Knocking and pinging under valve cover...doesn't sound good. Need cams replaced?

[Nikki]

I noticed an aweful chattering sound one day after getting off of the interstate. I pulled over and checked the oil to discover that there wasn't a single drop of oil in the car, which struck me as odd because the car did not overheat, and was driving as awesome as ever. I put oil in the car and the noise improved but didn't dissappear. I took it to a mechanic and he suggested that the cams proabably needed to be replaced and the whole bit, around $1,000, but that that was too complicated a job for him to do....The car is still running as great as ever.

When the car is first started, there is no noise. After it warms up, it starts pinging (sounds like a bolt being shaken up in a mason jar) The noise decreases with acceleration instead of being aggravated by it. Someone else suggested it may be a broken rocker arm/lifter....

Is the car safe to drive? It still runs great w/no problem besides the noise...

*The oil had been changed earlier that month, so it was not neglect on my part. It seemingly dissappeared, thinking maybe it was too thin.*

[DAEDALUS]

If oil is missing it's either leaking or burning. Really easy to cause permanent damage without enough lube. Do a manifold vacuum test and check the oil pressure. If you need new cams then the engine's probably toast. Hopefully a broken rocker is all that's wrong.

[s13sr20chris]

ouch, low oil is bad for motors. if its def coming from the valve cover i would pull the cover and check. may find a rocker loose. i have seen the rockers rip the threads out of the head before. thats easy to fix with a helicoil set.

[Prelude Guy]

My car did that. Does it sound like an old school diesel engine??

That's the reason why the previous seller sold it to me. After an oil change, new plugs, wires, dist. cap, and rotor, and fuel filter, the car sounds fine. I still have the major bogging issue though.

[Nikki]

Yup. It did sound like a deisel engine in a way.

Update:The car has now broken down. It will turn over, shudder heavily and quit. Now I will have to find out one way or another..

[180fan]

pull the valve cover to see what's cookin'. If you see wear on the cams, or something that doesn't look quite right then that's probably it. What weight oil are you using, and also are you having an oil leak?

[Nikki]

The valve cover gasket is leaking, but not terribly. The reason the car broke down is because the fuel pump is broken. So the mysterious noise ins't the cause, thank goodness. Looks like in order to find out for sure, we'll end up having to pull the cover off and looking for ourselves.