88gta 5.7 liter

Here is what I have done to the car in the little time I owned it...

New plugs, wires, cap, rotor, Fuel Pump relay
Rebuilt alternator, New Mini starter
Removed smog pump, Cat, plugged manifold holes. Changed oil, valve cover seals. New muffler. Checked timing at 6 deg. The car ran ok when I bought it, I knew it needed some work...

I had about 300 miles on the car before I started doing the tune up...
Basically had the car running excellent. I went for a 15 min drive after replacing the starter and I am now getting a knocking sound from insided the engine compartment. It didn't start right away it took about 10 miles of driving before the knocking started. Hot, Cold doesn't matter it knocks. It feels like it is coming out of the top of the TPI unit. I checked the pushrods and valves and they all seem fine. What could be causing this knocking sound? I really doubt it is a rod or piston slap. The sound sometimes goes tick tick tick and then stops for a few seconds and tick tick... It is not consistant like a rod or bearing. Any ideas what the heck this could be. Later

 

I am one of the unfortunate people to not own a GTA.boy..I could only wish.I own a '89 TBI firebird.I get that same knoise. I have had the Transmission rebuilt,it was sliping, but that didn't do it.I still have that Knoking sound.I took it to a mechanic and said it was the distributor,but don't worry about it.well, since then I didn't worry about it. So i messed with the distributor once and went away for a while and came back.

 

You may have a bad lifter if it comes and goes. I agree that if you had a rod it would be constant.


Brian Felts

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1989 Camaro RS

305 .030 over Hydro Pistons
Vortech heads milled to 58cc...Performer RPM intake....LT4 cam..Crane Gold rockers...FastChip custom chip...ALum. Driveshaft...3.73 gears with Posi...underdrive pullys...Rebuilt 700R4 with Vette Servo and B&M shift Kit...MSD ignition...A/C Delete No SMOG junk....1997 SS leather interior...B&M Shifter... Ultimate TBI mods...14X3 K&N open Element Non-Drop...Hooker headers....3" exhaust with Flowmaster Cross flow 16X8 Wheels from 97 RS Spohn LCA's Spohn Panhard Bar..LETS PLAY FORD!!

www.geocities.com/feltsb

 

I thought about the lifters also. I took both valve covers off and removed the dist wire. I turned the engine over with the key and all the valves and pushrods seemed to work fine. While it was turning over there was no noise. Do you think possibly the knock sensor or the erg could be causing the problem. Since owning the car I have stuck countless hrs into trying to bring the car back to a tip-top mecahnical condition. I am really getting fed up with it. Any buyers?

How hard would it be to pull the intake to replace the lifters? I assume the dist has to be pulled out as well. Great...

 

Get yourself a mechanics stethoscope. You can then move it around the engine to find where the knock is coming from.

No point in removing the lifters because there's really no way to tell if they are bad by looking at them... kind of expensive too if they aren't the problem. Fuel injectors can also make a ticking noise. Did you try cleaning them?

I don't think you got gyped. I would always replace the ignition and oil on a new used car. The starter and alternator are unfortunate but it's not like they were hugely expensive (you chose to buy the mini starter). The muffler and oil leaks you should have seen when you bought it.


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1986 Trans Am
carbed 350 - .30 over with 9.75:1 comp.
+- 315hp/390ft lbs.
700-R4 with 2500 stall
3.27 (ick!) gear
SLP 1 3/4" headers w/MAC catback and cat.
96 5 stars
SFC's, braces, arms, and a bunch more expensive stuff
no timeslips yet

 

Already did the broom handle to the engine, it sounds like the noise is coming from the EGR under the TPI. Could this go bad and make a knocking noise? Could it be a knock sensor? I really cannot see a lifter sticking, especially with me putting 300 miles on the car. The alt was $75 to get it repaired and the mini starter was $120 new. I personally will never waste my money on a stock gm-delco-junk-autozone starter (whole diff story with a 4.3 in a toyota 4x4). The oil/exhaust/tune-up is a no-brainer when you buy a vehicle. It def a knock, not a tick. If you place your hand on the rear portion for the TPI, you can feel something knocking, almost like when you watch the lotto ***** comming to the top of the machine, its like something is getting pushed up to the top of the tip and not making is down the intake (as silly as that sounds). Someone out there has got to have had a problem like this before....

 

Well, IMO it's not the knocksensor..the KS is there to detect knocks, feed the signal back to the ESC to retard the timing.

ONe thing you mentioned in your first post "I went for a 15 min drive after replacing the starter and I am now getting a knocking sound from insided the engine compartment".

So I'd wonder if there's a possibility that there may be something worng with the new starter, or the installation? I've had instances where the wires were not routed corrected and came in contact with solenoid lugs (after chafing the insulation off) and would apply power to the solenoid, trying to engage the starter.

A tap or knock down there culd easily be transmitted to the top of the engine.

 

the wires were not routed corrected and came in contact with solenoid lugs (after chafing the insulation off) and would apply power to the solenoid, trying to engage the starter.

Possibly could be the culprit, I will double check again tonite hopefully. Think possibly that loose torque converter bolts could be the culprit? Also I have the remote solinoid on the starter. Now that I am going back in time trying to recall everything that happened. The noise started out real quite and got louder and louder as I drove home. Do you thing that possibly the timing chaing could be loose? Do you think a diag machine would know. I am going to tinker with it some more and if I cannot figure it out, I will take it to the dealer. Thanks.

Lee

 

It just seems to me, that if there were no noises before you did work, then most likely the work you did is causng the noises.

Yes, a loose converter would cause noise, and fairly easy to remedy..just pull the insection cover and tighten the bolts..rotating the converter is the hardest part, but can still be done...but again, these bolts shouldn't have just come loose.

Could be an issue with the remote solenoid too, I've no experience using one.

Best to go over everything you did with a fine tooth comb forst, then look at other possibilities.

There's lots of possibities for noises, but keep it simple to start with.

 

Sounds like a lifter is going to me. Possible it is a injector, but I never heard of one being that loud, or intermittent for that matter.

 

timing chains generally don't make any noise until they skip a link and your car shuts off..

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Webmaster: www.IROC-Z.org

 

Ok

Lets say going back when I was trying to pull out the old starter to install the new starter, I somehow, hit or bumped the knock sensor. Would a bad knock sensor or me hitting it cause this to happen???? It is really the only thing that was touched during the starter install. But then why did it take 10 miles for it to start knocking??? Warm up period? Thanks.