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.

 

[#1-1995GS-T]

from what i can remember there bocsh
and they were gapped at 32 but i think i dropped them in
im just gonna change them
i hope its no the lifters. i just had a head job

 

[turboAWD92]

if its a dsm... its ###### a lifter problem...

 

[bishi97]

Believe me if its sounds like a woodpecker, you got a rod knock, i know because i am on my third motor now due to rod knocks. everyone call me rodknock.

 

[yourmommabeoch]

bro, i had the same exact problem with my 98 non turbo eclipse. I took the entire engine apart, put new rings, rod bearings, gaskets and cleaned it all up. I put my car back together and the knocking noise vanished. A month later, the noise came back. Ive searched the forums and found people talking about lash adjuster (lifter) knock. I cleaned them up and now the noise is gone!

Its pretty simple to take the lifters out if you have patience. Take the valve cover off (top of engine). There should be 8 10mm bolts. Once you have that off, look for your valves (look for springs). Right in front of that are the lifters. You have to take a flat head screw driver, push up and over on the adjusters. That should release the lifter (you can now just pull them out).

Once you have all 16 lifters out, soak them in karoscene for 24-48 hrs. Right after you pull the lifters out of the karoscene, immediately use an air tool to blow out all the carbon deposits from the lifter hole(s).

Now that you have all 16 lifters cleaned, put them in 10w 40 oil for at least 48 hrs (72 to be safe). Then put them back in the car.......BAM no knocking noise.

Even if you dont think this is the problem, its worth a try... only cost about $10 for the karoscene and oil. If that works, at least you didnt go spend $3k on another engine when the only problem was the lifters


Let me know if this was any help! ~ [email protected]

If you have any other questions, I know there are some posts already up with pictures to help you, just SEARCH!!

 

[#1-1995GS-T]

will it hurt the engineif it continues, and how will i make it go away faster while its still cold oustide????
o and would Z-Max help any????

 

[krummel21]

I was driving my car really hard one day, once done I pulled into a parking lot and I heard a really loud ticking noise coming from the head. I've always had lifter tick so I know this wasn't it it's much louder. The car didn't act any different though I mean obviously I didn't floor it after that but it drove home fine. I haven't driven it since.

I went out and did a compression test and the two passenger side spark plugs both had quit a bit of oil on top of them (came all the way up to the white part of the spark plug). However there wasn't any oil in the other two and there wasn't any on top of the valve cover. What would cause this? The compression was perfect in those 2 (ones with oil problem) but the 2 drivers side cylinders had a compression of 125. Would this explain my noise problems? Would a bent valve cause these low numbers?

I took the valve cover off and everything from up there looked normal.

Any help is greatly appreciated if any head work needs done I'd really like to do it now since still crappy out.

Thanks,
Krummel21

 

[dsmmatt28]

well first of all your compresion is low. If your sure its the head and not the block. Then i would think your lifters are shot at least one of them.If it was a bent valve your compression would be a lot worse. To bend a valve the only way is if your car jumped timing. I would pull the head my friend and an invest in some new lifters. You dont have to pull the head to take lifters out just take off the timing belt and undo the cams get a pair of neddle nose and pull lifters out. Slide new ones in. Be sure to keep the cam caps in the same ORDER you pulled them out. The car is going to tick with the new lifters cause they have to fill with oil. Just let the car run for like 15 min or so .You can get lifters for like 80 to a hundred bucks. Your comprssion is low because either you need a ring job or a valve job. Poor a little oil in your cylinder if the compression rises then you need a ring job if it doesnt you need a valve job. If it is the valves take your head to a machine shop have them to just a 3 angle valve job replace the lifters and valve stem seals. Get a resurface and put a mls and some arps while your at it.

 

[krummel21]

Well I added oil to the low compression cylinders and I came back 190 on both of those. My only question is if I put into to much oil would that mak a diffrence. I put 2-3 cap fulls in.

Do you have any idea why there was oil on top of the spark plugs in the other two cylinders?

 

[tmoney5500]

sounds to me like the oil in the spark plug wells is due to a leaking spark plug well gasket...each one has its own...while your doing that, you just might wanna do the whole valve cover and save yourself a headache later.

