knocking engine

Topic: knocking engine (Read 6632 times) previous topic - next topic

knocking engine

December 16, 2015, 01:25:06 PM

I have a loud noise at idle. Sounds metallic and high pitched. Think I lost a roller lifter or rocker arm, to me it sounds like a loose rocker arm, not the sewing machine noise lifters make. Car has 325k miles and I've abused it. If this gets worse, it will be the first time in 13 years I will have had a 302 fail me, internally anyways. It's 24°f outside. I've checked the oil and its at an okay level. Gonna wait and see if the noise goes away once it's warmed up.

This car has always had a bit of a miss that i haven't been able to track down. The main reason I'm worried now is because there is a much more substantial miss. Feels like more the one cylinder.

knocking engine

Reply #1 – December 16, 2015, 01:37:07 PM

I got it warmed up, it quited down alot, but I'm pretty sure I have a wiped cam lobe or lifter. The car is down on power and is missing on at least two cylinders. I am gonna try driving it today and see what happens.

knocking engine

Reply #2 – December 16, 2015, 01:41:02 PM

Well after 325K I figure it has earned it's keep......

knocking engine

Reply #3 – December 16, 2015, 02:32:39 PM

Only at idle?
I was convinced with my 'Vic that I had a rocker hitting a valve cover, the hollowness of the sound. NOPE rod bearing! Silly idiot, thinking I'd have the EASY problem. Pffff.

I mean if your cam is somehow wiped, yeah that's a big PITA repair. The other two possibilities would be much more convenient. Compression test? If she'll run, run her!! :D

knocking engine

Reply #4 – December 16, 2015, 05:56:31 PM

Funny story, the longer I idled it, the better it sounded. I took it to the gas station, it was still making noise, but much quieter. I decided to do a quick 10 mile loop with it on a 55mph road in drive. When I got to my turn around point, it was running perfectly normal.

Last night we got down to 4°f. I'm guessing the oil gelled up. I have been driving the car, but I have not taken it on a long freeway run in a few weeks. My guess is the oil collected moisture and froze overnight.

Interestingly, my oil light never came on. I know it works, that's how I can tell I've driven 1000 miles, it eats two quarts.

Anyways, car seems to be fine. Huge sigh of relief for me. My weekend job is pizza delivery. I usually borrow my dad's fiesta since it gets so much better gas mileage, but my sister wrecked it driving on bald tires this past storm.

knocking engine

Reply #5 – December 16, 2015, 08:42:35 PM

It wouldn't have anything with you starting up your "recovery business" during the past few days would it?

knocking engine

Reply #6 – December 16, 2015, 11:21:32 PM

Lol, I don't think so. I was pretty careful. I barely spun my tires at all.

knocking engine

Reply #7 – December 17, 2015, 12:26:54 AM

Do you run Lucas oil stabilizer? It is expensive and you consume a lot...but every little bit helps! Stuff is definitely NOT "snake oil" so to speak.
Glad to hear it's back in action.

knocking engine

Reply #8 – December 17, 2015, 04:04:24 PM

I honestly don't beleive in any oil additive. I have been busy used 25+ year old cars, usually with over 200k miles on them. I don't even buy synthetic oil unless it's the cheapest thing at the dollar store, and I rarely change my oil. My last car went about 80k miles without an oil change. Not saying its a good thing, but I have my reasons.

When I was 18 I couldn't get my car to pass emissions. I spent hundreds, I replaced all the cats, spent hundreds on mechanics ect and it never got fixed? Finally I decided I was going to replace everything on the car myself, including the engine. I didn't know how to fix anything myself and I bought a reman 85 gt block from autozone. I was gonna wait until summer to swap the engine. I got failed on saftey for having no key (it was a police impound stolen car) so I replaced the column with a floor shifted colum and tried to add the shifter to it. The shifter was really hard to move, I obviously didn't do it right but it worked so I left it.

One day I got stuck in a parking lot with bald tires in snow. I spent an hour rocking it back and forth and shoveling snow, and finally got it out. I parked the car and the shifter broke off when I parked it. I left it in a empty parking lot for about two weeks because I couldn't drive it without the shifter and I had to wait till payday to buy a new shifter. Long story short, the car got towed and I never got it back.

Since then, I've been trying to blow my cars up since I have an engine with h.o. stuff already swapped in, but none of my cars have blown the engine yet. It's always the transmission that goes first. That's why I swapped the 3.8 t-5 in my last tbird. It was cheaper then buying a new car. Unfortunately when I moved, I only had room for one car. I picked the cougar since it was registered and I had the motor out of my tbird for motor mounts. It went to the junkyard for $250 minus trans.

I really wish I kept the tbird over this car. It had no rust and already had the t-5 in it and a 110lph fuel pump along with new brakes and a ton of other little things. I kept the cougar even though it is a rust bucket because I've been looking for another 86 cougar since my first car got towed and I didn't think the rust was that bad. It wasn't until I found out that the whole back end and roof were basically bondo.

