High pressure air sound on drivers side of motor

[CRCinAU]

Hi all,

This is a new one for me.... Today the Mrs got home from driving and told me the car is making a ticking sound... Opened up the bonnet and all looked normal... When she started it, I can hear what sounds to be a high pressure air escaping from somewhere down the drivers side of the motor.

I can't quite figure out where its coming from - if its exhaust, or something escaping under the rocker cover? I should clarify that it isn't a constant hiss - but more a pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft that increases in speed as the engine does...

It seems to idle normally - not excessively rough or as if a cylinder is missing...

I'm thinking of pulling off individual spark leads at the ignition side just to see if there is a difference in idle on each cylinder - but I thought I'd try to get some ideas from here before I get too involved...

Its a 95VR v6... about 460,000km on the dial...

I did have that bastard hose under the alternator that goes to the LPG evaporator split over the weekend - so I replaced that and the bar that goes into the block (stupid plastic parts!).

Any thoughts on what to check?

 

[CRCinAU]

Just took this to the mechanics - they say the noise sounds like compression related - so they seem to think its the head... They also mentioned that it may be possible to fit a gasket on there - as these models don't have one as stock to fix the problem.

They also quoted around $1500-$2000 to do this. To me, that sounds a bit excessive - but I can't say I've had to do this to any car before...

Thoughts in general?

 

[spud_22]

Do a compression test, should tell if its a head or not. If it is you can pick up a whole engine for less than $900 with low km and drop that in.

 

[CRCinAU]

Do a compression test, should tell if its a head or not. If it is you can pick up a whole engine for less than $900 with low km and drop that in.

Yeah - I did think of this - but I don't have a compression tool at this stage - or any transport to go get one - except driving the same car...

I briefly mentioned to the mechanic about just replacing the motor, he said ~$3000-$3500... which to me sounds excessive as well

 

[aussieakito]

First check all the spark plugs are in properly.

 

[spud_22]

Thats crap you can buy a new vs for that price. Any friends with some tools and a engine crane or rafter and block and tackle? Not to hard once you get started, just need to be able to get the engine out and new one in.

 

[CRCinAU]

Thats pretty much what I thought re the VS etc... Especially with the number of Km this VR has done (as I said, above 460,000). I'm seeing engines on ebay etc for ~$400-$500 with some of the places able to do an install as well. Means I may be able to get engine + install for around $1000. It seems that most motors seem to have ~1/2 the km on them as this one as well.

At this stage, I don't know anyone with all the kit to do it. The thing I don't understand is that it still runs well - it accelerates fine, it idles well - so I'm at a bit of a loss there.

Good idea about the spark plugs - I haven't changed them in a while so I must say I didn't even think about checking them... Will give that a go...

 

[CRCinAU]

This looks a bit strange... I pulled out all the plugs along the drivers side and this was the one that came out of Cylinder #6. (drivers side rear).



Theres a lot of residue on the end of the spark plug (not the spark end). I cleaned this up with a wire brush and put it in a cylinder on the passenger side to see if the noise moved to the opposite side - but the noise was still present in the same place. All the plugs looked used on the drivers side - but no real buildup or anything on the cylinder side...

It seems to be coming from around this cylinder - but I can't see anything immediately obvious. Theres also a larger amount of buildup around the actual plug itself on the engine block...

Thoughts?

 

[aussieakito]

Far out those plugs have seen better days. I would be changing them.

If its leaking oil on the plug it could be rocker cover. Wouldnt be making that sound though.

Made sure exhaust manifold isnt loose?

 

[CRCinAU]

Yeah - its difficult as I can't see jack **** down that side of the engine due to the ABS module etc. I've given a few things a bit of a shake, but nothing seems loose... The hard part is that I don't think I'm going to be able to see anything unless I start pulling things apart