I had a tick tick tick sound that at first I thought it might be lifter noise. Was very pleased to find a couple of loose header bolts at the number 7 cylinder. It had just started making noise so I lucked out and didn't even have to replace a burned gasket. Just snugged them back up (checked all the others) and problem solved!
I had the exact same thing on a 273. Thought I needed to re-adjust the valves, just tightened the exhaust bolts on you guessed it #7. They were hard to get to probably why they were loose. I had only recently gotten the car from the PO who had done some engine work. '65 Barracuda Formula S with a 4 speed. Wish I still had it.
You didn't mention that the cam rotates at 1/2 crank speed so camshaft, lifter, rocker noises will be at a much slower rhythm than bottom end noises. Usually anything belt driven making noise will be very fast since the accessories are driven at 3+ times crank speed.
That threw me a curve, as I was attempting to diagnose what I thought was a rod knock. I got out the timing light, in order to try determining if the knock would get simultaneously heard with every flash. I couldn't pin it despite, not being sure if the knock coincided with every double crankshaft turn or not, since I could only see the timing mark when it flashed. When no flash appeared, the flywheel revolved too quick for my naked eye to determine if the timing mark had gone by or not. I suppose, only a video slowed way down playing back the crankshaft turning would pinpoint it
Don't forget the taxi issue, the good ole carbon knock that sounds like a rod knock. This was originally discovered in the old taxi cabs, since the cars never saw higher RPM's, the tops of the pistons would carbon up and produce a knocking sound. They used to trickle water or transmission fluid into the intake to clear them up.
I remember this was a common issue back in the early nineties with Northstar engines. Since they weren't driven hard and the first gen Northstar was high compression, the pistons would carbon up. The guys in the shop would run a can or two of combustion chamber cleaner thru them and blast them up the road to blow them out
back in the day i did a engine rebuild on a 75 vett SB , when the engine was reinstalled it had a tiny peck --tic-tic--and it kept getting louder and louder-- this was a super cheap rebuild and the owner didn't want new rod bolts so i was thinking the rod bolts were giving away-- so we pulled the mill out and it was a loose nut on the flywheel . we just tightened it up and put the motor back in. sounded just like a bad rod bearing or broken rod bolt.
I just had a noise that drove mad. It was a Factory 340 windage tray. It somehow did not like my magnum oil pan I put on my 1988 LA360 in my 80 D150 . I had the motor out and on the stand twice trying to find the noise. I was using a magnum pan because I like one piece oil pan gaskets, they are absolutely drip proof.It was thanksgiving and I could not locate any place the windage tray was hitting the crank . I left it out and solved my problem. By the way I had no issues with the windage tray and the old LA pan with the cork gaskets etc
Worked on a 5.0 mustang that had a bad balancer once. Sometimes the engine was smooth, sometimes it shook a little, sometimes it shook a bunch. We were looking things over when the guy worked with tried to shake the balancer and the outer ring came off in his hands. The rubber had detached so the outer ring would spin on startup. Sometimes it lined up well enough to not shake and sometimes it was way off. Was a pretty good outcome since it didn’t tear up anything else. Way better than one we had that broke a rod near the big end. That one luckily just had the piston stick at the top and didn’t really tear anything up. Just had a miss and vibration.
The crank pulley holes on my 455 Pontiac "egg shaped" from wear. It fooled me into thinking it was rod knocking until I was able to confirm the reason and replace it. Be sure to check crank pulley bolt holes. Especially if you drag race frequently.
I’ve owned a lot of Ducatis. Some had the dry multi plate clutch. It would rattle at idle in neutral. I got weird looks at stop lights but it was music to my ears.
If this is only about "detrimental" engine sounds I don't think you missed much. I would have mentioned that an exhaust leak can sure sound exactly like a lifter "tick". But those aren't detrimental.
Yes and no. For the motor itself no danger. But it can if left for too long eat away metal on the head and/or manifold making it hard or impossible to seal. Which in countrys with hard inspection/emissions testing laws for example sweden inspecting cars every year and ANY exhaust leakage before the end of the pipe is a fail.
I’ve been chasing a noise in my 79 ford truck. It’s a 302 and I have a set of shorty headers on it. The noise sounds like a small header leak or small exhaust leak and goes away if you pull a plug wire and kill the number 8 cylinder. The weird part is that it did it with the old manifolds on, still does it with the headers which I have taken off and checked for cracks. The other weird bit is it seems to be loudest at the end of the tailpipe and gets muffled by putting a rag over the end of the pipe which usually makes exhaust leaks stand out more, not less. Cracked exhaust valve maybe?
Usually a rod knock has a kind of metallic scrape to the knock. Kinda like a *thunkskurr* coworker of mine had a 392 challenger in his stall a while back making a bunch of racket. He found a misfire on a cylinder so he pulled the spark plugs out and found them beaten flat. The noise was the piston slapping the head.
GM where the torque converter cover gets damaged where it contacts the flex plate. It is a loud clacking noise with each rotation of the engine. Some might confuse this with a bad rod bearing.
Tony the best thing I've found to listen to the sounds in an engine is a mechanics stethoscope, but you remove the metal rod it comes with, and stick a piece of 3/16 brake line in it. I could pick up everything it was amazing. Also a while back I bought a 75 coupe Deville that sat from 1979 until 2018, I started it and after a little tapping, the motor was smooth as hell and quiet, until you revved it. It sounded like a bad rod knock, I ran it down the street to get gas and it wasn't registered, some one pulled out in front of me so I punched it to avoid the accident. I thought I was going to send a rod out the side of the block. All the sudden the noise went away, it was a stuck lifter.
Put a transmission, I rebuilt myself, in a jeep wrangler. Made noice only in forward gears. Drove me nuts. Finally took It down the road. Ripped the cooler lines off. The fan was hitting the transmission cooler lines. I must have bent them just that little bit, changing it in and out.
Hey Tony, I have bought 3 chevy small block cars where the owner thought that they had rod knocks and I thought that they didn't and bought them. They all turned out to be cracked flex plates. If you know the sound, you can pickup some nice cars for very little cash. This was a great video for you to do. Thanks
Well, if they hadn't gone out and bought Toyota or Mercedes products, they deserved to get taken advantage of from those who know more than they do, without telling them up front what the initial problem was. Those who don't know how to solder in a simple capacitor into their washmachine's programable controller will often times get talked into buying an entire new wash machine from their repairman
One time I put std size pistons in a block that was bored .030 over. Something like .039 piston to wall clearance 🤣 and it ran good but made this awful clattering noise above 2000rpms! Those pistons were rockin!
Dodge mini vans! I did so many of these I could have the trans out and on the ground in 20 to 30 minutes. 45 to 1 hr if I took my time. AWD what ever. They would usually come in with crank and cam timing codes. And a clank on start up. Got quite a few from other shops that shotguned cam and crank sensors at them. And wouldn't fix it. A scope and even a visual inspection with a small mirror would confirm the flex plate. Would sell a front pump seal and rear main seal too while the trans was out of the car.
Bent crankshaft... I bet that's what got me. I built my first motor, largely inspired by this channel, by rebuilding a totally clapped out 302 ford. Bad and obvious knock before I tore it apart, and totally worn out bearings. After the rebuild everything seemed perfect when I got it running, got through the break-in good, and drove it around for about a week. Then after a hard pull the knock came back. I bet the crankshaft was bent and flattened my bearings when I got it spinning fast.... It's the "telephone underwater" kind of knock at elevated rpm. Make sense to anyone else?
