Recently my engine starting tapping. With a stethescope, narrowed it down to passenger front.
pulled the valve covers, everything looks good and tight. started it up, and i couldn't notice and rods wobbling(if that is even possible)

what else could it be? a lifter? how would i see that and fix it?
it almost sounds like it is coming from underneath the intake if that helps any.

thanks.

If anyone is in the richmond, no.VA area and has some free time to help me out, i pay in beer and pizza.

 

Are you sure it isn't coming from your injectors?

 

if it is, it's on helluva loud tap....so loud, you hear it outside the car. is this possible? i thought that might be it, but i've never heard one tap like that. tic, yes...tap...no.

what would cause that?
any other suggestions?
anything to look for?

 

Try this.......

Pull one spark plug wire at a time, running the motor each time afterward. This will tell IF it's coming from the engine itself, and it will tell you if it's related to 1 cylinder in particular.

If it is, you'll notice the noise will be gone when that one cylinder is not firing.


HTH

 

Only if it's ignition related though.
All the injectors will still fire and all of the rocker arms will still move.

I'm diagnosing a very loud tap as well and I *believe* it's coming from under the passenger side valve cover. While checking it is when I noticed that my injectors are pretty loud (almost like a typewriter). I think one of my roller rockers is hitting but I will hopefully find out soon enough.

 

...how so? I can see where you're going, but I'll gamble that most all "failures" that make noise, do so more so on the stress of the air / fuel mixture being "exploded" and the energy it puts out, than when the mixture isn't being fired.


..I've grown used to the "ticking" my injectors make, and a rocker, or other valvetrain component, make a deeper "Tapping' noise.......that's just in my opinion.......

In fact right now, I've got a small exhaust leak coming from where the pass header and the Y-pipe meet. The super duper "dead soft" alum collectors gaskets are so thick, they are pushing the pipes away from each other...

I just noticed it the other day...when I was knee deep in a 5 speed swap... the noise of the injectors masked it.....

But I digress....

For that matter, just disconnect the injector when you take off the wire, that way you make sure it isn't the injectors as well.


And if you think the rockers are hitting, just loosen the valvecover and pull up on it while the engine is running.


HTH