rattle noise from 97 3.1 lumina

Hi,

I have found a really good deal on a 97 lumina and I want to get it but there is one problem with the car that worries me. When the car is started up it starts to make a loud rattle sound. I know that its coming from the engine compartment but beyond that I have no idea. The guy who I'm buying it from says that its been making the noise for the last 70,000 mi and that there have been no problems with the engine so far. Do you know what this noise could be? If it is fairly expensive to fix, could I temporarily fix it?

thanks in advance,

Chris

Rattle?

Might just be piston slap, happens on all the 31/3400 engines. Its the piston skirt to cylinder clearence being off somewhat, because the pistons are machined out of round, to allow for expansion. Some cars have worse cases than others.

Out of curiosity how many miles are on the one you're looking at?

Hmmm 70,000 miles something would of gone by now. It sounds like a heat shield on the exhaust system could be loose. Have someone put it up on a hoist or tall jackstands and take a look around. Make sure its running so you can listen to the noise in question. you should be able to find the general area.

I can believe that. My '97 3.1 has rattled when started cold since new. I never really worried about it, cuz all the others I'd been around in the shop did too. I could have had the teflon skirt pistons put in when it was under warranty, but as a mechanic I know it is just asking for trouble to dismantle a new engine just to correct a harmless noise.

I have 117,000 trouble-free miles on this car, and I drive it like I stole it daily. It always sounds like hell first thing in the morning, worse the colder it is outside, but I always give it 2-3 mins of idle warm up after the first start of the day in cold weather, and it sounds the same today as it did when I bought it eight years ago.

What I hear is actually valve train noise, kind of clattery random light clicking, and occaisionally if it is real cold out and I have the door open when I start it, I hear the unmistakeable notorius piston slap that these are prone to. Not as deep or alarming as a bearing knock, but more substantial than lifter noise. But that goes away within 15 seconds or so.

I worked in a shop when these engines first came out, and they've always been noisy critters. But their durability is unmatched except for maybe the 3.8 Buick motor, that's why I bought it.

Throw in an oil treatment and see if it takes care of it. Lucas Oil treatment took care of my lifter noise.

Throw in an oil treatment and see if it takes care of it. Lucas Oil treatment took care of my lifter noise.

I've tried Lucas on mine and it didn't change anything, but I agree it is a very good product. I use semi or full synthetic oil and Slick 50 every 50K miles, and have had great results. I've done this for about 15 years now, and have gotten some unreal miles outta my cars. A few years back I sold my '86 Mazda 626 after 330,000 miles, and the guy who bought it still drives it daily. Motor has never been apart. The Lumina still runs like new at 117,000, and uses no oil.