Question: I got my Dad's 1950 F1 pickup back on the road in 2020. Stock 239 flatty. Rebuilt steering, brakes, carb, and distributor. When done it ran and drove way better than at anytime he was alive, (Wish he could've been there) so good that I put a few hundred miles on it that summer, despite it's irritating, non synchronized gearbox. It sat for a month or so before it was time to move it into the garage for the winter. It fired right up, but with an immediate, loud engine knock. I've never heard a rod knock before, but my gut told me that's what I was hearing. As I leaned over the engine, listening with that sick feeling in my stomach the noise dissipated and quieted some, but there was a slight shimmy in the block at idle. I figured "well if it's a bad rod bearing it's already too late" so I took it for a short run before parking it to see how it responded. The knock was intermittent, and barely audible, but it did not run as tight and strong as before, so I put it in the garage, and there it still sits (too many other projects, and the recession etc). If it's a bad rod bearing what would cause such a sudden change? I'm pretty sure I put rotellla oil in it. If not it was another high quality oil. I had pulled the pan, cleared any sludge, and cleaned the screen (non external filter 239). Timing was set as per recommended (I have an original shop manual for it) 0° TDC if I recall. If it's just one rod can I replace it without pulling it? It's such a low compression engine, and not a daily driver, so I would imagine it has fairly loose tolerances as it is. Any input or opinions are appreciated. Thanks y'all, and merry Christmas!
@@shavedbikerslut7155 if all the oil was in the pan wouldn't the valve train clatter and not the rod? Also, it had been sitting for several years before I worked on it and didn't behave that way before I took it apart. Sitting for one month in above freezing temps isn't a long time for a 70 yr old truck.
@@pacman3908 would a stuck valve on a flat 8 cause rod knock? I'm familiar with lifter, valve train noises (I know ohv is different), but this knock had a deeper tone, and seemed to emanate from the pass side of the block.
@@animoetprudentia2865 I would pull the head since its just a piece of machined metal and a gasket between you and a great look. The flathead combustion cycle is just not that efficient and carbon buildup def a concern and i like the theory it may be got something taking up a little too much space and being weird. I saw a guy had a flat head running on one bank while he used a a rubber mallet trying to unstick the other sides valves. I am not gonna try that but i figured it was a valid wack-a-mole method
I replaced the rod bearings in a Toyota 3.4 for a knock that sounded exactly like a bearing failure. The old bearings looked new but i replaced them since I was there but the sound was still there. I discovered the actual source of the sound was a loose spark plug. Egg on my face......
You know that old saying "A mechanics car always needs fixing and a plumbers taps need replacing" Well as a mechanic I treat my daily as a research vehicle and push all its components to the limit of wear...Sure it needs some stuff by laymans measures but if it still works then let it do what it's designed to do....Works for me but my customers vehicles get the royal treatment.
Truth. Every model engine has its own "song". I try to teach non-car folk what to listen for. Reminds me of the time I got worked up about piston slap noise on my Subaru. Then I realized they ALL make that noise 🤣🤣 (even the new ones)
I had a 88 L98 camaro with a B&M torque converter that started shuddering and then knocking. I thought it was my motor. I unbolted the converter and pushed it back off the flexplate, started the car and the noise went away. B&M sent me a new one and the problem was solved. Never had a converter knock like that - it was strange.
i bought today a new 318 magnum engine because mine old engine was making realy bad knoking noise at high revs and also when i drive up the mauntians the rod knocks realy bad
How about engine sound when its cold vs. hot. How much does it should change or should it change at all? I mean now at the exhaust side. Should it become more louder or guieter?
Tony, This video was a wonderful, well oiled, version of the old videos you did .... like the porting video and the valve grinding videos. This is absolute gold! This is the knowledge you provided early on, but now in a more polished form. Outstanding! Keep these types of videos coming... and maybe throw a stunt carb now and then.
As soon as you mentioned the early Buick 3.8, I knew you were gonna say the damper was the problem. I did the exact same thing, but I didn't get as far as to completely pull the engine. I was just gonna pull the balancer to give myself more room to pull it, and noticed the broken damper. Customer was super happy that I noticed that before the engine was on a stand.
Many of the old Pontiac Iron Duke 151 C.I.D. (2.5L) 4 cylinder engines used from the 60s through at least the late 80s in various forms were notoriously noisy due to having a gear drive instead of a timing chain or belt. They actually do make a rhythmic sound that mimics a spun rod bearing. However, while it does indeed change with engine speed, it doesn't get worse over time. I also had a Ford 300 straight 6 that was so worn out that the piston slap on cold starts sounded about like 6 rocks in a coffee can! That old truck had been used and abused as a dry cleaners delivery van for at least 10 years, and God only knows how many miles before I got it (for REALLY cheap) so, I just lived with it. I ran it daily for another 5 years or so before it finally couldn't take any more...Rust In Pieces Ol Reliable!
that's interesting, i've always been told to avoid Pete Jackson gear drives on cars with knock sensors b/c the KS picks up the vibration and thinks its detonation and kills the 'timing. Pontiacs were classic for eating their timing chain teeth and the oil pan design sticks out like a lower lip so everything dumps right into the lower crankcase.
The reason for the gear drive is because Pontiac started from a Chevy inline 6 block, shortened it to 4 cylinders, and designed their own head for it. I'm not sure but I suspect that gear drive is common parts from the Chevy 6.
@@jeffbranch8072 the Iron Duke was the old '62-'70 Chevy II four cylinder also used by Mercury Marine . The only thing Pontiac changed was the bore and stroke for emissions compliance, in '81 they changed over to a cross flow head for the same reason .
I've been able to diagnose engines, electric motors, hydraulic pumps and power units, bearings and pretty much everything that moves by nothing more than sound since I was a kid but you still managed to teach me something. Thanks Tony.
Same here, as an old school manual machinist and gearhead I've always taken pride in diagnostics using only my ears and experience. Some just have it. And Uncle Tony certainly does!
I told a shop a truck needed a carrier bearing. Three weeks later, it got towed home. Told my boss the truck had a transmission problem, it had a rhythmic tic tic thunk No, we just gotta watch the u joints. 160 miles later it went tic tic BANG! It even took out the PTO housing.
Sometimes mechanical fuel pumps will sound just like a tapping lifter/valve... Also, I recently had one with what sounded like piston pin noise only on one cylinder, it was cylinder number seven that got quiet when I pulled the plug wire off that cylinder.
I just installed a new fuel pump and it works....but now im getting that loud ticking sound! I used stethoscope and it sounds like its coming from valve cover? Could it still be the fuel pump?
@@lloydchristmas1086 Fuel pump pushrod could be worn down to where it is now too short, compare length to new one... Yes, also could be valves... In the past, we realized it was a fuel pump issue, after checking valves first.
Bingo on the flex plate. I had a Chevy 305 that made a sound like a cowbell in park but quiet in gear. I learned it well because I had to replace it every 35-40K miles. Replaced it for the last time at 120K and sold the truck.
