Engine Noise / Ticking, Knocking, Tapping MERGED

[eric489]

All threads with vague titles regarding engine bay noises are now merged HERE.

If you honestly feel we can diagnose an internal engine problem from a poor description or low-quality video / audio sample, give it a shot.


I own a 1997 gst spyder and there is a ticking noise comming fron the engine. It comes and goes and it mostly sounds bad at idle. I have 97,000 miles on it and i change the oil regularly. I changed it about 2000 miles ago I need help to fix the problem.

 

[kspharris]

Sounds like a gremlin....don't know for sure but maybe throw out bearing???? That is the only thing I can think of....Shouldn't be anything on the belt side of the motor cause you would hear it all the time and since you said it sounds like it is coming from there then that is what my vote is.

 

[mindset]

Does it go away when you push in the clutch?

 

[badabing33a]

sounds like when my wheel bearing an axle were destroyed. how loud is it? mine was barely noticible at first but then got alot louder after a week or two. but id say the motor mount. replace it because it needs replaced anyway. then you will know for sure.

 

[peanotation]

it does sound like a gremlin......

the sound isn't there when i push the clutch pedal IN, but it comes back when i'm releasing the clutch and after the clutch is completely engaged. sound is loud both on decel and accel, but it's there only about 50% of the time when i'm cruising.

considering the teeth on the pressure plate don't sit flat, i assume they're constantly touching the TOB, and therefore that's the noise? i wonder if the TOB is putting constant pressure on my crank and this is why my old motor died just shy of 200K miles....

 

[mindset]

Same thing happened to me 3 weeks ago. I had a loud noise like that coming from the tranny. It even went away when I pushed in the clutch. Thing is, is that I replaced the tranny fluid before this happened. According to Haynes manual it said to put in 2 qts. Week later I did some searching on here and it says to fill it up completely to the point where its flowing out the top. I went through 3 qts total of tranny fluid. Guess what? The noise stopped!

If it's not that, then its the TOB

 

[blanxx]

Ok so i bought a 95 eagle talon esi about 2 months ago. When i bought it everything ran fine idled great no knocks tics or anything he said the engine was rebuilt at 120K its not at 195K. First problem i had with it was it was running horrible when it was cold but when i warmed up it was perfect except for a miss at 5000rpm. The Coolant Sensor then went on it after a week so it was always reading cold and not mixing fuel and air right. Replaced that worked great again for about 2 weeks. Now the engine runs better cold then warm. whenever it warms up at an idle the fans do not kick on. and as well when it warms up at its idle it will die out and it sounds as if air is being pushed out of the cold air intake that is on it. as well as a hissing noise in the engine almost sounds like steam. you really notice it when your driving inbetween 2000-3000RPM it sputters and just doesnt wanna go sometimes stalls. We did a compresion test in all the cylinders to see if it was a head gasket but they were good inbetween 175-185 through. Any advice of what to look at would be great.

 

[wht 92 talon]

alright so i bought a 90 tsi for $800 and the guy said the tranny was bad well it turned out it wasnt an one of the bolts were missing on it, well i got that fixed an started it and oil started coming out of the turbo an i also noticed a noise coming from the engine but i didnt do anything cause it didnt run but all of 5 seconds so i didnt really notice it. ok so i picked up a different turbo an hooked it up an started it and it makes like a buzzing noise or almost a constant noise from what sounds like the top end. would that possibly be bad lifters or something? also the car sat for about a year an a half or so. look at these videos YouTube - weird noise 4G63 motor EVO 3 DSM YouTube - 2G DSM Lifter TICK

 

[rush2252]

hard to tell for sure but sounds like lifter tick and possible timing belt rubbing timing cover.

 

[4g63ttuner]

check your timing belt to see if there are any rubbing marks on it and if not then my guess would be lfiters

 

[wht 92 talon]

alrighty ill chech the belt but what do i do to check lifters and would old oil cause this?

 

[habitatguy187]

I'd take the valve cover off and check it out. Low oil can cause lifter tick but that sounds pretty loud. Seafoam it if you want, that will make the lifter tick go away if that's what it really is.

 

[hobbitz69]

Sometimes i have heard this sound on my race bike, where one of the rings had broken and picked up on the cylinder and the whiring is the pickup on the piston and the chatter was the busted ring.
it seems like a real fast chatter, the lifters rock twice on revolution and that sound seems faster than that.
best to do what the other guy said and pull the rocker cover whilst the motor is running and have look see.

 

[wht 92 talon]

if one of the rings broke wouldnt it run rough or sound like its missing or have low compression in one of the cylenders? the cars in the video r not my exact car its jus what it kinda sounds like.

if i can get a video of my car today ill try to post it

 

[wht 92 talon]

how do i tell if the lifters r bad when i take the valve cover off? an can i replace then without removing the head?

 

[thatboyjose]

Hey all, I'm back at it again. I got a better video to show more of what my issue is. I don't hear a knocking sound anymore, but more of a ticking sound. I don't know.. if someone can help me out, i'd really appreciate it.


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[thatboyjose]

fwdmaster, did you ever find out what was wrong with that miata?

 

[l7inthegst]

Engine makes a rubbing/ grinding noise once in a while, noise quiets down a little when engine gets to normal temp., the noise also goes away when i hit boost but after that it wont go away, noise comes and goes from time to time. I have no idea what it is

 

[phill]

uhh well where is the noise coming from for starters?

 

[allthrottle]

Does the noise sound like it could be coming from something spinning? If so, does it sound like it increases rpm's as your engine rpm increases? What side of the engine bay is it coming from? Does it quite down/stop when you press the clutch pedal in? Does having the a/c on/off affect it?

 

[Boot92]

take a video of it to help us figure it out better.

 

[Nvisabl]

Hey all, I'm back at it again. I got a better video to show more of what my issue is. I don't hear a knocking sound anymore, but more of a ticking sound. I don't know.. if someone can help me out, i'd really appreciate it.

Doesn't that sound like balance shaft bearing to anyone else?

 

[thatboyjose]

Nvisabl,

I appreciate your reply. I'll forward your idea to my boy Siege. Since he's familiar with the sound he may be able to validate the theory.

An update on this: I ran the car for 15 minutes with my boy Siege and we both witnessed the car's rough idle problem slowly disappear but now it revs at about 1400 RPM. That could be when I tinkered with the idle but in any case it still has this weird exhaust mumble. I've invested in a PALM m515 and am waiting for the rest of the hardware/software to log any codes the ECU is putting out.

Someone on YouTube suggested (throttle position sensor). Here's a new video from yesterday MAY 2, 2009:
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[ojai_tsi]

do a compression check that will rule out alot of what ifs,
if its close to even accross the board then look into the possibility of the oil journels feeding the lifters being clogged,(i heard it tends to happen to these cars from time to time) cus that would cause the car to run rough seeing as how the valves won't open properly and the noise from the lifters,no matter how bad a$$ your lifters are they won't work if there isn't enough flow going to them,
weak oil pressure could also lead this problem but i assume you check your oil pressure gauge from time to time, hope this helps! good luck

 

[thatboyjose]

ojai_tsi,

Thanks for your input, it's very valuable to a newbie like me. I'll take your suggestion and run with it.

Thanks a million.

Jose

 

[l7inthegst]

The noise is coming from over by the timing belt like around the front right corner of the valve cover, the noise goes away when i push the clutch in, its kind of loud