Thanks Steve, that'll save me doing anything about it for a while Might have a check on my propshaft when it drys up though...

I had alot of trouble last year when I went to a well know chain of garages and had the clutch replaced, I won't bore you all with the story now , but the prop shaft came off twice in within 6 weeks of having the clutch done and I got a full refund after the threatening to take them to court. Now 12 months later my 340 has started to make this same unpleasant rattling noise.
It can only be heard occasionally if I have to change down into a lower gear , its sounds like the same thing a sort of metallic rattle.
Apart from this the car drives fine and I use it every day for work , a round trip of 54 miles with piss poor fuel consumption. What I need to know is do I really need to get this problem fixed or can I just forget about it and keep going. ?
If this needs to be sorted urgently are the parts available off the shelf and how much would I expect to have to pay to have it put right ? . I love this car and don't want to have to scrap it.

Cheers, Will (Ereg340)

If the fuel consumption is that poor, and you don't know what's causing it, I'd be tempted to take it for a diagnostic session. I had mine hooked up to a Crypton machine, and it can tell exactly what's going on regarding the ignition system, the fuel system, and even to a point the condition of the engine, etc... It cost £50, but you can easily spend that in parts that you don't need. Knowledge is power...

As for the transmission noise...I think it's fairly safe to ignore it.

cheers

James