I had that problem on my old 79 Camaro. The bellhousing bolts came loose and caused the flexplate to crack. It was an easy fix and it got quite a bit of money knocked off the price of the car.
My 2 cents. I know for a fact that 400 small block Chevys were externally balanced. Both the flywheel and the harmonic damper were different from the rest of the small block family. My friend had a 76 Nova with a 250 in line 6 and had the flex plate replaced. It vibrated like crazy. Found out it was from a 400 small block! Found the right flywheel and problem solved.
I’m not holding out on your 4.0L blowing up. Ticks that don’t change with load, but do change with RPM could be a cracked exhaust manifold. Crack noises are not always easy to pin-point because everything is on the same side of the engine. But that’s the first thing I would look for on a 4.0L.
I bought a 78 cutlass for dirt cheap. It had a crazy knock noise. The guy thought he blew the engine up. He had changed the transmission. During the test drive, the car quit moving, and started making a knocking noise. He was stunned when I installed the flex plate bolts, and drove the car home.
I had a Chrysler 2.2 with a rod knock for 2.5 years and about 40k miles. It knocked like hell when I first got it and it knocked like hell when I sold it.
Even though I'm merely a shade tree mechanic and will never do most of the services to a vehicle that you explain. I still enjoy watching and learning.
Exhaust leaks can sound a lot like lifters or bottom end noises. I have a Honda B18 VTEC with very worn camshaft bearings. It sounds horrendous for the first 5 seconds when first started, like a cam belt idler bearing about to seize up, but gets quiet and runs smoothly enough as soon as the oil flow gets back to it. Another aspect is if the noise diminishes as the engine heats up. Solid lifter valvetrain or piston slap gets quieter as the engine gets hotter. Lifters and crank/rod bearing noises usually stay the same or get worse with heat. Exhaust leaks can be worse hot or cold and improve with the opposite temperature extreme depending on what is causing them. A mechanics stethoscope is useful, but a length of vacuum hose stuffed into an ear is also useful to find the general zone of a noise, especially useful to pinpoint position when it is a vacuum or exhaust leak.
U didn't mention the insanity of a header leak. A header leak can somtimes mimic all of those noises & a man can loose his last hair trying to chase it & before u know it his entire engine will be out & on the stand & u will see him turning it over by hand wearing a helmet & continually banging his head on the block.
20+ yrs ago at a peterbuilt shop i where i was a mechanic , one mechanic rebuilt a trans for a whine . turned out to be a split hose off the turbo makin the whine !!
Tony, I've had the same kind of a knock from a fractured flexplate. Big knock knock. Thankfully we caught that before we disassembled. We did do the exhaust gaskets ( they needed that) and resealed the intake too. Saved big bucks in the end for a good customer.
This is exactly what I needed. However it confirms worse than I hoped. Sounds like I need to pull my 440.. only 1500 miles and I have that loud tic when not under load (under load it disappears) Thank you very much uncle Tony for this ! Hello from Wisconsin
To listen for a rod knock. Under the hood raise engine to 1,000 RPM or so and let go of the accelerator so it gos back to idle speed. As soon as speed gos down you hear the thump thump thump of the rod.
Those 4.0 I6 Jeep engines are incredibly durable. There’s a video from the Neutral Drop guys that fired the front 2 cylinder rods through the block and it started right back up and kept going
I purchased a rust bucket '72 Dart in 2014 and it had an .040 over bore 318 that was otherwise stock and made it a father son project for my oldest son and I to work on. In approximately 2016 he bought a used (thrashed) BMW and parked the Dart. Fast forward to this summer and he has decided to get the Dart running again and start driving it as a "Rusto-Mod" with a roll cage to reinforce the body and keep it straight while we (me) remove and replace rusty body panels. Now we have a BAD noise that started after he drove it to work the first nice day we had here in the PNW. At 59 I am a little bit younger than you are and don't have as much experience with other makes and models, but I have over 45 years of experience with Mopar A, B, C, and E body cars with everything from "the leaning tower of power" to the Gen 2 Hemi. After he returned home from work the first time I heard it making a very strange sound. I don't know if you have any kids but for some reason it is my fault that I didn't hear and diagnose this problem sooner. My latest theory is that it may have spun a bearing blocking off one or more of the oil feed passages in the crank. He mentioned that when the sound really got bad for the first time the oil pressure jumped from 50-55psi up to 75psi almost instantly and I think that since the oil passage is being blocked by the bearing, the oil pressure is higher in other areas. Maybe I'm wrong with my diagnoses, but now he is all pissed off after spending over $3500 to get it running again and still has nothing drivable. Either way we are going to have to pull the K-member with engine and tranny and go through the engine. I am not sure but he just got brand new Mickey Thompson drag radials on the back that are pretty wide and sticky for this car and I wouldn't doubt it if he didn't try to do "just one burnout" and over stress worn main or rod bearings.
When you were explaining the flex plate deal you put me at ease in a lot of ways. My 300 i6 van makes a knock in gear but freely revving it sounds ok mostly, it's also super rhythmic. I've been thinking about the things it could be too much. I pulled the inpection cover to look, and I don't see anything out of place in the flex plate/converter area.
tony, ive been subscribed to this channel for like 5 years now, and never commented anything, But, THANKS, for everything, your knowlegde is priceless, all the information you put out has value to it, THANKS, THANKS AGAIN, !!!!! hello from brazil !
That last part about steady state rpm then rolling into the throttle and watching the oil pressure gauge is extremely handy to know. I’ve witnessed engines do exactly that too. Be running at 40 psi then dip to 30 as you get on it before climbing back up.
Another way to differentiate piston pin/skirt noises from valve train noise is pull plug wire/ disable coil on the suspect cylinder, like tony said it changes load on that cylinder and if noise changes as you take away spark and put it back then you can be reasonably sure its the piston/pin and not a valvetrain noise.
I've got a 68 chevelle, 327. It's got a knock that follows rpm. Been chasing this thing for months. pulled valve covers, checked flywheel, checked distributor, replaced water pump, fuel pump, adjusted carb, checked brackets, tried MMO, tried a quart of ATF in the oil. i'm exhausted.
I'm not sure I can remember a time when our 01 Jeep (bought new in 01) hasn't made a ticking, knocking, or whatever you want to call it noise. Northeast rust is going to take it off the road before the motor goes. We're trying to keep it on the road.
You forgot that knagging screaching sound that is out of time with motor or the road bumps. 99.9999 % of the time it is the Mother inlaw either in the front seat or back . Dont try the trunk still too loud and anoying to make it any better. Plus check your state mother inlaw in the trunk could be a ticket and or jail time.
I sincerely thank you for sharing all your knowledge about vehicles. With how you explained the process leading up to a spun bearing, I now understand what it would’ve taken to put my father’s 1999 Buick Park Avenue back on the road. It had about 110,xxx miles on it with a spun bearing. I always thought it would’ve just been as simple as pulling the oil pan down, replacing the bearings, and putting it all back together. Now, because of you sharing your knowledge, I know I would’ve been in over my head back then. I never realized (until now) that I would’ve had to take the crankshaft out of it too, and either have it re-machined with oversized bearings or get a new one to put back in. Without doing that, the new bearing would’ve just spun soon after installation. Again, thank you Uncle Tony.
