Loud engine noise/ticking

[colagolfr68]

Hey, I just came into this problem last week and I am not sure what it could possibly be. I have a 97 J30 with 198,000 miles on it. I bought it at 75k miles and have really done nothing to it other than oil, tires, and a timing belt back around 140k. As long as I can remember I had a very small slight ticking noise coming from one of the cylinders, sounded like from the right if you are staring at the engine hood up. It would come and go but was never loud enough to hear from the inside of the car. Well, last Monday I pulled into work and noticed my car sounds like a diesel. It's got an extremely loud ticking noise on the left side. I can still hear the other ticking faintly on the other side of the engine. I stopped at an auto parts store and bought the store bought quieter/lifter cleaner and it got better--for about 20 minutes. I drove it another 2-3 days and some times it goes completely away, then it will come back and then it will come back louder than anything--like my grandfather's old Bonneville diesel from the early 80's. Well, I took it to a shop last Friday and they said it just appeared to be gunked up and they put in some engine cleaner and said to run it 500 miles and bring it back for an oil change. They said when they did that, it quieted down. Well, that lasted about 10 minutes after I picked it up.

Monday I drove it out of town, about 170 miles round trip. On the trip back, I stopped to get gas and the noise was completely gone. Drove it into town and at every stoplight, turned the radio down, rolled down the windows and the noise was still gone. I got home, still gone. I got back in my car to go eat and it was still gone. 10 minutes later on the road, it was back. It's stayed with me ever since Monday.

Any thoughts? Hope it's not fatal but am worried about it!

[driverdriver]

Welcome to NICO!!!

I'm hedging a bet its your engine solenoid(s). They are known to go around the 9 year mark. Its intermittent 'ticking' at first then it gets louder and finally you have it all the time.

If you let it go for a long period of time, it will eventually ruin your engine.

[VG30DE]

I have the same problem.

As far as I know, it is the valve timing control solenoids in the motor.

Very labor intensive to change, timing belt has to be done, etc.

I have spoke to a few mechanics and they have all told me the same thing: They have never seen it grenade and completely ruin a motor, only cause noise, loss in performance, and awful gas mileage. He's seen people drive on them for years.

Basically it comes and goes though, the cold weather seems to make it worse.

Sorry about the bad news, but unless you want to dish out $1500+ you may have to deal with the problem

[colagolfr68]

Thanks guys. That sounds like what it could be. I guess I will just drive around with it for a while until I can't stand it anymore. It is one of those things were I have to wonder if I put $1500 into it, what is going to happen next and how much will it cost. I like driving my car with no car payment but I don't want to end up sinking more in my car than it is worth with its 199,000 miles so I guess I will drive it and plan on saving for the future knowing it is coming soon!!

Thanks again!

[yodawill2000]

thats pretty close to a replacement engine cost isnt it ?

[VG30DE]

That sounds good

[brandonjustice93J30]

Mine is doing the same thing...and now to go along with that I have a coolant leak coming from the thermostat housing...the aluminum pieces that connect to the engine are leaking...local shop wants $95 for each aluminum "hose" $50 each for the rubber ones and 3 hours of labor for a grand total of $550.

may just be time to sell before it completely dies....

[colagolfr68]

Actually, mine did just completely die this weekend. I was driving along and it just went out. Everything lights up, and the engine turns over, just will not start. It turns very quickly. Could that be the timing belt? I just had a new one put on it less than 2 years and about 50,000k miles on it. The first one lasted 8 years and 150k miles! Go figure (if that is what the problem is) Of course, who the heck wants to buy a timing belt if I am going to have some loud valve knocking problem. If it turns out it was the timing belt, could the loud valve knocking been related to the timing belt going out? Or I guess from reading the forums, the engine is probably trashed anyway....
Modified by colagolfr68 at 6:59 AM 5/21/2007

[VG30DE]

I'm not sure what a car acts like when the timing belt finally lets go, never had one go on me.

If you figure out what did go wrong though, please let us know!

[colagolfr68]

It's at the shop right now--but I will definitely let the board know.

[VG30DE]

Sounds good, thanks!

[colagolfr68]

Well, the shop finally got around to my car. They still haven't figured out the cause but they say they have figured out the problem--the camshafts are not turning when they are turning the car over. They said either its an engine problem or a timing belt problem and are going to start digging around to find out. Does this sound like a timing belt problem?

[gr8scott72]

Well, the shop finally got around to my car. They still haven't figured out the cause but they say they have figured out the problem--the camshafts are not turning when they are turning the car over. They said either its an engine problem or a timing belt problem and are going to start digging around to find out. Does this sound like a timing belt problem?

If the pistons are going up and down and the camshaft isn't turning, then yes, it's a timing belt problem.

Are they sure the engine is turning over? Starter problem maybe?

[colagolfr68]

It definitely turns over because when it died on me, my first thought was the battery cable had come loose as it had in the past. But I noticed all the lights on so I tried turning the engine over and it turned freely.

[colagolfr68]

Timing belt broke....valves bent. Car dead. Mechanic says not really worth the money in his opinion to rebuild top half of engine. I tend to agree. I am wondering though if my initial ticking or tapping was the timing belt being off and the valves and pistons were making some level of contact before the whole thing blew.

Oh well. It was a great car. I might buy me a non-interference motor next time!

[gotspeed]

in your first post you said that you changed your timing belt at 140,000 miles, I dont know but is it common for timing belts to break with only 50k ml on it? Did you do the work yourself or a shop? I am looking to do my own belts soon and i was wondering if maybe you overlooked something to cause it to break so soon?

[gr8scott72]

I might buy me a non-interference motor next time!

Good luck finding one of those.