ZZE122R - Engine Noise

[Romulus]

Greetings all,

My 2005 Corolla has been going great for the past 14 years with only a few things needing work every now and then.

It currently has 216,152 km on the clock.

Yesterday, while driving back out of town, it suddenly started making a rattling noise while accelerating (mainly when it goes over 3,000 R.P.M.)

Nothing leading up to this - it just started up out of the blue without warning.

I'm wondering if anyone here has already come across this problem and knows what it is.

I haven't had any experience with the VVT-i engines, so it's new territory for me.

I would think if it were something loose or out of adjustment in the valve train, it would be coughing and farting and misfiring (or simply not running at all).

As I drove it back after the sound started up, it was still running well, still had power, and could sit comfortably on 100km.

No overheating, no warning lights on, nothing. There looks like there's a small oil leak around the rear of the R/H side of the engine, but it hasn't been using up oil.

All the posts I found on the internet suggested anything from loose heat shields, to something broken in either the inlet or exhaust manifolds.

The only other thing I could think of was the timing chain - whether they might have some sort of tensioner arm on them or something that might be coming loose, or could the chain itself be stretched ?

If that was the case though, I would have thought that would also affect the timing and make it run badly ?)

As far as trouble shooting goes, I've only tried locating the sound with a stethoscope, but the noise can't be pinned down to any specific area.

So at the moment, I'm leaning towards: 

a.)  Taking the serpentine belt off and running the engine for less than a minute just to see if it might be a bearing in something that runs off the serpentine belt rather than something inside the engine (doubtful).

b.) Taking the valve cover off, to see if there's anything obvious with the OHC or the valves. Not sure if the timing chain would also be visible, or if that's another cover somewhere else.

Before I start doing any of these things though, I thought I'd first post a video link here, and see if any of you might recognize the sound as something that you've dealt with first-hand.

And what suggestions you might have.

Apologies for the shaky video.

Regards,

R.

 

 

 

[Trivial]

That sounds like rod knock, my dude.

 

[YeahNah]

Hello, did you end up finding out what this was? Just interested.

[ppe]

Does the noise come from the top or the bottom part of the engine? Where does it sound louder? under the bonnet or under the car?

Have you used different fuel recently?

[Pippy]

Doesn't sound like rod knock to me, more sounds like something is loose in the bay or a off tension. Sometimes the idler tensioner can rattle if they are getting tired. (Which btw looks a bit oily... you might need a new cam cover gasket?)

[Stevecro]

Recently I am having similar issue, mines a 2006 model, 125,000km on the odometer and on acceleration I hear like a raspy sound, its only when in drive and when accelerating gently or tapping the acceleator. Once it revs over say 2000rpm, it dissapears. 

I have recently changed my oil from 5w30 to 10w40 and the raspy noise is still there. Its never there when cruising along or travelling at higher speeds (higher revs).

Have replaced air filter, oil, checked the transmission fluid etc, all seem fine.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated...

Edited February 2, 2020 by Stevecro

[Squalled]

1 hour ago, Stevecro said:

Recently I am having similar issue, mines a 2006 model, 125,000km on the odometer and on acceleration I hear like a raspy sound, its only when in drive and when accelerating gently or tapping the acceleator. Once it revs over say 2000rpm, it dissapears. 

I have recently changed my oil from 5w30 to 10w40 and the raspy noise is still there. Its never there when cruising along or travelling at higher speeds (higher revs).

Have replaced air filter, oil, checked the transmission fluid etc, all seem fine.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated...

Does it sound like an engine sound of something else like an exhaust related issue? Any sound recordings or videos could help.

[Stevecro]

It sounds like engine noise, I will have to take a recording. On saturday when the weather was insanely hot, just after starting the car up, i proceeded slowly up a steep hill at about 40 km/h and you could really hear it loudly, like tapping or rasping metal to metal sound, sounded like it was coming from the engine. 

I checked the oil, was full, no issues there.

The noise is mainly when gently accelerating at lower speeds (up to 50km/h) 

[Stevecro]

Sorry to hijack this thread, didnt want to create another thread which was almost the same as the one Romulus posted.

Update: with the cooler mornings and switch from 5w30 oil to 10w40, seems like the noise has reduced but is still there. 

Its mainly in the first 5 mins of driving and is heard when cruising at lower speed, taking my foot off accelerator at say 40km/h then gently accelerating.

Unsure whether any of the above info helps, I know it could be anything, just seeing if someone may have an idea?

[Trivial]

I had another listen. I think I stand by my prior comment. Sounds like rod knock to me. Might need to take it to a mechanic for a proper diagnosis mate

[christhanah274]

Thank you, that was the information that I was looking to obtain. Appreciated.