Year's ago I had 301 flexplate bolts erroneously installed on a 400..cracked 2 flexplates before I caught it...bolt heads were a tiny bit larger on the 400
I had a '69 Mercury 250 straight six. Had a piston slap. #4 cylinder would go out of round on those. Started at 33,000 miles and drove to 120,000. Sold the car and made 140,000 Never a problem, car got hit.
Funny story. Bad noise. Cranks a'nockin'. It's my new girlfriend's car. What did I do? I was trying to get home. Not in a race, just trying not to get arrested. 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass. 255? Kapow!!! Something broke, it just started KNOCKING. I fixed it. Clue is, kind of an H shape. It took me two weeks to' figger it out. When I took the lid off the air cleaner, I lost an eyebrow.
I know on Big Block Mopar's people say its an exhaust leak,it sounds like it but its not... Check the compression and boom one or more cyl are down mine was 50 and 80..120..then up to 150 BUT it Ran perfect,still had power but reduced a lot from before...You pop the hood you can hear a light tick,tick,tick just like exhaust leak..I even had a mechanic tell me it was a plugged exhaust manifold,it wasn't! He was one of the best mechanics around too!! It fools the best of them! I bought several cars like this over the years,and the owners swear they are running perfect on all 8,they bought it like that and they don't know lol... They also have reduced power!! A strong 440 will be like a 383 2bbl with 2.94 rear gears,still gives you power/speed but majorly reduced..My 68 440 Charger RT ran like a 68 Newport 4 door that ran 15 flat with a 383 2bbl,and 2.94 rear gear! When the death tick happened!!!I raced my buddy in his 4 door 200,000 mile Newport that was owned by an old granny and it looked like a 20,000 mile car but over 200,000 and ran perfect(we always checked compression when we bought them and at tune ups yearly).. Yep,I did this to a 383 and 440 as my personal rides when younger and I drove the hell out of my cars,back tires were always bald,floored it several times a day!! Motor mounts never lasted,I chained them up..Trans mounts blown too lol...I was rough!! I did keep the body and interiors like new,as I do body work etc..But mechanically I beat on them! Not hard/fast over bumps etc but flooring them,peeling out etc..Still sort of do! I bought dozens of cars like this,the owners either knew and tried to bs people or they truly didnt know..Most people had no clue,even today..Gotta go,computer flaking out on me!
When I picked up my 1990 Cherokee with the 4.0 I knew I'd be putting another engine in it. The guy sold it to me dirt cheap claiming it had a bad knock. It had sat for 6 years and holy cow, with a new battery started right up on ancient gas. Drove it 2 miles home the whole while sounding like a washing machine rolling down stairs.
Thanks for the info. I bought a cheap chinese timing belt and it failed after 3000 miles. Now enging is knocking after repairing the top end. Will drive until engine goes kaput. Noise is not that bad.
Also have a 96 Cherokee SE 4.0 240k miles... can't kill it, awesome engine. My old Comanche 4.0 blue a radiator hose, drove another 2 miles, parked at girlfriend's house. Next morning fired up like nothing happened...try that with a small block Chevy...lol !
Wow. You just described an old truck I had. Made racket when not under load. Sounded like lifters but would disappear under load, and at idle but when under reduced load like cruising at speed it would rattle like crazy and it was rhythmic, and was like that from having the engine built. I thought it was a valve train problem the whole time. I had the head pulled and worked and came and valves done and it never went away. I wish I knew but it ran like a scalded hound and forever and I finally sold it to a used dealer who hit me hard but never docked me for the engine. I probably put well over 80,000 miles on that truck.
Pinknocking on a Volvo redengine (ironblock) mean nothing. It's like a std issue... especially the B230F. Can still go forever. They packing the pistongoods just a little when shifting direction.
350 LT1 1996 Corvette 135 miles: I have a tick sound upon cold start up. It disappears after 2 - 3 seconds or so. It has been there for 50k miles. No change in volume just a tick tick tick. Could this be a lifter? Question 2; If you change out 1 lifter up to the whole set, do you have to do the zinc break in again to match the lifter(s) to the cam?
To corroborate what Tony is saying, I bought a Honda at 105k miles that had piston slap. I drove it for another 125k miles that way. I eventually rebuilt, not because anything happened to the piston, but because it kept overheating under load. Basically, the piston lasted until the rest of the engine plum wore out.
Hab a 428SCJ WITH A BOTTM END KNOCK . I pulled each plug wire and no charge because the windage tray had a slight bend so the rod bolt was chilling the tray . Also had a dip stick hitting the crank once and it sounded like a bad lifter so I straightened the tube and no more noises . This offbeat stuff can drive you nuts.
Some times the bottom end will squeak or chirp . Wen ya do a rod barring . Haha hay tony ya think you could find some scrap metal to bang or tap on to let people know what each nose sounds like. I know what im listen for but my wife was asking. Lol so I showed her . I call it gerbiling with low oil pressure or warn out motor’s But ya a phone under water works hahaha . I had someone bring me a Chevy 1500 one time and it was knocking like a hooker trying to get out of the trunk . I was a younger man back then and an old timer sed change the plugs first???? Ummm ok??? Ill be damed like a sleeping baby. (SPARK KNOCK!!!! ) what tha???
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I had a tick tick tick sound that at first I thought it might be lifter noise. Was very pleased to find a couple of loose header bolts at the number 7 cylinder. It had just started making noise so I lucked out and didn't even have to replace a burned gasket. Just snugged them back up (checked all the others) and problem solved!
I had the exact same thing on a 273. Thought I needed to re-adjust the valves, just tightened the exhaust bolts on you guessed it #7. They were hard to get to probably why they were loose. I had only recently gotten the car from the PO who had done some engine work. '65 Barracuda Formula S with a 4 speed. Wish I still had it.
You didn't mention that the cam rotates at 1/2 crank speed so camshaft, lifter, rocker noises will be at a much slower rhythm than bottom end noises. Usually anything belt driven making noise will be very fast since the accessories are driven at 3+ times crank speed.
That threw me a curve, as I was attempting to diagnose what I thought was a rod knock. I got out the timing light, in order to try determining if the knock would get simultaneously heard with every flash. I couldn't pin it despite, not being sure if the knock coincided with every double crankshaft turn or not, since I could only see the timing mark when it flashed. When no flash appeared, the flywheel revolved too quick for my naked eye to determine if the timing mark had gone by or not. I suppose, only a video slowed way down playing back the crankshaft turning would pinpoint it
Don't forget the taxi issue, the good ole carbon knock that sounds like a rod knock. This was originally discovered in the old taxi cabs, since the cars never saw higher RPM's, the tops of the pistons would carbon up and produce a knocking sound. They used to trickle water or transmission fluid into the intake to clear them up.
I remember this was a common issue back in the early nineties with Northstar engines. Since they weren't driven hard and the first gen Northstar was high compression, the pistons would carbon up. The guys in the shop would run a can or two of combustion chamber cleaner thru them and blast them up the road to blow them out
back in the day i did a engine rebuild on a 75 vett SB , when the engine was reinstalled it had a tiny peck --tic-tic--and it kept getting louder and louder-- this was a super cheap rebuild and the owner didn't want new rod bolts so i was thinking the rod bolts were giving away-- so we pulled the mill out and it was a loose nut on the flywheel . we just tightened it up and put the motor back in. sounded just like a bad rod bearing or broken rod bolt.
