Engine Noise Solved!

General discussions about the Pontiac Vibe & Toyota Matrix. New members, introduce yourself here!
Post Reply
wmdiess
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2016 12:13 pm

Engine Noise Solved!

Post by wmdiess »

Sometimes a blind squirrel finds an acorn.

I've owned a 2006 Vibe for about a month now. I've noticed that there is a "tick" in the engine, not unlike you would hear from a stuck lifter (if the Vibe had mechanical lifters). It bothered me, but I couldn't find anything, so I lived with it.

Today I changed the valve cover gasket. I did this because the coils were soaked in oil when I changed the plugs (great car buy eh).

When I took off the valve cover, I noticed a thin piece of sheet metal directly under the oil fill cap was bent in toward the cam shaft. It was not only bent, it had a scrape in it where the cam had been hitting. My guess is that someone shoved a funnel in the oil fill hole and bent the sheet metal so it came in contact with the cam. All I did was press the sheet metal with my thumb to bend it back and presto, no more ticking!

Bill
User avatar
ColonelPanic
Posts: 8419
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2003 8:48 am
Location: South Central Indiana

Re: Engine Noise Solved!

Post by ColonelPanic »

Great work and glad it was a simple fix! 8-)

I remember hearing about this a few years ago but forgot all about it. Apparently it doesn't take much to bend the baffle.
03 Vibe base. Born 10/14/2002 06:07 AM
Auto, Moon & Tunes, power package. 143k
Neptune/dying clearcoat/primer grey. :lol:

Image

'21 Elantra Limited - 2.0L/IVT
'15 Escape SE - 1.6L EcoBoost (hers)
Image Image
Derf
Posts: 529
Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2013 5:19 pm
Location: NW Ohio
Contact:

Re: Engine Noise Solved!

Post by Derf »

Its always a great day when its something simple.
While in the area how, did the PCV valve look?
2005 #10,524 Neptune Vibe "Bandit" Auto, Moon & Tunes 235k :D
1991 Pontiac Bonneville 3.8L "Granny's Whip" 142k (33nd Anniversary :o )
Image
User avatar
ImUrOBGYN
Posts: 438
Joined: Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:23 pm

Re: Engine Noise Solved!

Post by ImUrOBGYN »

Nice catch. You really have to watch for this if you take your car elsewhere for an oil change. I used to get super great deals on oil changes making it really not worth changing my own oil in the RAV. One of the things I always check after an oil change is that little metal guard. They'll jam the oil hose into it so they don't have to hold it but this can obviously cause severe damage. Needless to say, I made sure to point it out and then educate in the least asshole way possible. haha
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. - George Best
ImageImageImage
wmdiess
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2016 12:13 pm

Re: Engine Noise Solved!

Post by wmdiess »

ColonelPanic wrote:Apparently it doesn't take much to bend the baffle.
Thanks, I had no idea what it was called. There is a thin sheet metal baffle all the way across the inside top of the valve cover. I'm sure it is there to prevent liquid from being sucked into the PCV valve.

Bill
wmdiess
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2016 12:13 pm

Re: Engine Noise Solved!

Post by wmdiess »

Derf wrote:While in the area how, did the PCV valve look?
I could only blow air through it one way, so I'm going to say it looked good.

Bill
Pcktrckt
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 5:18 pm

Re: Engine Noise Solved!

Post by Pcktrckt »

I have a tick on a Corolla xrs 2zz and also noted a scrape on the sheet of metal inside the oil fill cap. Op, when you say you bent it back, is that downward? The tick is pronounced with the oil cap off. Thanks. Just waiting for a cool down to take care of the baffle.

Edit: the tick is louder on the serpentine side and did try to push down on the baffle, but it wouldn't move. Will have to wait until the valve cover is off to adjust it.
lannvouivre
Posts: 1601
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:00 pm
Location: Texas yay

Re: Engine Noise Solved!

Post by lannvouivre »

Towards the sky. Away from the camshafts.
"If you don't love me at my diddliest, you don't deserve me at my doodliest." - User ktluvscricket of reddit
Tmontague
Posts: 28
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2016 5:17 pm
Location: Hamilton ON

Re: Engine Noise Solved!

Post by Tmontague »

I've had my Vibe for about a month now as well, don't feel bad one of my coil packs had quite a bit of oil on it as well...did the same as you and put in a new valve cover gasket.

I did notice the metal was bent an assumed in to the from a funnel. That said, I never noticed noticed loud ticking or if I did I assumed it to be the typical loud Toyota injectors.

I'll take off the oil cap and pull the metal upwards and see if the sound changes.

Thanks for the tip!
The Fun: Toyota Vios '08 5spd m/t heavily modified
The Family whip: '05 Vibe AWD
Post Reply