jpop8807

If anyone could tell me what this is I would appreciate it car was running fine 2 days ago. Minimal noise and now its gotten worse. Could this all be caused by a bad plug?

http://youtu.be/IYcKeSeHmoY

I hope the link works

jpop8807

Any help will be very appreciated. You here the akward noise more after I give it a bit of throttle.

m73m95

Pop the cam tower off and take a look see (Its easy). Something ain't right in there.

Bri Bro

Well something sounds like it is banging around. If you take a pipe and press it to your ear and to the engine parts, it helps locate the noise. Before you tear into the cam, take the distributor cap off and see if the rotor is loose. The rotor is held on with a set screw (with loctite blue applied) and if it gets loose, the car runs like crap, doesn't run or makes bad noise. Be forewarned, the lower screw on the distributor cap is a pain to get on and off. Also check that the bolt on front of the cam that holds on the rotating assembly of the rotor (#4) is tight.
https://rennlist.com/forums/944-turb...?highlight=cap

jpop8807

I guess I will start taking stuff apart. I will try to do this as soon as my LR ignition package shows up. So then I can replace most if not all of the ignition system to see if that solves it first then I will get down to the cam tower. When I do that I will need to replace the cam housing/tower gaskets. Looks like i'll be sharing the wifes car for a while.

Thom

The belts could have got loose and hit the plastic covers.

plumbum

There is another post going around with a similar noise, I also have a noise when cold that is similar. I looked last summer and the ballance belt seemed loose however I didn't tighten it as I read that it is suppose to be very loose. This spring i will double check to see if that was my problem.

On my car the noise was louder on the drivers side front of the engine.

Tom M'Guinn

You might also try fishing around in the cam tower with a magnet stick, through the bolt holes -- just to see if you get lucky. Is the motor otherwise running smoothly --i.e., all cylinders seem to be firing normally? Or is one cylinder dead? If not sure pull one plug at a time to see if each one changes the idle. I wouldn't really run it that way, but have you put a mechanic's stethescope (super cheap) on the cam tower or elsewhere to see where the noise is coming from? If it just happened out of the blue, then I'd guess something mechanical broke -- like a valve keeper, or or a lifter just completely failed and is fluttering around in there, or you sucked something into the turbo, etc. Also, once you get that sorted, and not to kick you while down, but I'd put new fuel lines on the project list for 2012..... The old factory lines are prone to leaking on the exhaust...

audiojoe1

Not sure if anyone has said this, but it could be broken studs holding the exhaust manifold on. On my car I have a similar noise because one of the studs have broken letting the exhaust manifold tap against the motor.

jpop8807

OK from what I was told cylinder 1 is misfiring due to bad plugs and old wires. Waiting on LR basic kit with MSD blaster coil at the very moment. It could very well also be the exhaust manifold. When they looked at my car they said I have a badly cracked manifold. Is it possible that maybe over time and the weather in the last few days could be have cause a hot then cold condition with the manifold and maybe it worsened it? Sorry haven't had a chance to check on my stuff. Been working all night and sleeping/study all day. Hopefully I can do it tomorrow or check into it.

Urs

Its maybe a not tighten srew in the cam gear housing because the steely sound is to highly when it comes out of the engine it must be a deeper not so clear sound like that in the vid.

hope u know what i mean

greetz urs

jpop8807

I haven't taken it apart yet but, I isolated the noise to the cam tower itself using a friends stethoscope. Gotta love medics. Anyways if I want to take off the top portion. Would the process just be take off the distributor and then the 2 screws I see in the cam tower housing?

Tom M'Guinn

Not sure what you mean by the "top portion"? If you mean the metal cover the cap plugs into, there is probably not much to learn taking that off, though looking under the cap itself might be worth a look just to make sure the rotor is tight. I can only think of two ways to get any sense of what's going on in the cam tower. You can take out the access hole plugs along the top of the tower and see if you can get a peek of anything and/or fish anything out with a magnet. Or you can take off the cam tower and get a real look. To take the tower off, you need to do a lot of stuff -- remove intake snorkel/air flow meter; accessory belts; timing belt covers; timing belt; distributor cap and cover it plugs into; fuel rail and harness, heater pipe over headers; diagnostic connector on cam tower, Co2 test pipe; 15 or so bolts holding cam tower to head; and probably a bunch of stuff I'm forgetting... If you look at my head gasket repair write-up, linked below, you can get a pretty good idea (less the things not needed if head is staying on...)

Jfrahm

Daaaang, take the cam tower off and see what horrors lie inside. Broken piece of valvespring maybe.

Urs

The first thing in my mind was a valve spring too but if one is broken he should feel that when he push the accelerator.
A not tightened screw from camtower to head?