You're a freaking genius, Uncle Tony! Thank you for the education. I'll have to rewatch this one a few more times.
I just had a noise that drove mad. It was a Factory 340 windage tray. It somehow did not like my magnum oil pan I put on my 1988 LA360 in my 80 D150 . I had the motor out and on the stand twice trying to find the noise. I was using a magnum pan because I like one piece oil pan gaskets, they are absolutely drip proof.It was thanksgiving and I could not locate any place the windage tray was hitting the crank . I left it out and solved my problem. By the way I had no issues with the windage tray and the old LA pan with the cork gaskets etc
Worked on a 5.0 mustang that had a bad balancer once. Sometimes the engine was smooth, sometimes it shook a little, sometimes it shook a bunch. We were looking things over when the guy worked with tried to shake the balancer and the outer ring came off in his hands. The rubber had detached so the outer ring would spin on startup. Sometimes it lined up well enough to not shake and sometimes it was way off.
Was a pretty good outcome since it didn’t tear up anything else. Way better than one we had that broke a rod near the big end. That one luckily just had the piston stick at the top and didn’t really tear anything up. Just had a miss and vibration.
The only thing I would add Tony is that a wrist pin area will usually give you a double.knock
The crank pulley holes on my 455 Pontiac "egg shaped" from wear. It fooled me into thinking it was rod knocking until I was able to confirm the reason and replace it. Be sure to check crank pulley bolt holes. Especially if you drag race frequently.
6:42 holy crap you just diagnosed my dad's old chevy truck we were both convinced had an engine problem
I’ve owned a lot of Ducatis. Some had the dry multi plate clutch. It would rattle at idle in neutral. I got weird looks at stop lights but it was music to my ears.
If this is only about "detrimental" engine sounds I don't think you missed much. I would have mentioned that an exhaust leak can sure sound exactly like a lifter "tick". But those aren't detrimental.
Yes and no.
For the motor itself no danger.
But it can if left for too long eat away metal on the head and/or manifold making it hard or impossible to seal.
Which in countrys with hard inspection/emissions testing laws for example sweden inspecting cars every year and ANY exhaust leakage before the end of the pipe is a fail.
I’ve been chasing a noise in my 79 ford truck. It’s a 302 and I have a set of shorty headers on it. The noise sounds like a small header leak or small exhaust leak and goes away if you pull a plug wire and kill the number 8 cylinder. The weird part is that it did it with the old manifolds on, still does it with the headers which I have taken off and checked for cracks. The other weird bit is it seems to be loudest at the end of the tailpipe and gets muffled by putting a rag over the end of the pipe which usually makes exhaust leaks stand out more, not less. Cracked exhaust valve maybe?
Love it! Thanks Uncle Tony for the refresher! 👍
Usually a rod knock has a kind of metallic scrape to the knock. Kinda like a *thunkskurr* coworker of mine had a 392 challenger in his stall a while back making a bunch of racket. He found a misfire on a cylinder so he pulled the spark plugs out and found them beaten flat. The noise was the piston slapping the head.
Wow….that’s a lot to digest UT! Lol now I need a tutorial on causes of vibration in the drivetrain. Great stuff! Thanks!
I have an '87 XJ with a 4.0 that has that exact sound. It was there when I bought it 3 years ago. I'm dreading the day it finally gives up the ghost.
GM where the torque converter cover gets damaged where it contacts the flex plate. It is a loud clacking noise with each rotation of the engine. Some might confuse this with a bad rod bearing.
Tony the best thing I've found to listen to the sounds in an engine is a mechanics stethoscope, but you remove the metal rod it comes with, and stick a piece of 3/16 brake line in it. I could pick up everything it was amazing. Also a while back I bought a 75 coupe Deville that sat from 1979 until 2018, I started it and after a little tapping, the motor was smooth as hell and quiet, until you revved it. It sounded like a bad rod knock, I ran it down the street to get gas and it wasn't registered, some one pulled out in front of me so I punched it to avoid the accident. I thought I was going to send a rod out the side of the block. All the sudden the noise went away, it was a stuck lifter.
Put a transmission, I rebuilt myself, in a jeep wrangler. Made noice only in forward gears. Drove me nuts. Finally took It down the road. Ripped the cooler lines off. The fan was hitting the transmission cooler lines. I must have bent them just that little bit, changing it in and out.
Hey Tony, I have bought 3 chevy small block cars where the owner thought that they had rod knocks and I thought that they didn't and bought them. They all turned out to be cracked flex plates. If you know the sound, you can pickup some nice cars for very little cash. This was a great video for you to do. Thanks
Well, if they hadn't gone out and bought Toyota or Mercedes products, they deserved to get taken advantage of from those who know more than they do, without telling them up front what the initial problem was. Those who don't know how to solder in a simple capacitor into their washmachine's programable controller will often times get talked into buying an entire new wash machine from their repairman
One time I put std size pistons in a block that was bored .030 over. Something like .039 piston to wall clearance 🤣 and it ran good but made this awful clattering noise above 2000rpms! Those pistons were rockin!
Dodge mini vans! I did so many of these I could have the trans out and on the ground in 20 to 30 minutes. 45 to 1 hr if I took my time. AWD what ever. They would usually come in with crank and cam timing codes. And a clank on start up. Got quite a few from other shops that shotguned cam and crank sensors at them. And wouldn't fix it. A scope and even a visual inspection with a small mirror would confirm the flex plate.
Would sell a front pump seal and rear main seal too while the trans was out of the car.
That 4.0 with the tick will probably outlive all of us regardless of the abuse its put through lol
Get article on internal engine sound. I learned a few things. Keep up these videos.
great descriptions of the different sounds, spot on !
Bent crankshaft... I bet that's what got me. I built my first motor, largely inspired by this channel, by rebuilding a totally clapped out 302 ford. Bad and obvious knock before I tore it apart, and totally worn out bearings. After the rebuild everything seemed perfect when I got it running, got through the break-in good, and drove it around for about a week. Then after a hard pull the knock came back. I bet the crankshaft was bent and flattened my bearings when I got it spinning fast.... It's the "telephone underwater" kind of knock at elevated rpm. Make sense to anyone else?
John M, did you check your bearing clearances before and after?
@@davidcoudriet8439 Checked before and it was in spec... haven't pulled the motor yet.
Question: I got my Dad's 1950 F1 pickup back on the road in 2020. Stock 239 flatty. Rebuilt steering, brakes, carb, and distributor. When done it ran and drove way better than at anytime he was alive, (Wish he could've been there) so good that I put a few hundred miles on it that summer, despite it's irritating, non synchronized gearbox.
It sat for a month or so before it was time to move it into the garage for the winter. It fired right up, but with an immediate, loud engine knock. I've never heard a rod knock before, but my gut told me that's what I was hearing. As I leaned over the engine, listening with that sick feeling in my stomach the noise dissipated and quieted some, but there was a slight shimmy in the block at idle. I figured "well if it's a bad rod bearing it's already too late" so I took it for a short run before parking it to see how it responded. The knock was intermittent, and barely audible, but it did not run as tight and strong as before, so I put it in the garage, and there it still sits (too many other projects, and the recession etc).
If it's a bad rod bearing what would cause such a sudden change?