When I got my windsheild put in, they told me they couldn't seal it because bondo pulled out around the roof. This car really has some unknown history behind it. I knew it had been wrecked cause it has a 84 front end on it.

knocking engine

Reply #9 – December 17, 2015, 04:52:25 PM

It's still got some pretty good sewing machine sound on a cold start up. It sounds all top end, but I might have a clogged oil passage.

knocking engine

Reply #10 – December 17, 2015, 08:41:43 PM

Quote from: Haystack;452976

It's still got some pretty good sewing machine sound on a cold start up. It sounds all top end, but I might have a clogged oil passage.

I doubt it has a clogged passage, likely would never stop ticking/clacking, whatever...

There is a good reason to use synthetic oil in the winter as it doesn't thicken as much in extreme cold(I consider -4 on the edge of extreme), flows quicker makes cranking easier... If not syn, a good 5W-30 conventional, such as Pennzoil, Castrol etc... Some house brands are fine, many are mfgd by Warren Lubricants in NE...

Unless it's specifically listed as OK, stay away from the fancy names from the unknown oil companies, much of that stuff is junk not meeting any past or present engine specification... Some brands have been found with dirt in the containers...

Check out PQIA, scroll down for info on oils that should not be used even to lube the door hinges... Some states are smartening up and banning this junk from sale...

http://www.pqiamerica.com/

knocking engine

Reply #11 – December 17, 2015, 10:39:00 PM

Yup, I've played with a ton of different oils. On of my past jobs we had a few drums of oil we kept outside. Whenever it got below about 10°f it was almost impossible to pump and pour 15w40 that we used in the big trucks. Honestly, most of the synthetics we tried poured even slower or not at all in the cold. Rolleita pours about as good as the dollar store brand when it's cold. There were a few that poured okay at those temps, but most turned almost solid and would come out in clumps.

When I have time and money I run 10w40 motorcraft synthetic blend. It's usually less then $1 more per quart and from what I've been told, is about a 50/50 mix of synthetic and regular old dino oil, but it wouldn't surprise me if its no good.

The car eats about 1 quart a gallon. It does leak some, but the engine has a ton of blow by. If I drive it hard I can use up two quarts in 200 miles. Again, it is obviously tired and has 325k miles on it now.

I might see if an oil change makes a difference or not on Monday. It's really weird to me how it goes away once it's fully warmed up. This car does make a bit of a bottom end rattle for a second once started, but it goes away and doesn't come back.

I've never really done much of anything different in winter before and I've never had any weird noises. My old tbird I drove every night after work when we were up in Montana and our high was -18° one day. I was using regular old $3 a quart Walmart stuff then.

knocking engine

Reply #12 – December 17, 2015, 10:55:29 PM

At a qt in 100mi you don't need to change oil, it's self changing... I wouldn't change in anything that used more than a quart in a K mile...

For winter, I'd probably use the Wally World 5W-30, it's mfgr'd by Warren... I believe there is a buttstuffysis of that oil on PQIA...

knocking engine

Reply #13 – December 17, 2015, 11:11:35 PM

I hear where your coming from, I used to have a saturn and they have a thing for the ring to go bad pretty early and that thing would drink oil like no other
There was absolutely no point in spending money on good oil since its always burning/leaking. There is also no point in changing it since the oil is practically always fresh. It might help to change the filter every now and then, that is one thing i never skimp out on.
In my current TC, I run nothing but synthetic. It doesnt burn it at all but a tiny bit does come out via the dipstick area. This is most likely because of blowby/boost and i notice because it leaves drops everywhere and Im always getting into the gas lol. I almost never have to add oil and this shortblock has over 300k on it.
Synthetic is good but its not for every engine

knocking engine

Reply #14 – December 17, 2015, 11:20:41 PM

Quote from: TurboCoupe50;452984

At a qt in 100mi you don't need to change oil, it's self changing... I wouldn't change in anything that used more than a quart in a K mile...

For winter, I'd probably use the Wally World 5W-30, it's mfgr'd by Warren... I believe there is a buttstuffysis of that oil on PQIA...

THIS!!!!!!!!!!! Yes it's cheaper but you turn them over and see "WNE". I've almost never actually seen Warren labeled oil. One fuel/svc station right by my neighborhood that closed down, used to stock quarts of their oil. I run nothing but Wal-Mart SuperTech oill. As long as it says WNE on the bottom.

But FWIW, had a motor with a BAD crank journal on #1, discovered that AFTER the motor was in and all hooked up to the Vic. Deep grooves. Put a .040 under bearing shell in (yes I jacked the motor a little and undid the pan. JUST got my hands and a ratchet in there a couple times trying bigger and bigger shells.) Still knocked awful, undrivable with a .010 or .030 and 5w-30. Drove it for 2 years running 20w-50 with 60% Lucas stabilizer and the .040.

In the winter cold start I would typically crank that thing and shut it right down once it fired 2-3 times. Then let it rip. That was molasses x10 in there, it was bad but hilarious how slow that poor thing cranked. Always started though. Once warm I could actually still rev it a little beyond 2000-2500 before it would knock. That car had 1st gear lockout in the VB. Pull it to '1' and that forced 2nd gear. So I'd take off hard, keep a load on it and pull it to 2nd. From there on out I guess that would be the direct clutch was engaged for engine braking or lockup in 3rd and OD, so no fluttering of RPM. Could wind it up to 3 almost 4K in the upper gears and no knocking. The Lucas made the difference!