loud noise coming from front valve cover

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

Hey guys,
Just got back from a spin with the SHO and noticed a loud hammering (always has done this but never this loud) it sounds literatly like somone is tapping a hammer really hard from the inside of the valve cover where the timing chain is. is this an easy fix? i have a spare 3.0l in my garage that i can take parts off if need be. thanks

-mitch

DOH im a retard... posted in wrong section. could admin please move for me?

 

[RiceeatingSHO]

That doesn't sound good there buddy...

 

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

mhmm... talked to a local member and he said its either the tensioner an out of spec shim or it spit a shim out... brb out to go pull the intake and valve cover...

 

[RiceeatingSHO]

Good luck man, let's hope it's a tensioner. Keep me posted.

 

[droptSHO]

My front tensioner pad wore off, but it wasn't making a hammering noise. Hopefully thats it though.

 

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

sooo... puled the cover off and all the shims are intack and shiny as ****... not even a single scratch on any of them.. not bad for a 300 000 km engine. i think its the tensioner... how do i tell if its shot

 

[droptSHO]

You can see it right under the cam chain. Mine was down to bare metal and the chain was grinding into it. There should be a fairly thick brownish rubber pad on it.

 

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

mhmm. sooo. i ripped everything apart threw the tensioner from my spare engine into it closed her all abck up by 3 am last night took it out for a drive to get it up to temp... and **** me runnin, its still there... the pad on the new/old tensioner was barely worn in and the spring was good (i think) now i get a faint whining noise exactly like a super charger whine upon acceleration and it still ticks like a mother. also, it seems to have trouble keeping the idle at 1k it slowly goes up to 2000 and then falls down again to 1k (dident do this before i replaced the tensioner) ill upload a vid in a sec. thanks

-Mitch

 

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

UPDATE...
I took the car out for another drive and its fine now... dosent have any ticks coming from the valve covers anymore... its really wierd why it would do that at the start but then not do it at all now. ill keep you guys updated though.

 

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

Update...

:frantic::cry:Well, i took the car for another rip and its back again. i have a video of it now so its easier to diagnose. for you seasond pros. will add soon... i just accidentally canceled the upload...

-Mitch

 

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

http://media.putfile.com/tapping-noise-20

 

[BlackonBlack89]

kinda of sounds like the 91. Never found out wat it was but it went away. I am pretty sure mine was a stuck valve. Ur maybe worse though cause that loud

 

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

if it was a stuck valve ould the valvetrain look abnormal? like a shim out of whack? it take a bit of the gogo peadel to get it to start doign this

 

[Sho Amo]

last time you did your rod bearings?

does it idle smooth while making the noise?

any power loss?

any backfiring?

 

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

havent done the bearings and its got 192 000 miles on the clock. it does idle smooth yes but it drops after the fan turns off. no backfiring that i know of and seems to have loads of power... VERY seldomly like once a month kinda thing ill be driving and it feels like the ignition system turns off for half a second and comes back on... it very well could be a bearing spinning. wtf ill do it for the **** of it. now should i order the bearings before the job or after i start? cause i know there are different sizes of them so any suggestions? thanks

-Mitch

 

[RiceeatingSHO]

havent done the bearings and its got 192 000 miles on the clock. it does idle smooth yes but it drops after the fan turns off. no backfiring that i know of and seems to have loads of power... VERY seldomly like once a month kinda thing ill be driving and it feels like the ignition system turns off for half a second and comes back on... it very well could be a bearing spinning. wtf ill do it for the **** of it. now should i order the bearings before the job or after i start? cause i know there are different sizes of them so any suggestions? thanks

-Mitch

A spun bearing would turn on your oil pressure light. You need to do bearings anyway so if it hasn't spun just order the normal size, the different sizes are in case your crank needs to be reground. I would worry about that after this problem is solved though. have you tried the screwdriver to ear method to see where it's coming from?

 

[Sho Amo]

A spun bearing would turn on your oil pressure light

not always. make sure you order the bearings before you start and im not saying its the bearings at all but its never a bad idea to do them. also, check the tension of the timing chain and belt. make sure there is sufficient pad left on the tensioner.

 

[Kens1992mtxSHO]

Two members out my way have had their engines toasted with no oil light.

 

[Sho Amo]

you talkin about me and scott or someone else?

 

[Lupo]

Here is a tip i got from Josh at SHONUT:

I heard tapping from my front valve cover as well. I could not find any obvious answer. Josh told me to unhook the vac line from the secondary butterfly valves (essentially just leaving them open) at idle. Tapping went away.
Once I knew what the sound was, it did not bother me anymore, because I knew it wasn't imminent engine doom.