I'm pretty sure I put rotellla oil in it. If not it was another high quality oil. I had pulled the pan, cleared any sludge, and cleaned the screen (non external filter 239). Timing was set as per recommended (I have an original shop manual for it) 0° TDC if I recall.
If it's just one rod can I replace it without pulling it?
It's such a low compression engine, and not a daily driver, so I would imagine it has fairly loose tolerances as it is.
Any input or opinions are appreciated.
Thanks y'all, and merry Christmas!
So if it happened after sitting, Wonder if it had something to do with the oil going back to the pan and something isn’t getting oiled propperly
Probably varnish biuld up on a valve ,stuck valve pull valve cover off and check it
@@shavedbikerslut7155 if all the oil was in the pan wouldn't the valve train clatter and not the rod?
Also, it had been sitting for several years before I worked on it and didn't behave that way before I took it apart. Sitting for one month in above freezing temps isn't a long time for a 70 yr old truck.
@@pacman3908 would a stuck valve on a flat 8 cause rod knock? I'm familiar with lifter, valve train noises (I know ohv is different), but this knock had a deeper tone, and seemed to emanate from the pass side of the block.
@@animoetprudentia2865 I would pull the head since its just a piece of machined metal and a gasket between you and a great look. The flathead combustion cycle is just not that efficient and carbon buildup def a concern and i like the theory it may be got something taking up a little too much space and being weird. I saw a guy had a flat head running on one bank while he used a a rubber mallet trying to unstick the other sides valves. I am not gonna try that but i figured it was a valid wack-a-mole method
I replaced the rod bearings in a Toyota 3.4 for a knock that sounded exactly like a bearing failure. The old bearings looked new but i replaced them since I was there but the sound was still there. I discovered the actual source of the sound was a loose spark plug. Egg on my face......
I am what is commonly known in some circles as first.
You know that old saying "A mechanics car always needs fixing and a plumbers taps need replacing" Well as a mechanic I treat my daily as a research vehicle and push all its components to the limit of wear...Sure it needs some stuff by laymans measures but if it still works then let it do what it's designed to do....Works for me but my customers vehicles get the royal treatment.
You described the pin noise pretty much as I recall hearing it from my old 302 , R I P... Fun times while it lasted, Ha Ha.
Talk about the damper. Buick V6 3800
Truth. Every model engine has its own "song". I try to teach non-car folk what to listen for. Reminds me of the time I got worked up about piston slap noise on my Subaru. Then I realized they ALL make that noise 🤣🤣 (even the new ones)
Tony you rock! Mopar or no car! Peace
Great Info!
Thanks
But forgured pistons make noise when it's cold to. Which I didn't know till I rebuilt the engine but it's only till it warms up
I had a 88 L98 camaro with a B&M torque converter that started shuddering and then knocking. I thought it was my motor. I unbolted the converter and pushed it back off the flexplate, started the car and the noise went away. B&M sent me a new one and the problem was solved. Never had a converter knock like that - it was strange.
Had a bad one too. Went to TCI after that .
i bought today a new 318 magnum engine because mine old engine was making realy bad knoking noise at high revs and also when i drive up the mauntians the rod knocks realy bad
Wet sounding muffled tap on startup that goes away?
I had a falcon that had a glaflorp glaflorp glaflorp sound in it but only in reverse at 17 mph and above. Wonder what it was, never found out.
I had a torc converter make a bad knocking sound .
Valvetrain noise is always half the engine speed, Tony knows this just pointing it out for others.
How about engine sound when its cold vs. hot. How much does it should change or should it change at all? I mean now at the exhaust side. Should it become more louder or guieter?
Hose or tubing is the best in my opinion
I’d love a video about pinging and detonation.
Recommend a transmission channel? Issues with Dodge 545RFE tranny...😭
Precision transmissions
Isdat Your Shop ??
Nice content. 😇
Pin noise (on the ones I have seen) tends to go away as the engine warms up. One more reason to not buy a car with a warm engine.
Drive the snot outa that six. I wanna see a rebuild.
Of course that may be another 10 years, I’ll wait. LOL
Tony, This video was a wonderful, well oiled, version of the old videos you did .... like the porting video and the valve grinding videos. This is absolute gold! This is the knowledge you provided early on, but now in a more polished form. Outstanding! Keep these types of videos coming... and maybe throw a stunt carb now and then.
This is the good content.
As soon as you mentioned the early Buick 3.8, I knew you were gonna say the damper was the problem. I did the exact same thing, but I didn't get as far as to completely pull the engine. I was just gonna pull the balancer to give myself more room to pull it, and noticed the broken damper. Customer was super happy that I noticed that before the engine was on a stand.
I had a friend who's 283 Chevy started to sound like a diesel. Turned out to be the harmonic balancer was coming apart.
Me Too!
The AMC 4.0 the only engine other than the 7.3 powerstroke that idles like a bag of hammers and likes it
Many of the old Pontiac Iron Duke 151 C.I.D. (2.5L) 4 cylinder engines used from the 60s through at least the late 80s in various forms were notoriously noisy due to having a gear drive instead of a timing chain or belt. They actually do make a rhythmic sound that mimics a spun rod bearing. However, while it does indeed change with engine speed, it doesn't get worse over time.
I also had a Ford 300 straight 6 that was so worn out that the piston slap on cold starts sounded about like 6 rocks in a coffee can! That old truck had been used and abused as a dry cleaners delivery van for at least 10 years, and God only knows how many miles before I got it (for REALLY cheap) so, I just lived with it. I ran it daily for another 5 years or so before it finally couldn't take any more...Rust In Pieces Ol Reliable!
I have a 90 Iron Duke parked in my garage and it's still a noisy engine despite being from after they switched to chain driven timing
the ford 300 has a phenolic gear in a lot of later years but im not sure when it starts. the hardened one would be louder too
that's interesting, i've always been told to avoid Pete Jackson gear drives on cars with knock sensors b/c the KS picks up the vibration and thinks its detonation and kills the 'timing. Pontiacs were classic for eating their timing chain teeth and the oil pan design sticks out like a lower lip so everything dumps right into the lower crankcase.
The reason for the gear drive is because Pontiac started from a Chevy inline 6 block, shortened it to 4 cylinders, and designed their own head for it. I'm not sure but I suspect that gear drive is common parts from the Chevy 6.
@@jeffbranch8072 the Iron Duke was the old '62-'70 Chevy II four cylinder also used by Mercury Marine . The only thing Pontiac changed was the bore and stroke for emissions compliance, in '81 they changed over to a cross flow head for the same reason .
I've been able to diagnose engines, electric motors, hydraulic pumps and power units, bearings and pretty much everything that moves by nothing more than sound since I was a kid but you still managed to teach me something.
Thanks Tony.
Amen to that
Same here, as an old school manual machinist and gearhead I've always taken pride in diagnostics using only my ears and experience.
Some just have it.
And Uncle Tony certainly does!
I told a shop a truck needed a carrier bearing.
Three weeks later, it got towed home.
Told my boss the truck had a transmission problem, it had a rhythmic tic tic thunk
No, we just gotta watch the u joints.
160 miles later it went tic tic BANG!
