Tapping knocking noise 1.6 TDCI.

[simcor]

Car has decided to give me a present, a noise that started a day or two ago and has got louder.

Sounding quite terminal to me any thoughts on the video that will be uploaded shortly to view?

My first thought was the bottom pulley but the noise seems to be coming from the top towards the back, I do have a slight oil leak that I need to sort, and due to being lax it was low on oil, right on the bottom of the dip stick. So that worries me greatly that it is internal engine damage due to a lack of lubrication. Having said that it only took 1-2 litres to top it back up so wasn't ridiculously low.

I just thought I would see what the collective think? The knock/tapping does not sound as bad in the video as it does when listening to it by ear I should add.

Cheers and Merry Xmas and a Happy new year to everyone lol

 

 

[TomsFocus]

Well that sounds horrific but it's hard to get any perspective from the video.

Did you top it up with oil after?  Might just be the lifters not getting enough oil.  If it was a lubrication issue I'd expect the turbo to suffer before anything else.

[simcor]

Yeah that's the odd thing, turbo is fine no DTC's stored to worry about.

Like I say it was low but not as low as it was when it dumped all its oil out the banjo bolt hole so it has me a little puzzled if I'm honest.

Yeah topped it up and no real difference in sound, one of my first thoughts was the lifters.

Having said that I have checked the injector calibrations are correct as I read sometimes they can become corrupted, and they show up fine on my diagnostics so it's no that.

Add on my remote locking playing up half the time and not being able to remotely unlock the car and the ABS error it has started with lately and it's a worry, saying rear left sensor signal incorrect so that could just be a sensor issue, but the electrical gremlins have me a little bit bothered too.

[TomsFocus]

Hmm, weird!

Does it still drive ok?  No loss of power or anything? 

[simcor]

Yeah drives OK no loss of power. 

[TomsFocus]

In that case just turn the radio up!!  

 

Seriously though, I'm not sure what else you could check now, seem to have covered everything short of a strip down, driving fine and no codes rules out most things.  I guess you could remove the aux belt just to make sure it's nothing related to that with the sound travelling through the block.  Maybe even an oil flush in case there's a partially blocked oil way somewhere in the top end?  We 'fixed' a horrible knock on my mates car like that, still don't know what caused the noise and it was over a year ago now, been on track several times too lol.

 

[drsdriver]

oil sump is 3.8 litres when servicing the car, if it needed 2 litres that more than half it was starved off. 

Hope you get it sorted. 

[simcor]

TBH the amount of oil was a complete guess of the top of my head, certainly not low enough to put the oil warning light on or cause low oil pressure warnings. In fact there was probably only about a litre of oil left in the bottle I had lying around. 

 

[isetta]

hard to tell from the sound on the video. have you had a good look around each of the injectors to see if they are leaking. I thought the sound sounded a bit like compression blowing past one of the fuel injectors which is relatively common problem on 1.6tdci, but as I say, hard to tell from listening to the video.

 

as someone else said, take fan belt off. my wife's focus had a strange noise I could not identify and it turned out to be the fan belt tensioner wheel, which finally failed 100 miles from home, wish I had taken the fan belt off when trying to narrow down the sound

[simcor]

Whatever it is, it does vary in how bad it sounds.

It does not disappear as the revs increase but it then drowned out by the engine noise.

I have barely noticed the noise when for example on a downhill using barely any fuel in gear.

I think it's pooped, its too ***** cold and icy to be outside messing with it, how I wish I had a garage to work in lol

I could just run it til it breaks, after all its worth around £500 part ex or get it into a garage to be looked at and decide whether to spend the money on it or not.

Or just see about buying another car and taking my chances. 

[Focusoap]

That's one clean looking engine despite the worrying noise!

There's definitely a hint of compression leak as I isetta mentions so double check the injector clamp "nuts" are tight. The copper injector washers and seats are very prone to damage and leakage. Any signs of carbonised gunk around the injectors? The timing chain driving the overhead cams wears and the auto tensioner is unable to accommodate the chain slack and eventually cuts it's way through the alloy cam cover AND leaks oil. This makes a rattling sound.

Have you tried sticking a bottle of Lucas oil modifier in the sump (after draining a litre out first)? If the noise is diminished or changes substantially then it's pretty certain to be a lubrication/mechanical wear problem but you say there's no sign of the OP light. This stuff radically increases the oil viscosity and bungs up worn bearing surfaces for a while much like adding pulped banana skins in the sump (old trick before you sell your car with knackered big ends!).

Have you had a good look at engine mounts, exhaust manifold/exhaust connection? Try gently jacking engine up from underneath with a bit of wood on the jack head under the sump and see if the noise changes. 

Best thing about getting old is your hearing deteriorates and cars sound so much quieter than when you're 20! Hope you find out what it is! Good luck and happy new year.

[simcor]

Don't think it's the injectors although it isn't that clean around the injectors. I can't hear the sound when listening to it that you can hear on the video, the sound that may be drawing attention from the knocking noise, unless it's a sound that is there and the phone picks up but NY hearing can't. I have killed my ears previously over the years so my hearing probably isn't the best. 

 

[TomsFocus]

Hmm, if that's the case why do so many old people moan about loud exhausts!

Tbf, it sounds very different on the phone to the laptop weirdly.  Have you got any garage mates you could ask for a first hand listen? 

 

[simcor]

Well I have disconnected each injector in turn to see if the knock changes and it doesn't. So it's not likely to be a damaged piston or knackered injector causing the knock.

I am running out of ideas and both local garages to me are closed due to the time of year so it will be next week before I can get it in a garage to be looked at.

Need to look at hiring a car for a week I think as I need transport for work.

[simcor]

Just out of interest did an insurance quote for a banger as a second car, a shed of a fiesta 1.25l.

Cheapest quote came out at over £800 a year ffs, I know that's without any no claims and declaring the accident I was in last year and declaring the 3 points that came off my licence in October but flip me.

God knows how much mine will be again when it's due, think I paid about 260 last year.

Looks like a second car will be out the window for emergencies etc.

[simcor]

Hmm just had to nip up the road and the noise has more or less gone. Almost back to normal sounding. Very odd, maybe an oik flush and change might be on the cards. Either that or it knows I've been looking at other cars on Auto trader. Lol 

Good news or bad news no idea, the only thing I have done is disconnect each injector in turn and it was still knocking, left it then nipped out a bit later and it's almost completely stopped the noise. 

[simcor]

Well it certainly sounds back to normal to my ears, how ***** odd lol 

[TomsFocus]

Lol, well that's a decent result!

Bit late now but I was told never to disconnect injectors on an old 2.0 HDi as they used eachother for ballast and could cause ECU issues if unplugged singly.  Not sure if that's still the same for the DV6 or not though, given it's a different ECU altogether lol. 

[iantt]

just seen this topic, but the sound could have been the cam chain tensioner playing up( hydralic tensioner using engine oil.

i would give it an oil and filter change .

[simcor]

I shall be getting an oil and filter change done soon, even if I have to (shudder....) pay to get it done lol

[simcor]

Started car to go to work and the noise was back, although after the car had warmed up it went away again. Making me think the cold has something to do with it. But this morning when I left work it wasn't making the noise when though the engine was cold an it was icy this morning.

Gonna be fun getting it diagnosed if it it keeps stopping and starting. Lol 

[Richard86]

Hi.  I have a 2012 Ford Focus 1.6 turbo diesel.  The car runs fine, but between 2000 - 2500 revs it rattles like tappets but then the noise goes away.  Any ideas?