1992 Mazda 121 Engine noise

bwg11, Mar 11, 8:40pm
I still think your comments at post #3 are very relevant. My first thought was it may have hydrauliced and bent a rod, but the knock is probably too high a frequency to be just one cylinder.

From memory that motor has the distibutor driven off the end of one cam. What if something caused the cam belt to jump a few teeth and it is now grossly over-advanced and what you are hearing is ignition knock? Just to eliminate one more thing, I would put a timing light on it. Over-advance would explain the starting issue you described in 3#.

gmphil, Mar 11, 9:22pm
if u have acces to a timimg light as above ! or old fashion way pull number one plug wind by hand to tdc check crank pulley for timming mark . wouldnt hurt pull top cam cover to have look .

directorylist, Mar 11, 9:40pm
that was only the first time i cranked it. starts fine now.

Doesnt sound to me like knock

bwg11, Mar 11, 9:48pm
Just looking at the facts:

1. Going perfectly the previous day.
2. Kicking back when starting once.
3. Now it has a terminal knock.

Bearings don't go bad overnight. I'm sure the two events are connected.

ema1, Mar 11, 11:49pm
I wonder if being an automatic that the flexi plate is parting company (cracked) and touching something in the bell housing, either that or maybe the starter might not be disengaging properly?
I'd be investigating in that area if I was you.
Perhaps the ring gear could be breaking away from the flexi plate, or coming adrift and touching something as the engine rotates.
It's definitely that sort of sound, and I have seen that happen before years ago.

NZTools, Mar 12, 2:17am
The only sure fire way to check is to.drain the oil and cut the filter open. Any signs of bearing material and go one step further and pull the sump off, otherwise, we are all just speculating

directorylist, Mar 12, 2:51am
Yeah, i've done about as much investigation as i can with the limited tools i have with me and the lack of any jacks :)

My GF has an AA membership so i'm getting it towed up to a mechanic to give me a final dead or worth fixing decision :)

I'll let you guys know what the verdict is :D thanks for your assistance i appreciate it

ceebee2, Mar 13, 4:48am
Bolts are loose in the flex plate.

intrade, Mar 13, 4:55am
could well be you would need to remove the cover and shine a torch while rotating the engine on crank with ignition off.

fordcrzy, Mar 13, 5:04am
its too fast to be top end. but then again it also sounds a tad too fast for bottom. i reckon oil pump or timing belt idler pulley maybe.

directorylist, Mar 13, 5:14am
Hmmm interesting idea. As far as i know its due a timing belt so its possible.

Got a mechanic looking at it tonight so hopefully i'll have more of an idea tomorrow :D

directorylist, Mar 13, 5:15am
Not sure, but the noise seems louder from the other end of the engine.

mechnificent, Mar 13, 8:10pm
Crank pulley loose on crank. Check the bolt and for play in the key.

directorylist, Mar 14, 12:55am
Doesnt seem to be play in the pulley

Mechanic had it on the hoist and seems to think that its bottom end, either rod or main. so the cars toast

Any thoughts to 1999 corollas? 1.8L with an 7A-FE engine? Got a mate who knows a guy etc about one. high KM but the motor looks imaculate and well serviced.

snoopy221, Mar 14, 1:28am
Jumps back in-get your mechanic to take all of FIVE minutes or so to put a damn oil pressure gauge on it.
If pressure okay get your mechanic to.

DROP IT'S PANTS.

Could AGAIN be the old holden dipstick noise
Simply being a broken windage tray in the sump.

jmma, Mar 14, 1:56am
If you think the car is toast, how about another vid, giving it a couple of revs then! (o:

bwg11, Mar 14, 2:02am
As snoopy says, Investigate further. As I said earlier, bearings don't go bad overnight and minor things can make serious noises. Some years ago I bought a VTR 1000 with a "blown motor". The noise was absolutely terminal. Turned out it was a broken cam chain tensioner and the noise would convince anyone it was self-destructing. A new tensioner and it was good as new.

tamarillo, Mar 14, 2:25am
THINKS? get another opinion from someone prepared to investigate not guess.

directorylist, Mar 16, 9:07pm
The issue is costs. if i was doing it myself then it would be worth it. but paying a guy wellington mechanics rates to have a look at a car that at best would be worth $1500 .

fordcrzy, Mar 16, 9:29pm
Just keep driving it then

intrade, Mar 16, 11:59pm
find out for sure what it should have done oil pressure reading like snoops said and listend with a screw driver on ear to oil sump

intrade, Apr 27, 5:15pm
put a new oil filter on it and see what happens ? befor you scrap it . i usually want to be sure to what is wrong i know of a story from a toyota prius mk1 the mechanic said it was the big end when in fact it was a bad coil pack. it was more complex because of the hybrid drive made it knock like a bigend bearing. So you can see swaptrons can take loads of wrong guesses .