What have you changed in order to quiet

[jorton]

What have you changed in order to quiet warm-up noise from a higher mileage engine?

Surely I should do something different to compensate for slightly increased rod bearing clearances in a high mileage engine like change grade, switch to synthetic, or add moly.

 

[hominid7]

My previous car required 20w50 above 14*F (according to the owners manual). I found most oils caused lifter noise on start-up in the winter with one exception, Valvoline AllClimate 20w50 resulted in an always quiet start-up for over 200K miles. There were a few times over the years when temps dipped below 14*F but i stuck with 20w50 and never had a problem. However this was a SOHC gas 4 banger engine. They were hard to kill. I would not try this with a DOHC multi-valve engine today.

This however was the case from the time it was brand new until i sold it. The engine ran the same the day i sold it at 225,000 miles as when i bought it with 21 miles on the odometer.

Sure the electrical system was fried, the paint was funky, but the engine and tranny were solid. Long live VW.

I did always use OEM filters though, and still do today. If i were having problems with start-up weirdness, that is the first thing i would do is get back to the OEM filter and the oil recommended in the owners manual and go from there.

 

[Merkava_4]

I'm a big fan of OEM filters too. To me it's always been an increase in oil thickness with an increase in bearing clearances; that just seems to make perfect sense.

 

[PT1]

try Maxlife blend 10w30

 

[levi]

ARX got rid of a ticking noise for me at start-up. Pretty good stuff.

 

[richter1]

The new Rotella 15w40 has been working well in our Hyundai Santa Fe.

 

[glennc]

No question mechanical noise can change with oil and tend to be louder with lighter oils and thinner films. The question that follows is does that mean the engine is wearing faster?

My tendency is to think not because often more noise is noted with thinner oils but UOAs still show excellent (even better) wear numbers.

Conversely a reduction in noise is often reported with thickener additives like Lucas and STP but the general feeling is that they do not help the oil work better and probably make it worse due to slower flow.

Is it a safe bet that most of even what sounds like metal-to-metal noise (tapping valves, etc) is actualy metal-to-oil-film noise, that has just been made louder because the oil film is thinner and therefore takes the load more abruptly, but is still not breached?

Perhaps it is the case that the level of noise is not a good indicator of the degree of protection inside the engine.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Engines that have aluminum blocks will also be slightly louder than an engine with an iron block, in the cars I've seen. Not always, but in general.

 

[HM12460]

never had that problem, not even on my old ford.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
Engines that have aluminum blocks will also be slightly louder than an engine with an iron block, in the cars I've seen. Not always, but in general.


TOTALLY agree with this. Al blocks can act like a big, resonant, amplified tuning fork as far as internal noises go.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: levi
ARX got rid of a ticking noise for me at start-up. Pretty good stuff.


As it should (and does).
But the o.p. was asking about rod knock type noises brought on by bearing wear, and the resultant greater clearances.
ARX will not help him in this area.

 

[levi]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: levi
ARX got rid of a ticking noise for me at start-up. Pretty good stuff.


As it should (and does).
But the o.p. was asking about rod knock type noises brought on by bearing wear, and the resultant greater clearances.
ARX will not help him in this area.


His actual question was: What have you changed in order to quiet warm-up noise from a higher mileage engine?

He then made a statement: Surely I should do something different to compensate for slightly increased rod bearing clearances in a high mileage engine like change grade, switch to synthetic, or add moly.

I directly answered his question as to what I did, and that it worked for me. I see your point. They may or may not be related. OP probably assumes they are.

 

[jorton]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: levi
ARX got rid of a ticking noise for me at start-up. Pretty good stuff.


As it should (and does).

ROD KNOCK TYPE NOISES.


I heard that on only 1 or 2 coolest mornings this winter so I think it's a good indicator there is a slightly increased clearance at one bearing. Unless, it's piston slap as a poster commented in another thread. Actually I really don't know what the origin of that knock is because:

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
Engines that have aluminum blocks will also be slightly louder than an engine with an iron block, in the cars I've seen. Not always, but in general.


TOTALLY agree with this. Al blocks can act like a big, resonant, amplified tuning fork as far as internal noises go.


Originally Posted By: PT1
try Maxlife blend 10w30


The recent oil report in the UOA forum has almost sold me on this oil, unless Exxon Superflo 10w30 performs just as well. Using superflo 5w20 now because I like the everyday price.