Need help identifying this engine noise please.

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warrioralumni08

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Eh, not sure what to make of it, but it's been present ever since the start-up after rebuilding the motor. Well, kinda came after breaking in the motor. Next day started it up, could hear a faint tick and it made me worry. This is how it sounds now after about a week of driving with no increase in noise. Seems like you can hear it tick really good between 1700-2200 rpms. Sorry for the crappy sound quality of my phone. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0mAJw_6k7U
 
That does not sound good. I would not drive it. Sounds valvetrainish but hard to really tell.
 
Right on the Mark said:
That does not sound good. I would not drive it. Sounds valvetrainish but hard to really tell.
Click to expand...

No telling, just more money out of my pocket. Income tax needs to hurry and come on! Tick is annoying, but it does go away after driving. I believe it's either a rocker arm or spring. No telling though. :shifty: It's not as loud as the video makes it out to be either.
 
On the vid it does sounds crazy loud, kinda scary. But hard to tell from one cell phone vid. You get the stethoscope out and try to narrow down side?
 
Right on the Mark said:
On the vid it does sounds crazy loud, kinda scary. But hard to tell from one cell phone vid. You get the stethoscope out and try to narrow down side?
Click to expand...


Yea, it's not crazy loud as it seems in the video. I narrowed it down to the passenger side head, just by ear. Seems to be coming near the back of the head. I already took the valve cover off, and checked, but everything seemed fine. Still ticking but everything looked like it was working well. The head was sent to a machine shop for a rebuild. It had new valves installed along with new lash adjusters. I did not replace the springs nor rocker arms, so that leads me to believe one of them is going bad. I should go purchase a stethoscope though to make sure.
 
Check the crang angle sensor reluctor ring.
 
If I was you I would cut open the oil filter ASAP just to be sure. It only cost 3 dollars for a new oil filter so its a no brainer. If you never did it before take off oil filter,take screwdriver and punch a hole right in front of the front mounting plate of filter. Then take tin snips and snip around filter to make the whole "cup" of filter slide off. You can now inspect filter median for bearing material. Look for stuff that looks like gold flakes. If filter is clean then atleast you don't have to worry about major bearing failure and cross that off worry list.
 
GMAN said:
Man, I hate to say it that sounds like a spun rod bearing already.
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That was my first thought as well. I had even said that (as had others if memory serves) in his last thread about the noise. I figured since it was dismissed that he actually checked. May have suggested improperly setting backlash on the crank too but I forget.

ROM has the best plan of attack though. Pull the filter and look for treasures. If not, pull the timing cover and check crank keyway and reluctor ring.
 
Alright, I will pull the filter tomorrow, since I am off work. Ah, I can't even hear the damn thing ticking now after I drove it around after I got off work a bit ago. This morning when I started it up and it was cold, could hear it really well, but that's just because it was a cold start and the oil hadn't pumped yet I believe.

Laser- I created this thread, so it would be specifically for this problem, not like my others where I have multiple topics in one thread. :p

Icarus- My brother did and it was about a week or two ago I started to drive it. He thinks he knows everything about cars, but maybe his big head got to him, no telling, but he does have a lot of experience under his belt. He has a 96 GT and knows the modular motors pretty well.
 
Just a FYI if you do have a bad rod bearing I would not drive the car at all. You are risking the rod breaking and punching holes in block and oil pan. DEATH
 
Right on the Mark said:
Just a FYI if you do have a bad rod bearing I would not drive the car at all. You are risking the rod breaking and punching holes in block and oil pan. DEATH
Click to expand...

Yea, It worries me, if I do drive it at all, I will baby the hell out of it. I really don't want to drive it though, so I guess back to the minivan it is haha. :D Bought a stethoscope today to, like I mentioned sounds a bit louder towards the back of the valve cover. I may end up going under the car, to see if it's louder.
 
Sounds like a rod bearing to me, too. When you put the car in gear, does the sound quiet down or get 'softer'? Usually, with a rod bearing, when the engine is under load (as when the car is in 'Drive'), the sound will quiet down. There is pressure on the piston keeping it from banging around.

I've also heard 'piston slap' where a piston skirt is broken that sounds similar, but when the vehicle is put in 'Drive', it makes no difference and the noise stays the same. I drove a Ford 2.3L with piston slap once for a couple of hundred miles making noise before it finally cracked the block and died.

Personal recommendation? Don't drive it until you can get the pan off and check out what's going on down there. I don't know if you've ever seen a spun rod bearing, but you will know it. When you wiggle the rod with your hand, it will move A LOT.
 
Sux man! Depending on the outcome and if you need it, I have a stock rotating assembly you can have. Hopefully you don't need it and it's something simple.

Of course I'd recommend building the engine with better internals if you do have to rebuild, but just know your welcome to it.
 
Well, while browsing around last night, to try and figure out the problem, I came across two videos on this forum, that have the same problem with my car and sound very similar. It makes that infamous ticking when revved up and the car goes back down to lower rpms. The guy with the mustang, sounds a bit louder then mine, but the Mark VIII sounds more like mine. Told brother about it, says it's the lash adjusters. He said his new ones in his mustang do the same, but I still wonder. I just woke up and realized today is college football Saturday! So, I may hold off on the oil filter till tomorrow. Don't watch NFL much anymore really.

Mark8Murder- Thanks for the offer, but like you said, let's just hope it doesn't come to that lol.

http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showthread.php?t=51779

http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showthread.php?t=61291
 
I had to bring this back up, this ticking has just got to stop! I can hear it when I am driving now, and especially at drive thru. It acts like it ticks louder when the car warms up, then when it's cold, it's not as bad? ;/ I used a stethoscope, and cannot pin point it at all. It sounds like it's coming from the middle of the damn engine. Can hear it under the car very well to. It ticking increases as you give it more gas, and talk about loud when you have it in first gear and steadily going up in the rpm band. I am thinking it is, a lifter, but I just replaced the passenger side ones during the weekend. Driver side, no telling, and I don't want to mess with the valve cover anyways! Does anybody have any idea what it could possibly be besides a lifter? What are all the possibilities?
 
I guess it's tensioners. I have had the similar noise and now my engine is in overhauling. Everything was good inside exept broken tensioners and clogged oil channels.
 
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