I listened and heard nothing definitive.

 

Sounds normal to me. I hear a potential exhaust leak. The normal evo 8 whine and also possible timing belt tensioner. Whats up with the check engine light?

 

After driving the car around, I am more and more confident that it is not rod knock. Especially since there is a car that I have here ( mother in laws mini van ) that does have rod knock. It's got to be something in the head. It's most audible in the cabin.

I know I wont know more until I pull off the valve cover this weekend. But I am leaning more towards my bottom end being safe. Will still drop the pan this weekend and double check.


What check engine light? I don't have one at the moment.

 

Just change your oil and look for metal shavings. Cut open the oil filter. If there are metal shavings, you will definitely see them in your filter. No reason to drop your pan. It will be evident if your oil has shavings from a bearing going bad.

 

Remove upper timing belt cover and inspect how loose the belt is

 

^^ Will do, thanks!

Finally get to go home tomorrow and figure out what this is hopefully.

 

So I'm going to be pulling off the valve cover this weekend. Is there anything specific I should be looking for? Travel in the lifter between the rocker and lifter itself?

I bought a Lifter Removal Tool, so if I need to replace my lifters, I have that option. ( Any suggestions on upgrades/replacements? )

As I said before, I am 99.9% sure its not rod knock, but more of a chatter/clacking coming from the head. When the car is cold, it's not really noticeable as much. But as the car warms up, you can definitely hear it.

 

You should identify the origin of noise before your start taking things apart.


You can buy a stethoscope from harbor frieght.


Or use a 3 foot piece of garden hose to find the general area of the noise. Then go tesr down the soecific area to look for anything that stands out.

 

Doesnt not sound like knock at all

 

Just what I was thinking too.

 

let us know results

 

Will be buying a stethoscope today then. There is a Harbor Freight literally within 3 minutes of me. Will report back.

I still think it may be the lifters.

 

Doesn't say too much, but the source of the noise is coming from this area.

 

Did you ever inspect belt tension for the timing belt? I tell you a failed hydraulic tensioner can fool the ear for lifter noise. And it can travel from block upto head.

 

Belt has tension.

Will be removing valve cover tonight, just been a bit busy around the house to get to it sooner.