 

[Clutch GSX]

Heres some good info for you: Lifter VFAQ

I also agree that you should redo the gaskets from valvecover up. You put a little too much oil in for the compression check but its fine. They say one cap full will do.

 

[krummel21]

I just replaced those gaskets but taht is the only likely way of the oil getting in there.

I did do this compression test when the car was cold but since they are so far apart do you think this would really make that much of a difference? I take it since I put the oil in and it made that big of a difference than the rings are worn correct? What would guys recomend doing now then? My engine has 150,000 miles on it. Should I just replace the rings and lifters or do a full rebuild since I'm going to have it apart?

 

[layzie12g]

If you rebuild do the whole thing. Do an oem oil pump and make sure you replace the water pump. I just had my car rebuilt now the water pump is leaking and its gonna cost to fix it when I should have done it the first time.

 

[98mitsuGSX-SD]

The compression results on a dry test are ok, as you stated you did go back and complete a wet compression and that came back with good results.

"Poor a little oil in your cylinder if the compression rises then you need a ring job if it doesnt you need a valve job"

^^ that statement is backwards^^ the oil seals the rings not the valves. If the valves were at fault the compression would stay the same even after the oil was added.

If your going to tear the engine down. I'd sugest you do a complete rebuild. Replace the timing and water pump components (probably need one due to the mileage anyhow)

 

[Splitpi]

Most likely your getting false readings on the passanger side due to the considerable oil you described.

 

[dsmmatt28]

Dude it all depends on what you want to do with the car and how fat your pocket book is. If its a dd i would replace the rings get a head job done put it back together and be done. If you want to go fully built that is up to you. You can buy a spare 6bolt and build it slowly and enjoy your car while at it. when your 6bolt is done then you can drop it in. To do a ring job is not that bad. I would say total if you do the job your self including the head job your looking at around 450 bucks for rings and your head done. If your valves are bent then its going to go up. Thats including lifters and a basic valve job

 

[krummel21]

What all is rewuired in changing out the piston rings? Can I just take the head off and there they are or do I have to take apart the engine to get to them?

 

[Calan]

Two things:

1. Don't trust the compression test results if the car is cold... especially with 150k miles on it. Run it to operating temperature and then check it. Make sure to do it correctly (WOT, ignition disabled, same amount of cranking on each cylinder, etc)

2. Do a leak down test before you tear into it. A compression test is dynamic, but can't really provide detailed information about what is going on. A leak down test is static and can point to more specific problems. Here are a few links for you:

Tech Tip: Building and Using a Leakdown Tester
http://www.geocities.com/dsmgrrrl/FAQs/leakdown.htm
Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices (just picked one up today)

 

[krummel21]

A lot of good information there thanks a lot it might be a while before I get to do it though since it's extremely cold but I'll let you know what I find out and see what needs to be done from there.

 

[JBDdsmer610]

When i start my car up when its cold it has no noises once the car warms up there is a knocking noise and i dont know where its comming from. It's only knocking at idle when i rev it up there is no noises at all when i got the car the BS belt was broken so i replaced it didnt jump timing or anything.

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

Sometimes a bad tensioner on the timing belt can make a clicking/knocking noise as it lets the belt slap around. Is it coming from the front of the motor, by the timing belt or is it at the top of the motor, at the valve cover? Or is it somewhere else? Try to listen to where it's coming from and be a little more specific if you can.

 

[JBDdsmer610]

It sounds like its comming from the front of the motor and there is no metal in the oil at all

 

[bastard dsm]

might be bad lifters....kind of hard to tell,dsm's make all kinds of weird noises.

 

[noonan98turbo]

check your oil and make sure you have enough in there. i use to have a 98 rs and i had an oil leak resulting in the car loosing all its oil. then since there was no oil the rocker arms were grinding together and that caused a knocking noise from the engine.

 

[VETTE_50_TH]

If it goes away after you rev the motor, i bet its lifter tick. Normal for the 1g cars to have it with our small holes for oil to come through the lifters. The revised 3g lifters make an improvement to get rid of it. Rev the engine with you under the hood and find where it comes from.

James

 

[JBDdsmer610]

I am going to find out where the noise is coming from this weekend and if it is lifters i already have a set of 3g's to throw in