Engine knocking???

[mickfoely]

I just drove it around the block a few times, its not bad when i'm crusing, but when i step on the brakes or take off its louder and more constant noise. I does kind of sound like slapping when i'm driving, i get like three quick slaps in a row, some silence, then four quick slaps. Pulled in the drive way, then i got a constant double knock. This thing is just so random.

So do places like lube stop offer a free inspection with oil change? I'll have to run through the coupons and flyers and see.

[UncleBob]

no, you want a full service shop. Lube shops don't usually have "mechanics"

just drive around in your area and look for independant shops, most offer some type of cheap oil change and free inspection. Its a common way to get people into the shop....cheap advertising, if you will. Its why we do it.

[mickfoely]

I didn't know if they have diagnotic machine or not.

[mickfoely]

The full service shops are notorious around here. They always want $100 to hook in up to the machine.

[UncleBob]

Originally Posted by mickfoely

I didn't know if they have diagnotic machine or not.

there isn't much of a "diagnostic machine" for engine noises. An ear, a stethoscope. The experience is what diagnoses noises.

I can tell a rod knock from a water pump bearing, to a valve tappet from an exhaust leak, usually without even opening the hood. Its not difficult, you just need to find someone who is familiar with the different sounds.

[UncleBob]

Originally Posted by mickfoely

The full service shops are notorious around here. They always want $100 to hook in up to the machine.

Yup, thats what we charge. $80-120 for "real" diagnostics.

[mickfoely]

Originally Posted by UncleBob

Yup, thats what we charge. $80-120 for "real" diagnostics.

I mean we have had problems with several shops around here. People always ask if you know somebody, and they keep getting told "i can't recommend anyone around here" thats how things are.

[UncleBob]

just to explain this better, there is no such thing as "the machine you hook the car up to". This is a common belief, that there is no human interaction in diagnosing problems.

There are tools that we use to help us to diagnose problems, no matter what it is, but the MAIN thing that is actually diagnosing things correctly, is the mechanic. A "machine" might give us the code stored in the computer, but that does you nothing if you can't translate that code(s) into possible causes, and know how to go about narrowing down the number of possible causes.

It takes experience, knowledge and a sharp mind to diagnose complex machinary. THAT...is what you are really paying for when you pay a shop to diagnose a problem. The mechanics brains.

But....$30K worth of equipment definitely helps.

[UncleBob]

Originally Posted by mickfoely

I mean we have had problems with several shops around here. People always ask if you know somebody, and they keep getting told "i can't recommend anyone around here" thats how things are.

dude! You're making this $20 oil change sound like a really big investment!

There is definitely plenty of bad experiences people have with shops. I don't know of any shop that every customer leaves happy, or even a high ratio. Its the nature of the business.

I guess you should blow up the car since you can't get a solid recommendation on where to get your oil changed?

[curtis73]

Wait a minute... Let's all get some more info before we condemn this car to death

Can you elaborate on the sound...

Is it a knock like someone hitting the engine with a mallet?
Is it a ping like detonation?
Is it a tick that is always there cold, but only sometimes hot?
Is it a snick snick that comes and goes all the time?

[mickfoely]

Originally Posted by UncleBob

dude! You're making this $20 oil change sound like a really big investment!

There is definitely plenty of bad experiences people have with shops. I don't know of any shop that every customer leaves happy, or even a high ratio. Its the nature of the business.

I guess you should blow up the car since you can't get a solid recommendation on where to get your oil changed?

I'm just saying that i have had problems with all the shops around my area. If i want someone to look at it, i'll have drive a while and it may not even make it.

[2.2 Straight six]

i think thermite would easily solve the problem with your engine.

[mickfoely]

Originally Posted by curtis73

Wait a minute... Let's all get some more info before we condemn this car to death

Can you elaborate on the sound...

Is it a knock like someone hitting the engine with a mallet?
Is it a ping like detonation?
Is it a tick that is always there cold, but only sometimes hot?
Is it a snick snick that comes and goes all the time?

Nothing sounded like hitting the engine like a mallet.
When i first start it up it sounds like someone is quickly knocking on a wood door. Then when i start driving its more of a pinging sound and switches between pings, ticks and snick snick, with pauses of silence in between.
When i'm sitting at a light it goes back to the knock and it starts over again.

[2.2 Straight six]

my professional diagnosis..........your engine's buggered.

[curtis73]

My guess is that its a combination of several things. If we could drive it we could probably tell you exactly what's happening.

High miles plus oil consumption plus knock-knock when its cold to me says cylinder wear which equals piston slap, Continued ping is from the oil consumption. Oil getting in the combustion space causes ping, and then its exaggerated by the fact that carbon build up from the oil burning makes the problem worse. The snick-snick is a lifter/follower problem.

Diagnosis (and this is official): consider yourself extremely lucky that your engine has lasted as long as it has... seriously. Many of those engines for chrysler/mitsubishi didn't make it to 100k and they smoked the whole way from 70k miles to their death. By 93 it wasn't as bad as in earlier years, but it still wasn't something I would consider a long-lived engine.

Prescription: drive it until it dies and then bury it. If all of those noises are happening at once, I take back what I said earlier... condemn it to death. Those are really signs of the end. Could be 10,000 miles, could be 20 miles, but I wouldn't rely on it as sole transportation anymore.