A bit of Sunday storytime for the board...
About a month ago, randomly, I started the car and got this horrible knock with a rough idle. So I turned the engine off immediately, and grabbed my diagnostic tools - timing light, code reader, etc.
Started it back up, and the sound randomly disappeared, as did the misfires. It did not return. In the ensuing month I developed some valvetrain noise which I didn't connect to the same event. I figured I had loose valves, as there was a clickety-clack coming from the valve cover.
Fast forward to today, I finally had time to take the valve cover off to check the clearances and what do I see? Inside one of the passages inside the valve cover had migrated a random bolt.
Yes, a bolt, which obviously must have been floating freely amongst my valvetrain and migrated, somehow, into this passage.
I checked all the bolts I could see with the valve cover off, on the cam journals, etc. No missing bolts. The only explanation I can (embarassingly) come up with is that it got knocked in there one day when changing the oil. Surely I would (should) have noticed? Oh well.
No visual damage that I can see, and valves are within specs. Started the car back up and the valvetrain makes much less clickety-clack noise now
I am not a smrt man.
About a month ago, randomly, I started the car and got this horrible knock with a rough idle. So I turned the engine off immediately, and grabbed my diagnostic tools - timing light, code reader, etc.
Started it back up, and the sound randomly disappeared, as did the misfires. It did not return. In the ensuing month I developed some valvetrain noise which I didn't connect to the same event. I figured I had loose valves, as there was a clickety-clack coming from the valve cover.
Fast forward to today, I finally had time to take the valve cover off to check the clearances and what do I see? Inside one of the passages inside the valve cover had migrated a random bolt.
Yes, a bolt, which obviously must have been floating freely amongst my valvetrain and migrated, somehow, into this passage.
I checked all the bolts I could see with the valve cover off, on the cam journals, etc. No missing bolts. The only explanation I can (embarassingly) come up with is that it got knocked in there one day when changing the oil. Surely I would (should) have noticed? Oh well.
No visual damage that I can see, and valves are within specs. Started the car back up and the valvetrain makes much less clickety-clack noise now