Sporadic 'tapping' noise until war.

[shadrach74]

Originally Posted by Homeboy981

Is the noise occurring when you first start it, to say a minute or two? If so, that is normal for it to sound a little more "knocky" since the engine is dumping fuel in there until about 2 minutes after startup. The idle drops and then she should sound fine. Is the knock, knock happening AFTER that?

"Dumping fuel" should not cause a "knock". It may cause a higher idle, but the lifters should be fully pressurized in seconds, not minutes. Start up valve train noise should should be brief...very brief; anything else indicates an issue.

[southernstar]

Yes, of course I have checked the oil level after the change (and do so with each fill up) and it is perfect. As I indicated, the problem occurs after start-up, but only sporadically. Last night, after reading these posts, I started it up in my garage and heard the noise again; when I revved the engine at first it was a tad sputtery, as if flooded; I revved it a few more times and the sputter cleared and then so did the knocking sound. So yes, it seems that in fact it is a 'knock' rather than lifter noise. The problem with my earlier description was that I could ony hear it, as I mentioned, when there was a wall beside the car to reflect the sound and, obviously, once I drove off I could not detect it any longer. I did notice that after it was warm - i.e., when I went to park it, it no longer made the noise.

I simply (and stupidly) did not connect the roughness on start-up with the sound that I was hearing. Having said that, often on start-up there is no initial roughness (or sound) - i.e., as indicated, the problem is sporadic. Is there something I should (or shouldn't) be doing before parking the car that could eliminate this?

Brad

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