It even took out the PTO housing.
he talk again...too much
Sometimes mechanical fuel pumps will sound just like a tapping lifter/valve... Also, I recently had one with what sounded like piston pin noise only on one cylinder, it was cylinder number seven that got quiet when I pulled the plug wire off that cylinder.
I just installed a new fuel pump and it works....but now im getting that loud ticking sound! I used stethoscope and it sounds like its coming from valve cover? Could it still be the fuel pump?
@@lloydchristmas1086 Fuel pump pushrod could be worn down to where it is now too short, compare length to new one... Yes, also could be valves... In the past, we realized it was a fuel pump issue, after checking valves first.
Bingo on the flex plate. I had a Chevy 305 that made a sound like a cowbell in park but quiet in gear. I learned it well because I had to replace it every 35-40K miles. Replaced it for the last time at 120K and sold the truck.
perhaps a prior owner used a 350 part? they had a different balance than the 305 crank.
I had that problem on my old 79 Camaro. The bellhousing bolts came loose and caused the flexplate to crack. It was an easy fix and it got quite a bit of money knocked off the price of the car.
@@albertgaspar627 I bought it new. First crack came at 36,000 and was fixed under warranty.
@@allhailinternalcombustion I never confirmed but suspect it had crank walk.
My 2 cents. I know for a fact that 400 small block Chevys were externally balanced. Both the flywheel and the harmonic damper were different from the rest of the small block family. My friend had a 76 Nova with a 250 in line 6 and had the flex plate replaced. It vibrated like crazy. Found out it was from a 400 small block! Found the right flywheel and problem solved.
What about a rod-knock type noise at first start-up but goes away after 10 seconds or so?
i'll guess something that warms up and expands to fill in a loose clearance.
The key is to have exhaust so loud you can't hear any of that. Problem solved.
Sir, it is a pleasure to listen and learn your invaluable experience. Thank you!
I’m not holding out on your 4.0L blowing up. Ticks that don’t change with load, but do change with RPM could be a cracked exhaust manifold. Crack noises are not always easy to pin-point because everything is on the same side of the engine. But that’s the first thing I would look for on a 4.0L.
I bought a 78 cutlass for dirt cheap. It had a crazy knock noise. The guy thought he blew the engine up. He had changed the transmission. During the test drive, the car quit moving, and started making a knocking noise. He was stunned when I installed the flex plate bolts, and drove the car home.
Me too in 1989! It was a 305 car mint.
260?
I had a Chrysler 2.2 with a rod knock for 2.5 years and about 40k miles. It knocked like hell when I first got it and it knocked like hell when I sold it.
Even though I'm merely a shade tree mechanic and will never do most of the services to a vehicle that you explain. I still enjoy watching and learning.
Exhaust leaks can sound a lot like lifters or bottom end noises. I have a Honda B18 VTEC with very worn camshaft bearings. It sounds horrendous for the first 5 seconds when first started, like a cam belt idler bearing about to seize up, but gets quiet and runs smoothly enough as soon as the oil flow gets back to it. Another aspect is if the noise diminishes as the engine heats up. Solid lifter valvetrain or piston slap gets quieter as the engine gets hotter. Lifters and crank/rod bearing noises usually stay the same or get worse with heat. Exhaust leaks can be worse hot or cold and improve with the opposite temperature extreme depending on what is causing them. A mechanics stethoscope is useful, but a length of vacuum hose stuffed into an ear is also useful to find the general zone of a noise, especially useful to pinpoint position when it is a vacuum or exhaust leak.
Cat heat shields can do some weird noises too, especially cheap ford EFI ones (1990s obs ford in my personal case)
U didn't mention the insanity of a header leak. A header leak can somtimes mimic all of those noises & a man can loose his last hair trying to chase it & before u know it his entire engine will be out & on the stand & u will see him turning it over by hand wearing a helmet & continually banging his head on the block.
20+ yrs ago at a peterbuilt shop i where i was a mechanic , one mechanic rebuilt a trans for a whine . turned out to be a split hose off the turbo makin the whine !!
Just watched this episode, 👍
Have you considered recording as many noises as possible and sharing them?
Knocks, pings, clunks,,, Good stuff.
Tony, I've had the same kind of a knock from a fractured flexplate. Big knock knock. Thankfully we caught that before we disassembled. We did do the exhaust gaskets ( they needed that) and resealed the intake too. Saved big bucks in the end for a good customer.
This is exactly what I needed. However it confirms worse than I hoped. Sounds like I need to pull my 440.. only 1500 miles and I have that loud tic when not under load (under load it disappears)
Thank you very much uncle Tony for this !
Hello from Wisconsin
To listen for a rod knock. Under the hood raise engine to 1,000 RPM or so and let go of the accelerator so it gos back to idle speed. As soon as speed gos down you hear the thump thump thump of the rod.
Those 4.0 I6 Jeep engines are incredibly durable. There’s a video from the Neutral Drop guys that fired the front 2 cylinder rods through the block and it started right back up and kept going
WHATS IT GOT STUNTMAN 😄
I purchased a rust bucket '72 Dart in 2014 and it had an .040 over bore 318 that was otherwise stock and made it a father son project for my oldest son and I to work on. In approximately 2016 he bought a used (thrashed) BMW and parked the Dart. Fast forward to this summer and he has decided to get the Dart running again and start driving it as a "Rusto-Mod" with a roll cage to reinforce the body and keep it straight while we (me) remove and replace rusty body panels. Now we have a BAD noise that started after he drove it to work the first nice day we had here in the PNW. At 59 I am a little bit younger than you are and don't have as much experience with other makes and models, but I have over 45 years of experience with Mopar A, B, C, and E body cars with everything from "the leaning tower of power" to the Gen 2 Hemi. After he returned home from work the first time I heard it making a very strange sound. I don't know if you have any kids but for some reason it is my fault that I didn't hear and diagnose this problem sooner. My latest theory is that it may have spun a bearing blocking off one or more of the oil feed passages in the crank. He mentioned that when the sound really got bad for the first time the oil pressure jumped from 50-55psi up to 75psi almost instantly and I think that since the oil passage is being blocked by the bearing, the oil pressure is higher in other areas. Maybe I'm wrong with my diagnoses, but now he is all pissed off after spending over $3500 to get it running again and still has nothing drivable. Either way we are going to have to pull the K-member with engine and tranny and go through the engine. I am not sure but he just got brand new Mickey Thompson drag radials on the back that are pretty wide and sticky for this car and I wouldn't doubt it if he didn't try to do "just one burnout" and over stress worn main or rod bearings.
When you were explaining the flex plate deal you put me at ease in a lot of ways. My 300 i6 van makes a knock in gear but freely revving it sounds ok mostly, it's also super rhythmic. I've been thinking about the things it could be too much. I pulled the inpection cover to look, and I don't see anything out of place in the flex plate/converter area.
tony, ive been subscribed to this channel for like 5 years now, and never commented anything, But, THANKS, for everything, your knowlegde is priceless, all the information you put out has value to it, THANKS, THANKS AGAIN, !!!!! hello from brazil !
Six cylinder stroker? I'm in.
just install a louder stereo with subwoofers. It's usually a rock in the tire tread!
That last part about steady state rpm then rolling into the throttle and watching the oil pressure gauge is extremely handy to know. I’ve witnessed engines do exactly that too. Be running at 40 psi then dip to 30 as you get on it before climbing back up.
