SOLVED! Cricket sound when accelerating.

[hardcore302]

2016 Chevy Trax. 80K miles. When accelerating, and directly related to rpm. Slow chirp with low rpm, fast chirp with higher rpm. Does not happen in park. Will happen when in drive but holding car with brake. Notice that is stops in between shifts. Really does sound like a cricket. What is this? Belt, pulley? Coming from engine bay.

Update: seems to be coming from oil fill cap. When I take off cap, idle drops and runs a little rough. Some snot looking gunk build up on cap. Pulled dipstick and looks fine. Coolant looks fine.

When pulling sipstick I can hear a hissing/whistling. But I don't notice anything when I cover the pcv valve with my finger.. maybe a very faint hiss?

EDIT SOLVED
after searching youtube, everyone was ponting to a bad pcv valve, which is integrated into the valve cover. Or Crank seal.
But I stumbled across a video which said to check for loose spark plugs. Figured I would start there as the cheapest and easiest fix. In fact they were loose! Tightened and no more crickets!

 

[atikovi]

Exhaust rubbing on something.

 

[gathermewool]

My first guess was pulley, because I had this happen on an ‘04 Civic, but it doesn’t happen in park for you, so it’s not likely the pulley for you.

 

[TCL]

https://www.amazon.com/stores/AnnoyingPCB/page/3E756A0D-AC70-40C8-938B-16D470A0F202?ref_=ast_bln

I got one of these for Christmas. What a blast. Read the reviews!

 

[hardcore302]

https://www.amazon.com/stores/AnnoyingPCB/page/3E756A0D-AC70-40C8-938B-16D470A0F202?ref_=ast_bln

I got one of these for Christmas. What a blast. Read the reviews!

Lol

 

[MRC01]

Could be an exhaust manifold leak. A tiny pinhole leak may only make sound under sufficient pressure, so not at idle or revving without any load, but when you apply throttle and there is resistance/load.

 

[hardcore302]

Thank you for the replies. I think I found the culprit. See original post

 

[Zaedock]

You're lucky they didn't blow out!

 

[supton]

Weird. Backed out after 80k? I'd keep an eye on, but I wonder if now is a good time to just replace 'em? Then retorque every 30k.

 

[MRC01]

Glad to hear you found it. So it was indeed leaking pressure, but from the spark plugs not the exhaust.

 

[hardcore302]

Weird. Backed out after 80k? I'd keep an eye on, but I wonder if now is a good time to just replace 'em? Then retorque every 30k.

I replaced the plugs at 60K. Apparently this seems to be a somewhat common issue based on the amount of youtuve videos.

 

[atikovi]

You're lucky they didn't blow out!

Assuming they're coil a on plug design, that won't happen unless the screw that holds the coil down backed out as well.

 

[Zaedock]

Assuming they're coil a on plug design, that won't happen unless the screw that holds the coil down backed out as well.

That little screw isn't going to hold a spark plug projectile in. I have repaired about a 1/2 dozen Ford 5.4L's when I owned a shop and even my SIL's Honda Fit last Jan. It will blast right through and take the COP with it.

 

[wemay]

EDIT SOLVED
after searching youtube, everyone was ponting to a bad pcv valve, which is integrated into the valve cover. Or Crank seal.
But I stumbled across a video which said to check for loose spark plugs. Figured I would start there as the cheapest and easiest fix. In fact they were loose! Tightened and no more crickets!

Isn't that a great feeling?!

 

[hardcore302]

Isn't that a great feeling?!

Oh yeah. 😀

 

[atikovi]

That little screw isn't going to hold a spark plug projectile in. I have repaired about a 1/2 dozen Ford 5.4L's when I owned a shop and even my SIL's Honda Fit last Jan. It will blast right through and take the COP with it.

So how does the spark plug unscrew itself? The rubber boot of the coil should prevent it from turning in the first place.

 

[Lubener]

I replaced the plugs at 60K. Apparently this seems to be a somewhat common issue based on the amount of youtuve videos.

Did you use anti seize?

 

[Zaedock]

So how does the spark plug unscrew itself? The rubber boot of the coil should prevent it from turning in the first place.

Oh, it does! The rubber boot is designed to insulate, not retain. When the plug starts to loosen, the exhaust gasses seep out and soften the boot and in some cases melt it all together. Here is a pic below I found from the Honda Fit forum. This one was cylinder 3. My SIL's car looked similar, except the COP tab broke away and shot the whole assembly out.

The Fit's engine resides under a lot of cowl/windshield, so disassembly and repair took extra time. I ended up using my timesert kit that has the prongs on the upper end of the insert. When you tap the head and install the repair, you use a drift that drives the prongs into the aluminum head. It's a nice repair.

 

[RaymondP]

Had this issue on a 2006 Merc E350 4MATIC. Finally tracked it down to the cabin air fan located deep in the firewall between engine bay and cabin on the passenger side. Annoying thing is it was intermittent with no discernable consistency, air/engine temp. speed, but rarely when stationary. Cost to replace fan/blower assembly was crazy. After a serious dismantle I added a few drops of sowing machine bearing lubricant and it went away but returned after five or six weeks. As there were extended periods of time when it didn't happen, finally I just left it alone and turned the radio up!