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Hybrid lifter noise/or octane knock

K

kscontourkid

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Nov 4, 2004
Messages
941
Location
Overland Park, KS
im having some knocking in my 3L hybrid and am wondering if anyone has had the same problem with 91 octane gas? i believe when i put 93 in it ran a lot better but was wondering if anyone with a hybrid(2.5 heads on a 3L block) has had a compression knock in the cold weather. it seemed to go away the other day when the weather was warmer but im not sure. it sounds like lifter noise but im pretty sure that is not very possible with these engines. im just very confused as to where its coming from. heads, piston slap, tranny... has anyone had any knocks in their 3Ls?
 
royal purple 5W-30. im thinking of switching to 5W-20. and the other name you are thinking of it roller finger followers (well that is the correct name...i think?) or rockers. many names. i really only here it at low RPMs but that could have to do with the beautiful exhaust note at about 2K and higher :laugh:
 
I use RP 10w30 in my hybrid. I read a post about it awhile back about why to use this in a hybrid on the old forum.
 
I pulled a bunch of those hydraulic lash adjusters out of my Cougar heads when that had a bad engine. Some of them had a lot of slop/play in them where I was used to them being very firm. That engine also had bad rod bearings though so it could've had something to do with running it on low oil pressure. Either way that thing made all kinds of knocking. My old 3L had a pretty nasty knock too, it sounded worst at start up but I could almost always here it at idle. Sounded like it was valvetrain noise but almost a more hollow sound. Ended up being the bottom end anyhow.
 
so how does it sound now? i hope the parts i dropped off helped you get the valvetrain in that thing straight? just kidding ive heard it, its a beauty.

lol anyways. i started up my 3L and was expecting a knock. sounded like a beauty though. man i forgot how good it sounds.....
 
starjammir said:
I use RP 10w30 in my hybrid. I read a post about it awhile back about why to use this in a hybrid on the old forum.
Click to expand...

do you have a link to this thread?

dont know how it could be bottom end. i measured everything and made sure all bolts were carefully torqued to spec. im wondering about the lash adjusters. i need to do an oil pressure check but dont know why that would be an issue as i have a brand new oil pump in the engine.

the engine only has 6K miles on it or so. i can here the knock (i guess it is more of a tick) from inside the car but it is very faint outside the car.

i just used a 2' screwdriver to listen to the valve covers and could not here anything out of the ordinary. i listened all around the front and rear banks and even listened to the front cover but it all sounded very similar just a smooth hum.

im beginning to wonder if it is my clutch. it sounds like it is coming from that side and i did not get my flywheel resurfaced before i put in the new clutch plate. it had some hot spots on it but i dont remember it making too much noise.

Really need help here im getting very paranoid about my new engine. any help is very appreciated.
 
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Update. i listened to the engine some more using a screwdriver and found that i can here the ticking on the LIM. ive listened to the heads the water pump the exhaust, the block. nowhere else can i here it at all. both sides of the LIM i can here it. im wondering if there is something loose or what i was worries about a while ago a bent valve. would that make a ticking noise?

also i have almost pinpointed the RPM that it happens at. it is between 1k-1.5k RPMs. it is loudest at 1250RPM. i took 2 videos in which you can faintly here the tick. i will post them in pics and vids
 
i was once told on these engines if the knocking noise is coming from the center of the engine its the bottom end, even if it sounds like its in the heads ....
 
It could be in the initial stages of a spun bearing. The bearing spins out of place and the piston is allowed to travel up slightly higher tapping the head or a valve. You could pull the oil pan and windage tray to check each rod end for movement.
 
hla's? what are those? it is late and i am not thinking well now. im not sure how i could have spun a bearing though. i havent had oil pressure issues that i know of. i have had some tuning issues and had the engine die on my a few times. i have the clevite 77 bearings in it and am running Royal Purple oil.

just trying to play the devils advocate a little bit because my situation doesnt sound right. i completely hear where you are coming from but what is the fix if i have indeed started a bearing to spin? new rod? or just a new bearing? my clearances on the crank were right in the middle of specs so i am just confused how i could spin a bearing with so few miles after a rebuild. i have religiously wet the engine warm up before driving it and have not taken any hard right handers that were long enough to starve it. i dont get much above 3K in normal driving and without a diff in it yet i havent done much spirited cornering.

i promise im not trying to be a butt. i am trying to dig as deep into the knowledge everyone is giving me as i can before spending money to tear things apart. oil is $$$ :(

thank you all for your input it is appreciated way more than you know. this is stressing me out a lot as i have just dropped $2500 into this build over 2.5 years and am scared for the worst.

edit: i dont think anyone has mentioned anything about bad gas. because i am running an aggressive tune on this engine would bad gas cause it to knock a bit?
 
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Hope you get your car fixed. If not, we can mess with it when you are here for the swap. I'll make sure there is enough beer. :laugh:
 
kscontourkid said:
hla's? what are those? it is late and i am not thinking well now. im not sure how i could have spun a bearing though. i havent had oil pressure issues that i know of. i have had some tuning issues and had the engine die on my a few times. i have the clevite 77 bearings in it and am running Royal Purple oil.

just trying to play the devils advocate a little bit because my situation doesnt sound right. i completely hear where you are coming from but what is the fix if i have indeed started a bearing to spin? new rod? or just a new bearing? my clearances on the crank were right in the middle of specs so i am just confused how i could spin a bearing with so few miles after a rebuild. i have religiously wet the engine warm up before driving it and have not taken any hard right handers that were long enough to starve it. i dont get much above 3K in normal driving and without a diff in it yet i havent done much spirited cornering.

i promise im not trying to be a butt. i am trying to dig as deep into the knowledge everyone is giving me as i can before spending money to tear things apart. oil is $$$ :(

thank you all for your input it is appreciated way more than you know. this is stressing me out a lot as i have just dropped $2500 into this build over 2.5 years and am scared for the worst.

edit: i dont think anyone has mentioned anything about bad gas. because i am running an aggressive tune on this engine would bad gas cause it to knock a bit?
Click to expand...

It's hard to say what could have caused it if it is a spun bearing. I'd assume this is a used engine and you never know what it could have went through before it made it to you. Some have had valve train issues so that isn't entirely out of the question. Keep trying to trace the source of the sound down.
 
what concerns me is i built the engine from the ground up. the heads were sent to a reputable shop to have 3L valves put in. springs were tested. every main and rod journal was measured and well in Fords specs. so im just at a loss and have 2 alternatives here.

Rod knock: very bad

Piston slap: not bad just annoying

im hoping for the latter but if i cant pinpoint where it is coming from ill be forced to drop the pan and inspect. im going to do compression tests, pull the plugs one at a time while running to take load off of suspected cylinders. if the noise doesnt go away ill have to pull the valve covers and see what is going on there. one way or another it will not be fun.

thank you to all of you for the great support
 
update. the noise has not grown louder but i had an auto genius listen to it and he said it might be injector noise.

has anyone had injectors go bad or make a knocking sound? what does a lean knock sound like?
 
the final solution. the knock/tick i found was in fact an injector tick. the number 1 injector is making all sorts of noise when probed with a steathoscope.

thank you all very much for your replies.
 
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