Possible Engine Trouble Please Have A Listen And Tell Me What U Think.

[KEENY]

hello peeps.

i have just been told that my galant engine sounds like the big ends have gone. i have added a sound clip (EVEN THO IT SAYS MOVIE) please can all you would be pro's have a listen and tell me what you think.

i always thought it was just the tappets but this guy has got me all paranoid.

think i might take it to mitsubishi and have them have a listen to it but wanted to see what you guys thought first.


edit: sorry for edit.

[Wodjno]

It does sound like your Big Ends.. :inquisiti

Had the same thing on a Cavalier :thinking:

I'm pretty sure it's not cams..

And it definitely ain't your lifters :speechles

Have you been running it at high revs, and with a shortage of oil ??

[Nick Mann]

Difficult to tell from a sound file - but all I can hear is the classic lash adjuster rattle.

Wodj - what makes you say different?

[Wodjno]

Difficult to tell from a sound file - but all I can hear is the classic lash adjuster rattle.

Wodj - what makes you say different?

Thats sounds to heavy for Lash Adjusters.. Not easy to determine by the recording. Nearer to a Cam rattle, but it sounds more like knock from the Big Ends.. :thinking:

Hopefully i'm totally wrong.. :happy:

I usually am, Its been a long day to.. :5shots:

[Physician]

Ummm, it certainly sounds worse than the normal 'lifters' sound.(Tappety sound).

However, doesn't it sound more like the connecting rod bearings rather than the main bearings? As said already, it's hard to tell from a sound file.

Have you had any problems with your oil pump?

Any oil pressure warning lights on dashboard? (A damn good reason to have an oil pressure gauge on these, or any, car!)

Good luck and let us know.

[amsoil]

Sounds really nasty to me; A relatively cheap suggestion is to buy a test kit and take a little sample of oil from the sump. Send it off and within the week you will find out if the oil is full of copper/ lead etc. An even cheaper alternative is to simply replace the oil filter; cut the old one open and see if you can fing loads of 'gold dust' in the folds of the filter paper. The only other suggestion is that if the noise is absent on starting and then comes in it indicates big end but if the noise is there and goes away quickly its often cam tappets (adjusters). We are talking from cold and within 30 secs to 1 minute.

[KEENY]

i have been checking the oil and it seems to drink sod all according to the dip stick. and the oil light has never come on. (apart from when the ignition comes on)

[KEENY]

it seems the noise is always there. even after a 3 hour drive (tried and tested)

[amsoil]

If the engine sounds the same after a 3 hour run I cannot believe it can be a big end. With a knock like that I would expect the rod and piston to make a break for freedom within a minute or 2 of normal driving. You have a problem but i cant see a big end knocking away with little change for 3 hours.

[The Vee]

lifters a knacked by the sound of it, but there does seem to be a heavier sound hidden away in there. I'd like to know the oil pressure in that - as someone else said, pressure gauge would benefit. How many miles has the car done? May even have a cam lobe worn away, but thats not common now. What area are you in, maybe someone can have a listen.

[Kieran]

I think it's just lash adjuster rattle. My V6 Sport, and Andy (The Vee's) had a very similar noise, though not as bad. A kind of hollow 'cammy' noise that was not the same as the shrill 'tap' from the lash adjuster ticking.

Does the noise lessen any as the oil warms up? if the adjusters stop ticking, does this noise also stop?

You tried an oil flush and cleaning out the tappets?

[KEENY]

the noise you are hearing was taken after the car had a 30 minute drive. i havent done an oil change yet but its now at the top of the list just waiting for some good weather.

as for my area im in bracknell which is near reading anyone wanting to have a listen coffee and douhnuts will be waiting for you.

[The Vee]

Sorry mate, much as I love doughnuts, it's a bit far out for me. But yes, oil and filter change a good starting point

[KEENY]

i have also phoned mitsubishi to see how much there going to charge me to put my motor on there diagnostic machine to see for sure what the problem is..

im still waiting for them to phone me back.

im feeling really low and horrible at this point........ bless me

[richy rich]

not 100% obout the sound but as amsoil said if b/end have gone it should of gone bang by now.

flush/and change is agood place to start.

how close was the recording done

[KEENY]

my mobile (which done the recording ) was placed on top the drivers side front wheel..

if it helps i'll record the engine on a first start take it for a drive and then record it again and post both recordings on here..

[psbarham]

the dreaded tapit rattle is there , but the hollow noise sounds a bit like piston slap , but that normally quietens down as te pistons warm up and expand , like andy said an oil pressure gauge would be a great help

[KEENY]

ok so i took the car to a mitsubishi work shop and some guy had a listen to the engine.. he said that there was no serious problems but recomended some engine cleaner.

he told me to put it in my oil intake run the car for about 10 - 15 minutes and then do an oil change.

so i have the engine cleaner ( brought at mitsubishi ) got a filter and some magnatec 10w - 40w....

the big oil change is at 11:00am sharp. now i have never done an oil change but my brother is going to teach me so that i can do it for myself later on.

thanks for your help guys i'll post another sound clip once the oil change has been done and we will see if there is any diffrence.

[Nick Mann]

So they are saying look at the lash adjusters first too. A clean and some decent oil should help the problem.

[Hotwire]

Well I've been thread mining a little here (hey only 4 years old!) but a VR4 I am considering purchasing has the exact same noise. My friend checked out the car in person, and noted the deeper than normal tappet noise. I directed him to this thread, and his words were "Thats it mate! Exactly the same!!!"

So my question to the original poster (or any other contributors!) what did the noise eventuate to be? Was it piston slap, or just flat-knackered lifters?

Thanks for the help

[peter thomson]

My lifters were that bad before I replaced them after they were somehow damaged by a garage

[Hotwire]

So has anyone ever developed piston slap or bottom end noise in their relatively stock VR4's?
The car has 87,900kms which "seems" genuine. Now the car was sold cheap in Japan, but I dont know if it was because the lifter noise or if it is something more sinister.....

[Nutter_John]

That noise is deffo more lifter to me than big ends , I would suggest you take them out and check them (replace if you can't clean)

[Nutter_John]

I have heard big ends gone on vr4's twice and the sound was a lot worse than that movie file ( I was on the other end of the phone listening and told him to turn it off straight away )

[Eurospec]

I agree, that sounds like a bad set of lifters.

Our v6 discourtesy car sounds like that!

Cheers,

Ben.

[Turbo_Steve]

Big ends sound like someone smacking the crank with a hammer once per cycle. It isn't that! As above, it's either topend or piston slap, and I've not heard a slappy VR4 yet.