choinga

I really haven't been driving my car at all for the past couple years. About every time I get in it - I have to charge the battery up if I forgot to put the trickle charger on it...oh yeah, and clean all the dust off.

I had been driving it a little more the past few months but parked it back in the garage before going on vacation last week and it was fine - no noise.

I went to move it out of the garage to clean it (the car) and the garage up a little and immediately noticed this clacking noise as soon as I started it up that aligns with the RPM of the engine. I thought at first it was just the injectors...but it's definitely not that.

Anyway, what the heck is this and how much is that gonna cost me? Sounds like lifter noise - or god forbid rod knock.... I use Brad Penn 20-50...fresh oil change not even 500 miles old...oil pressure was solid...no leaks...

I was reading some stuff on rod knock on the forum and some folks have talked about just changing the oil/filter...possibly draining a couple quarts and using some tranny fluid then doing an oil change, etc...

The engine has 88k original miles on it.

I was just commenting to someone a few weeks ago at a block party I hosted how little I have had to do the car for the past 3 years - it's run so great...that couple with me thinking about selling it since I hardly use/drive it anymore...jinxed myself I guess.

Northern_aqs

Is the oil cap sealed/on tight? It sounds like a stuck lifter to me.

944Ross

Lifters leak down, particularly ones that end up on the high point of a lobe when shut off. The longer it's off, more likely to leak down. Just run it at moderate speeds for 5 minutes.

mytrplseven

Definitely sounds like a collapsed lifter. Could be something got into the oil gallery for one or if the car sat for a long time, it needs to be run a bit longer. A lighter oil, such as 5w30 could help but wouldn't recommend running it for long, especially in Texas summers. The 20W50 is more appropriate for the long run.

Paulyy

You sure it's not an exhaust leak at the gasket

jagdhund

had my car do this about a month ago, let it run for about 5-10 minutes on different occasions and it didn't go away. I was convinced a lifter was messed up and I took off the valve cover to check it out. found nothing wrong, put it back together, let it idle, and walked away. about a half hour later I came back to it to find it as quiet as ever. It just takes awhile for the oil to work its way back to the lifter I guess.

choinga

ok, well that's good news. And I guess not surprising since I've maybe put 100 miles on it in the last 12 months.

I didn't want to run it too long without a few 2nd opinions for fear of making something worse...but figured it was either the lifters or the rods.

I'll check it out tomorrow.

Anyone want to buy a kick *** 951? Well taken care of, lots of cool mods (full Vitesse Stage 2, 3" exhaust, Fiske rims all the way around, Tial WG, wideband O2 sensor with black **** to control the Tial in the dash under the stereo, new clutch at ~75k miles w/ Fidanza flywheel, Saratoga top, fresh fuel lines, all new rubber to replace plastic for the vacuum lines, etc...).

I'll $%* someone a deal on it. I've had this car for about 5 years and have put around 10k miles on it. I'm the 3rd owner...original owner was a middle aged woman who took it to the dealer for everything and the PO had a brother that was a mechanic at the Porsche dealership in Arlington, VA so had some nice work done.

Interior is all original and is easily a 8.5/10. A few dash cracks but nothing major.

Paint/exterior is about a 7/10. Passes the 10 foot test extremely well, but get close and you'll see where some bonehead used a non-orbital on the original single stage paint and burnt it down to the white in a few edge spots. You'll also see where one of the PO's wasn't super careful getting the rock guards off the sides...a few paint scrapes there but you have to get close to see them.

If anyone's looking lemme know...no hurry to sell it and I'm not giving it away...but will make a deal.

fasteddie313

talk a docter out of a stethoscope and listen to the valve cover... if its a lifter you'll be able to tell witch one it is even before you pull the cover...

listen to the block next to the pistons if you can reach there.. piston slap/wrist pin knock will happen high, con rod to crank will happen lower..

exhaust manifold leak should be obvious, turn rad fan off and hold a lighter down there.. or just feel for spurts of air..

leakdown test... deflated lifter should not affect this

compression test... deflated lifter may show up here slightly if its causing enough gap to impede intake flow

power balance test.. deflated lifter may show up here slightly as a low powered cylinder if its enough to affect compression difference

those test will rule out piston slap and valve seal problems

put a breaker bar on the crankshaft and go back and forth, a lower rod or wrist pin knock will clack when changing directions..... test it every 90 degrees of crank turn incase its just elliptical/oblonged and it doesn't show up in one place..

all good ways to diagnose engine internals

Paulyy

If it's a lifter, it's quite easy to swap out. All you need really is a cam tower gasket, and replacement lifter(s)

choinga

....thanks folks...guess that was it...sticky lifter. I went out and drove it for a good 15 minutes today and it finally went away. Worried me a bit because after 10 minutes of 40-60mph driving it was still noisy as hell and then it just went away. Whew.