i think im going to throw a rod in my vw soon. im not exactly sure what the signs are, but whenever the car is under light acceleration from ~2500 rpms all the way up to ~4500 rpms (it may continue higher, im not sure. i screwed around tongiht after work and didnt have much time to do so, so i didnt go to the redline), theres a loud knocking noise. id say it is definitely a sign, but the thing that throws me off is that it disappears when i floor it and when its under deceleration. can someone tell me whats going on? the car has had this since 117k miles and its now just over 125,500 miles, however the knocking has gotten louder. what is this a sign of? i thought it may be lifter tap, but its not like a tapping noise, but more of a knocking noise (i get mad lifter tap in my jeep during the first few minutes of it starting, so i know what that sounds like).
so please, someone throw out a couple suggestions of what i should do to find out whats happening, or if this is a sign of blowing my motor soon. if it blows, ill be parting the car out and selling it stock (except for exhaust/k&n drop in) in hopes of buying something with awd thats quick so i dont need to have 2 cars (like that dsm thats in the classifieds!!! god damn i want that car so bad). thanks guys, i really appriciate it…if its not a sign of anything ill be racing it tomorrow :doh: :greddy:
you wouldnt happen to has an oil pressure gauge in your car would you?
signs of a rod knock and main bearing damage= when you start your car up and the oil pressure is almost around normal, then when your car warms up it loses pressure very badly…
only thing i can tell you for now is to go to advance or pepboys and change your oil, then add a quart of lucas oil stabilizer or engine RESTORE, and hope for the best.
1 of those 2 items might slow down the problem.
lucas oil stabilizer is very very thick and it sticks to the cylinder walls and parts within the motor making them move about more easily.
Engine RESTORE is an additive that i’ve always loved. it protects your seals and gaskets while also filling in and fixing small cuts and grooves in the cylinder walls…
i put Engine RESTORE in my grand prix one year after the car was repainted and restored ( it had mild lifter tap) and ever since i put it in the car has been quiet and ran like a champ
A bad connecting rod bearing usually makes a ton of clattering at all engine speeds and loads.
I don’t like the lucas stuff, it doesn’t really cling to stuff like you’d think; it mixes with the basic oil and makes it too-thick. It also dilutes the additve package that keep the motor clean and protect against metal to metal contact.
Restore i’ve never tried, i suppose if the motor is on it’s last legs and you’ve got nothing to lose it’d be worth a shot.
I’m going to take a guess and go outside the group. I’b bet it is more than likely the trans. 020 VW gearboxes are notoriously weak. I had one that did some similar things. I’m still waiting to split it and see what happened. I’m on 020 number 4 in as many years right now…
there is a slight possibility its a wrist pin. Signs of that usually are the noise going away under a load, etc.
Does it do it at idle? even just off idle. A good little trick is to pull one spark plug wire at a time. Do this at idle or just off as the engine is making the noise/knock. If it goes away at any given cylinder, thats a good indication of which cylinder is bad.
oh ya, STOP DRIVING IT!!! You said its getting worse which is not good. IF you catch it at an early stage, sometimes you can slide new bearings in it and get away with it. Otherwise, you’ve most likely distorted the journal and a new bearing will only work for a week or so. The crank and journals will then have to be checked and resized accordingly. Trust me, i’ve blown up my share of motors :embarassd
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