85 Spree Rattle

[Spree newbie]

I have an 85 Spree that has a really loud rattle on the right side. It sounds like it's coming from the fan near the statorstator. Maybe the bearino is bad? I recently bought it and the guy said it's always done that. This is really loud and something is wrong. It doesn't seem to affect how it runs though. Any ideas? Thanks!

[motormike]

...really loud rattle.... sounds like it's coming from the fan ... Any ideas?

Take off the fan cover and inspect for a really loud rattle...

[Spree newbie]

That's where I started. Honestly it's so loud, it's hard to pin point. Is there any bearings that are known to go out?

[vintagegarage]

I have limited knowledge, but I just took apart an Elite 50 that ran with a bad rattle. The left main bearing on the crankshaft was missing a few of the balls, and the ball cage was melted. If you take out the sparkplug and rotate the engine by hand by turning the fan, you shouldn't feel any "notchiness". Also wiggle the fan up and down and see if you can feel any play in the right main bearing. I think though, that the left main bearing is the most likely to fail from running without enough oil as I think it has more stress on it. Since it is the left end of the crankshaft that is supplying power to the rear wheel, I would think that would load the left bearing more than the right bearing... not sure about that though.

[patthesoundguy]

Right side is exhaust side. Maybe a baffle is loose in the exhaust can. My original spree exhaust rattles a bit.