BenjiHoggi
OEM+
- :
- Oregon, USA
- :
- 22v Protege5
I'm making a thread with more details because I feel bad cluttering up the "What did you do to your P5...." thread.
It seems like I don't have a rod-knock by traditional definition, but I do have a concerning (likely internal) engine noise. I noticed it first while cold starting in sub-freezing temps, but I can faintly hear it now at idle, warm or cold. The noise is distinctly on the left side of the engine. It's barely audible (or not at all) within the vehicle. It seems to go away or become muffled as I rev the engine above about 2500. At idle (at least while cold) it seems too frequent to be a knock, and it sometimes skips a beat or gets off-sync with the rest of the normal 'noises'.
I have attached a recording of a cold started this afternoon, starting about 30 seconds after initial start. I could hear a noise while revving it to probably 2k, and also at idle. Towards the end of the clip at idle, you can hear a faster repeating/sometimes inconsistent rattle and a more faint slower-repeating knock sort of sound.
Now, I know you might be thinking...VICS (and I'm not necessarily sure that it is NOT VICS), but the noise persists when the car is warm, just less audibly. I actually unplugged both the white and green plugs to the solenoids under the stabilizer bar, and while the engine seems to run more smoothly when cold, the noise was there either way. The audio was taken with them unplugged. (I'm not sure if unplugging disables VICS or not but I would assume so, as it also triggers a CEL and I can hear the noise of the actuator moving things.)
I had a mechanic listen to the car and he quickly recognized the noise. He told me it was not rod knock, but he was unable to figure out where it was coming from, and essentially told me to keep driving it and see if it gets worse.
Background/my ideas:
170k miles, original engine, burns some oil (maybe 2 quarts MAX between changes).
Oil/filter always changed at 2500-3700 miles with 5W-30 for the last 27k of my ownership.
I let it warm up for 30-60 seconds before driving and don't rev past 3k until warm.
Oil was barely below full when the noise started. Topped off to be safe.
Compression has not been checked. Oil has not yet been drained to check for metal, but I plan to do that soon.
Valve clearances probably have never been checked or adjusted.
Knock sensor is leaking it's goo, and while I have a new one on order, I don't expect it to fix or be even related to the problem (I've just been needing to replace it for a while now.
I am going to try to do an oil analysis to see if that reveals the problem.
I may also try to run the engine without accessory belts for a moment to see if those things are causing the noise.
Your comments and feedback are greatly appreciated. If nothing else, this can serve as an idea for others on what to expect with an engine failure, if that is what I am dealing with. I will make sure to update.
It seems like I don't have a rod-knock by traditional definition, but I do have a concerning (likely internal) engine noise. I noticed it first while cold starting in sub-freezing temps, but I can faintly hear it now at idle, warm or cold. The noise is distinctly on the left side of the engine. It's barely audible (or not at all) within the vehicle. It seems to go away or become muffled as I rev the engine above about 2500. At idle (at least while cold) it seems too frequent to be a knock, and it sometimes skips a beat or gets off-sync with the rest of the normal 'noises'.
I have attached a recording of a cold started this afternoon, starting about 30 seconds after initial start. I could hear a noise while revving it to probably 2k, and also at idle. Towards the end of the clip at idle, you can hear a faster repeating/sometimes inconsistent rattle and a more faint slower-repeating knock sort of sound.
Now, I know you might be thinking...VICS (and I'm not necessarily sure that it is NOT VICS), but the noise persists when the car is warm, just less audibly. I actually unplugged both the white and green plugs to the solenoids under the stabilizer bar, and while the engine seems to run more smoothly when cold, the noise was there either way. The audio was taken with them unplugged. (I'm not sure if unplugging disables VICS or not but I would assume so, as it also triggers a CEL and I can hear the noise of the actuator moving things.)
I had a mechanic listen to the car and he quickly recognized the noise. He told me it was not rod knock, but he was unable to figure out where it was coming from, and essentially told me to keep driving it and see if it gets worse.
Background/my ideas:
170k miles, original engine, burns some oil (maybe 2 quarts MAX between changes).
Oil/filter always changed at 2500-3700 miles with 5W-30 for the last 27k of my ownership.
I let it warm up for 30-60 seconds before driving and don't rev past 3k until warm.
Oil was barely below full when the noise started. Topped off to be safe.
Compression has not been checked. Oil has not yet been drained to check for metal, but I plan to do that soon.
Valve clearances probably have never been checked or adjusted.
Knock sensor is leaking it's goo, and while I have a new one on order, I don't expect it to fix or be even related to the problem (I've just been needing to replace it for a while now.
I am going to try to do an oil analysis to see if that reveals the problem.
I may also try to run the engine without accessory belts for a moment to see if those things are causing the noise.
Your comments and feedback are greatly appreciated. If nothing else, this can serve as an idea for others on what to expect with an engine failure, if that is what I am dealing with. I will make sure to update.
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