97 Engine Problems

I was in my girlfriends car(97 Ford Escort Auto LX) last week and she had the music on and her friend got in the car and said why is your knocking(she was just using that term since that is the best way to describe it) and then I started realizing it as well. I got in her car today and it is still doing it and this has been going on for over 200 miles and "knock on wood" nothing has happened. I haven't had time to check the oil today as it is very dark, but I will be doing it tomorrow morning. It knocks at idle and while driving, but I believe over 40mph the knocking goes away. This engine was completely rebuilt about 2 months ago, and was not driven hard for at least 1k miles. She had the oil changed at 2k mile, but it was done at Sears since we didn't have any other options at the time. Does anyone have any advice? I've never heard a real engine knock so I'm not sure what it sounds like. Any help would greatly be appreciated.

Engine knock can be caused by a variety of things; usually cheap gas. "Knocking" or "Pinging" is pre-detonation of the fuel/air mixture in a cylinder. It's usually caused by really cheap ('regular') gas in some cars. As we all know when you compress air it gets hotter. With cheaper gas it can sometimes cause it to ignite and fire the cylinder before the spark plug even lights. Can do damage, so I'd get it checked out.

Since you could hear the knocking at idle with the vehicle stopped I'd rule out the 'pinging'. In fact, you can just about rule out the entire drive train since the car wasn't moving when you first heard the noise. Hopefully, the rebuilt engine is still under warranty. I think you have some problems with it. It shouldn't have used enough oil yet to cause a problem. Especially since it was not changed too long ago. Mt first stop would be the place I bought the engine.

With all of this knocking, does the oil light come on?It could have engine damage if it is on. I had an engine rebuilt for my car (not an Escort) and within
100 miles on it the car started knocking and the oil light came on. The place that did the work forgot to blow out the abrasive from the machining of the crankshaft. Every part of the engine that received oil had been damaged. Since the engine was past being rebuilt again, they gave me another engine without any charge for it or labor. A fine Company!
A fine company, yes indeed!

When I first saw the thread title 97 Engine Problems I thought to myself, damn and I thought I had a few engine problems! This guy has 97 :grinyes:

When I first saw the thread title 97 Engine Problems I thought to myself, damn and I thought I had a few engine problems! This guy has 97 :grinyes:

Well guys, after I checked the oil it seemed a tad low, so I added in a quart of oil, and it still made the sound and then I used premium gas and it still made the noise. I did noticed that when I held the spark plug the sound mostly went away. I tried to push it in, but it wouldn't. I had her dad look at it and he said it was just a loose spark plug that was rattling. The wierd part was that it never affected the performance.

Did you get it tightened up?

Yeah her dad tighted it up and solved the problem. I wasn't there for it, I just told her to have her dad look at it and I thought it was that spark plug.