Hi Adrian,

I have the same symptoms on my car - did you manage to find a solution?

Thanks,
Gary.

 

Perhaps it needs a valve adjustment if you have not had one in a long time.

 

hello Adrian, from what you discribe i would say that you left tensiner is failing. you said the noise sounds internal and its near the distributor. it is also speed related. now what makes me think its that is that you said your oil pressure is kind of flickering which it never did before and you put that with a failing tensioner and it fits the bill.

if it is the tesioner failing, i would not drive the car till you fix it. if you have slop in the chain you could maybe jump timing. the car will run with a failed tensioner but you should not take the car up in rpms to much.

i am not trying to scare you but i think thats what it is. with the car at idle get a long metal bar or stetiscope if you have one, otherwise a real long extension works fine, put it up against the timing chain covers and listen. might need to alternate from the left to the right side to get a sense of what to listen to. it should be smooth sounding and not slapping noise if you know what i mean. it might be kind of hard on the right side because of the air conditioning. but you can also go from the bottom. there is no real specific area you need to be on just that you are on the timing chain covers.

even at idle the oil pressure is sufficent to pump up the tensioners if they are in good condition. they are not that hard to change and engine removal is not needed.

can you tell us how many miles on the car??

also you said it was getting progressivly worse for the last few 100 miles. so as it was getting worse have you notice a slight reduction in porformance and acceleration??? the reason i ask this which is rather important is because if so , tghis would be associated with a loose timing chain resulting from a failed tensioner.

like i said its not hard to change them, they install a certain way and if you give your location maybe someone could help you if needed.

you live close to south corolina?? i will help you,

do not drive the car, till you get it sorted out, your car has been giving you a warning and a couple hundred miles is more than enough for you to resolve the problem before you have bigger problems.

 

Check the rear center taillight is installed correctly. It makes a lot of noise if it is loose.

 

Adrian,

is the rattling noise there at idle? Does it change with engine/oil temperature?

 

Hi, well I have just had word back from my mechanic. He said the "big end is gone" - there was a lot of metal particles in the oil. Likely to be big $$ - he will give me an estimation once he has it opened up. Does anyone have any ideas of the likely cost? Any suggestions on what else should be done at the same time (my mechanic will probably know this)?
What causes this kind of problem?

Not my best day....

Gary.
Perth, Australia.

 

Forgive my ignorance, but what is "big end"? Certainly metal particles in the oil is not good, but did you get to see any of that before the engine gets "opened up"?

 

Big end = connecting rod bearing .

Gaz , 10k U.S. if you don't need a crank .
You might look into a nice used 993 motor .
If you go for the rebuild on the 964 motor , the two oil filter 993 set up / fix up might be good .

 

Now it makes me nervous if I hear any rattling in near my engine.

 

Wow - $10k!!

Is this mostly labour or mostly parts?

Anything else worth doing while he is in there?

Gary.