery and charge)

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/231602quote-med.JPG

Damn that is one expensive piece of shit

just cut the belt off and call it a day.... it will free up some of the drag on the motor....as for taking the compressor off/out... not too much for weight reduction.... just cut the belt off....

If I cut off the belt will it take away my air conditioning?

If the belt is not there, then nothing is driving the compressor. I think the rest is self explanatory

yup... no AC...like MACDER said.. self explanatory.
If it is making all the noise and problems you probably won't have AC anyways... or if you still do it won't be for too much longer....that is if it is the AC comp making all the rucus..