Piston slap?

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Hello all! My 2002 ford focus is on a diet of penn platinum 5w20 with a motorcraft filter. Car has 59,000 on it and when I start it when cold I hear some engine noise, not ticking but kind of a light knock. As I accelerate the sound gets louder! As the car warms up it totally goes away! I have tried mobil-1 5w20 and 5w30 and both oils made the cold start noise worse! I would really appreciate any suggestions from all you experts out here!

Thank you so much guys!! Hope all of you are enjoying your weekend!!
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Piston slap will be more noticable if you get down and listen as close to the oil pan as possible. It actually sounds like a diesel. If it is piston slap and doesn't go away in say 2 minutes or so, you chould probably get it checke. If it gets worse under load it might not be the classic piston slap. Could be a bearing.

As John has suggested, some have found it got better with RedLine oil.
 
My Tundra does the same thing. The aluminum pistons expand more in the heat and contract more in the cold than the iron cylinder block. When cold, the pistons are loose in the bores. When warmed, the pistons fit just right. If this is the case in your engine, don't worry about it. Warm up by driving easy, not idling and not driving hard.


Ken
 
I wouldn't say it is a big deal and it probably won't make much difference as far as the longevity of your engine. I do however think it sucks, and there are a few things the manufacture can do to the pistons to fix this cold start knock problem, they just refuse to do so.
 
You could try a dino like Havoline -- perhaps a different filter manufacturer outside of Purolator. I would even try a half-bottle of VSOT too. Just because you are not 100% sure what it is, I would experiment a little bit & try all three suggestions next oil change.

If it doesn't correct it, then rule out oils, filters & supplements to correct it.
 
My 2002 Chevy Silverado does the same thing. It is not normal and it will affect the life of the engine. Ford has actually been pretty good about replacing their engine w/ this problem, GM has not.
I've tried everything imaginable to quiet down the motor, nothing seems to make a difference.

~Sail
 
SailSkiDrive it might affect it, I really doubt that in every case that it will cause enough wear that the engine needs overhauled long before the rest of the car falls apart. I'm not saying it won't, i'm just saying that if it did it all the time, and it was a common ocurrence people would be talking about their GM truck motors grenading all the time. They just talk about how loud they are when cold. Btw, I don't think it is normal, however there is nothing you can do unless you sell it or get a lawyer.

mrjlube, you can have somone check it out, but if it is piston slap, it will cost big bucks to fix out of warranty. You might try a 5w40 to see if that helps.
 
Piston slap on I4s does not harm the engine.

I have two cars in the driveway that do it and they both have over 140,000 miles and compression within 10psi of new.
 
My Matrix makes this same noise when it is cold but once warm it goes away..this engine is a lot noisier with synths in it whether it is GC, M1 or Pennz Plat(which is in there now) Goes for valvetrain noise as well.

Noticeably quieter with Chevron. Will go back to that or Havoline next OIC


Goose
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For some reason beyond me, dino oils seem to quiet cold start piston slap noticeably better than synthetics. Give Chevron/Havoline dino oil a try.
 
My 2003 Camry has piston slap when cold. I live at the bottom of a hill, and on a cold morning with out a warm up it sounds like a diesel. The sound goes away in a couple of minutes.

I'm actually using this to test several different motor oils to see if any make a diff.
 
Unfortunately the noise in my 2002 Silverado (63k)has become horrendous. We talked about it last night and we're probably going to trade the vehicle in (on a warm day). I'm really upset with GM, they have been zero help with the situation. I was at the dealer this morning picking up a new parking brake release handle and cable and explained my situation to the parts guy. He told me that he has had numerous folks come in looking for "Top End Cleaner" to see if they can get it to quiet down. He suggested maybe it was time for me to trade up to a new Chevy. YEAH RIGHT!!! Unfortunately I'm done with GM, it's a nice truck but the quality just isn't there.

~Sail
 
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