Another way to differentiate piston pin/skirt noises from valve train noise is pull plug wire/ disable coil on the suspect cylinder, like tony said it changes load on that cylinder and if noise changes as you take away spark and put it back then you can be reasonably sure its the piston/pin and not a valvetrain noise.
I've got a 68 chevelle, 327. It's got a knock that follows rpm. Been chasing this thing for months. pulled valve covers, checked flywheel, checked distributor, replaced water pump, fuel pump, adjusted carb, checked brackets, tried MMO, tried a quart of ATF in the oil. i'm exhausted.
How about the marbles in a coffee can sound
1964 17 years old and had a 1956 chevy 265. Had a bad knock in it. Finally figured it out. The pushrod that goes between the cam and the fuel pump
What was it, a bent rod?
did you just replace the pushrod? how did you know it was bad?
I'm not sure I can remember a time when our 01 Jeep (bought new in 01) hasn't made a ticking, knocking, or whatever you want to call it noise. Northeast rust is going to take it off the road before the motor goes. We're trying to keep it on the road.
I dont know much about cars other than mine but I can recognize the engine very well.
You forgot that knagging screaching sound that is out of time with motor or the road bumps. 99.9999 % of the time it is the
Mother inlaw either in the front seat or back . Dont try the trunk still too loud and anoying to make it any better. Plus check your state mother inlaw in the trunk could be a ticket and or jail time.
I sincerely thank you for sharing all your knowledge about vehicles. With how you explained the process leading up to a spun bearing, I now understand what it would’ve taken to put my father’s 1999 Buick Park Avenue back on the road. It had about 110,xxx miles on it with a spun bearing. I always thought it would’ve just been as simple as pulling the oil pan down, replacing the bearings, and putting it all back together. Now, because of you sharing your knowledge, I know I would’ve been in over my head back then. I never realized (until now) that I would’ve had to take the crankshaft out of it too, and either have it re-machined with oversized bearings or get a new one to put back in. Without doing that, the new bearing would’ve just spun soon after installation. Again, thank you Uncle Tony.
Year's ago I had 301 flexplate bolts erroneously installed on a 400..cracked 2 flexplates before I caught it...bolt heads were a tiny bit larger on the 400
I had a '69 Mercury 250 straight six. Had a piston slap. #4 cylinder would go out of round on those. Started at 33,000 miles and drove to 120,000. Sold the car and made 140,000 Never a problem, car got hit.
Funny story. Bad noise. Cranks a'nockin'. It's my new girlfriend's car. What did I do? I was trying to get home. Not in a race, just trying not to get arrested. 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass. 255? Kapow!!! Something broke, it just started KNOCKING. I fixed it. Clue is, kind of an H shape. It took me two weeks to' figger it out. When I took the lid off the air cleaner, I lost an eyebrow.
I know on Big Block Mopar's people say its an exhaust leak,it sounds like it but its not...
Check the compression and boom one or more cyl are down mine was 50 and 80..120..then up to 150 BUT it Ran perfect,still had power but reduced a lot from before...You pop the hood you can hear a light tick,tick,tick just like exhaust leak..I even had a mechanic tell me it was a plugged exhaust manifold,it wasn't! He was one of the best mechanics around too!! It fools the best of them!
I bought several cars like this over the years,and the owners swear they are running perfect on all 8,they bought it like that and they don't know lol... They also have reduced power!! A strong 440 will be like a 383 2bbl with 2.94 rear gears,still gives you power/speed but majorly reduced..My 68 440 Charger RT ran like a 68 Newport 4 door that ran 15 flat with a 383 2bbl,and 2.94 rear gear! When the death tick happened!!!I raced my buddy in his 4 door 200,000 mile Newport that was owned by an old granny and it looked like a 20,000 mile car but over 200,000 and ran perfect(we always checked compression when we bought them and at tune ups yearly)..
Yep,I did this to a 383 and 440 as my personal rides when younger and I drove the hell out of my cars,back tires were always bald,floored it several times a day!! Motor mounts never lasted,I chained them up..Trans mounts blown too lol...I was rough!! I did keep the body and interiors like new,as I do body work etc..But mechanically I beat on them! Not hard/fast over bumps etc but flooring them,peeling out etc..Still sort of do! I bought dozens of cars like this,the owners either knew and tried to bs people or they truly didnt know..Most people had no clue,even today..Gotta go,computer flaking out on me!
When I picked up my 1990 Cherokee with the 4.0 I knew I'd be putting another engine in it. The guy sold it to me dirt cheap claiming it had a bad knock. It had sat for 6 years and holy cow, with a new battery started right up on ancient gas. Drove it 2 miles home the whole while sounding like a washing machine rolling down stairs.
Thanks for the info. I bought a cheap chinese timing belt and it failed after 3000 miles. Now enging is knocking after repairing the top end. Will drive until engine goes kaput. Noise is not that bad.
Also have a 96 Cherokee SE 4.0 240k miles... can't kill it, awesome engine. My old Comanche 4.0 blue a radiator hose, drove another 2 miles, parked at girlfriend's house. Next morning fired up like nothing happened...try that with a small block Chevy...lol !
Wow. You just described an old truck I had. Made racket when not under load. Sounded like lifters but would disappear under load, and at idle but when under reduced load like cruising at speed it would rattle like crazy and it was rhythmic, and was like that from having the engine built. I thought it was a valve train problem the whole time. I had the head pulled and worked and came and valves done and it never went away. I wish I knew but it ran like a scalded hound and forever and I finally sold it to a used dealer who hit me hard but never docked me for the engine. I probably put well over 80,000 miles on that truck.
Pinknocking on a Volvo redengine (ironblock) mean nothing. It's like a std issue... especially the B230F. Can still go forever. They packing the pistongoods just a little when shifting direction.
350 LT1 1996 Corvette 135 miles: I have a tick sound upon cold start up. It disappears after 2 - 3 seconds or so. It has been there for 50k miles. No change in volume just a tick tick tick. Could this be a lifter? Question 2; If you change out 1 lifter up to the whole set, do you have to do the zinc break in again to match the lifter(s) to the cam?
To corroborate what Tony is saying, I bought a Honda at 105k miles that had piston slap. I drove it for another 125k miles that way. I eventually rebuilt, not because anything happened to the piston, but because it kept overheating under load. Basically, the piston lasted until the rest of the engine plum wore out.
Hab a 428SCJ WITH A BOTTM END KNOCK . I pulled each plug wire and no charge because the windage tray had a slight bend so the rod bolt was chilling the tray . Also had a dip stick hitting the crank once and it sounded like a bad lifter so I straightened the tube and no more noises . This offbeat stuff can drive you nuts.
Some times the bottom end will squeak or chirp . Wen ya do a rod barring . Haha hay tony ya think you could find some scrap metal to bang or tap on to let people know what each nose sounds like. I know what im listen for but my wife was asking. Lol so I showed her . I call it gerbiling with low oil pressure or warn out motor’s But ya a phone under water works hahaha .
I had someone bring me a Chevy 1500 one time and it was knocking like a hooker trying to get out of the trunk . I was a younger man back then and an old timer sed change the plugs first???? Ummm ok??? Ill be damed like a sleeping baby. (SPARK KNOCK!!!! ) what tha???