Engine Knocking in 2001 Laser

[focusedxr]

Hey All

Got a 2001 Ford Laser KQ 1.8ltr with 173,000ks on the clock

Drove to the shops the other day with no problems, When i got back to the car and started it up for a good 5 seconds i had a loud constant ticking noice, Sounded like the fan was hitting something. I turned the car off thinking maybe someone has driven it to my car. Started her back up and the noise was there for another second or 2 then it stopped, sounded like it snapped off or somthing. i let her idle for another 2 minute and no problems.

I decided to drive the car home as it was under only 800meters down the road and took it easy. On the drive home it felt like it was fluttering when accelerating, only when i was nearly home. I turned the car off and let her roll to the front of the house and opened up the bonnet.

i gave it a few hours to cool down then came back out and checked the oil. The oil was on the low side so i topped her up and turned her back on. It idled fine for a good 4-5 mins then a knocking noise would pop up every 5-15 seconds, sounds like a bolt or something is loose in the engine. When it sounds like it bounces the car fluttered like its stalling it or restricting flow.

My brothers a mechanic and im getting him to try and have a look at it this weekend, Just wondering if anyone has experienced this before and what it could be.

Trying to solve the issue first to work out the cost of it to get fixed and if its worth it for the value of the car. Thinking maybe the lifters or something but just dont like the sound of the part bouncing around in the engine. Its just not constant with engine revs and just pops up randomly

Any help would be appreciated.

[dirty hands]

thats a low km motor
why was the engine down on oil

the speed of the knock helps diagnostic like one crank revolution 1/2 or a cam speed knock etc

this motor may have hydraulic tappets if not serviced the tappets can get sticky - not usually at 173ooo k normal

next would be the grade of oil to choose - the W numbers

if the knock is deeper down on the block could be a few things
oil pump / conrod/piston slap / main bearings rumble

[focusedxr]

Thanks for the reply dirty hands....

Yeah there was no speed to the knock it was just random????

I ended up starting her up again this afternoon after this post and she knocked straight away once i kicked her over. The knock basically sounds like theres a bolt or something that gets caught every now and then, when the knock happened thats when the engine would flutter.

I ended up checking the oil again and just topping her up a little more and just let her run for a little while. it never made a noise for a good 5 minutes. so i turned her off and decided to head down to the local repco and get new oil and oil filter as it had ran 11,000ks since its last service.

I picked up a nulon engine cleaner while i was there to run through the exsisting oil for 10 minutes on idle before dumping the old oil, it didnt knock during that time.

Did that changed the oil and put fresh 15W-40 Nulon oil in and rolled her off the ramps. Kicked her in the guts and let her run for awhile. by that time my brother came around to have a look at it so we proceeded to do the oil while we were there on my XR6T.

i just left it running while my brother helped me do a quick service on my falcon, The laser was beside up as the knock was reasonable loud and not once did it knock or flutter. I ran it for a solid 45 minutes on idle and no noice. I hopped in it and took it for a nice drive around the block and slowly worked it up to the main roads and did not falter once.

I took it out again just before to see if it still is running fine and she seems to be just right. It has even less engine noise then before. I opened her up on the highway just to test it as most my driving is high speeds and not one problem like i had the day before.

I would say that one of the tappets was getting jammed or something. I wasnt really keen on pulling the engine apart to check so this was my first and cheapest option and so far so good.

As for the low oil im quiet surprised with that. it wasnt extremely low but it was defiantly down on full. Either burning it or i have a small leak. No patches underneath the car in the mornings so cant work it out. Will just monitor it closely. Normally my brother and i service the car and we have never had a problem. the last service i took it elsewhere as my brother was away and i was working a shutdown. maybe there wasnt much oil in there to start with??? ill just keep a eye on it for now and see how she goes.

[dirty hands]

that knock was the oil pump with low/thin oil in the sump

most motors use a little oil between services - that normal

sounds like its sorted..