1989 328 head noise

Hi John, I never heard this problem earlier. Can de block be warped by overheating or were the motor mounts not right. I know of many 328's that did many moler miles than the 54K and still hardly oil consumption or else. You did follow a long route and made the right choice to go for an engine out.
I am happy that my Euro spec has no lambda sensor. The engine is easier to work on as many is easier acessable. I set my idle at 900RPM when warm resulting in 700-750 when cold and it runs even at 700RPM rather smooth.
This winter I changed all lights to Led, what a great improvement against little money.
Happy Eastern! Menno

 

Marco, did you make any progress?

 

Life in Australia must be different. I have an old $200 engine hoist I bought from my neighborhood automotive store (Kragen's) 15 years ago when I pulled the engine off a 308GT4. It has worked well in many applications including the time I pulled my 328 engine out straight through the back of the car. I used it to haul engines from the ground to the engine stands until I figured out my 4 post lift can do the same thing without having to reassemble the engine hoist. It now sits outside covered up until I need it ... once a year.

 

Marco, this is so typical for working on your own car. Take your time and step by step! Look forward to further news here.
Good luck,
Menno

 

I found this with the hoist I used to take mine out. Had to come at it from the left side. It makes it more difficult ( you have to remove the LHR wheel) but it is do-able. Definitely needs 2-3 people to watch everything though.

 

Just read this thread for the first time...

Before you do any more work - do you still have the oil you drained from the engine or is there enough remaining in the sump that could be sent for oil analysis? It would be interesting to see an oil analysis because the symptom description and the sound file (from what I'm hearing on my laptop) don't fit the diagnosis - it sounds too 'light' for bearing knock. Sounds more like some of the other suggestions - exhaust leak, valve train noise, spark arcing, etc. I realize you checked all that but bearing noise is generally heavier and increases in volume as the load is increased. Usual test is to put the car in top gear and essentially "lug" the engine, preferably uphill. Bearing knock will become very obvious with that test.

How was the oil pressure? If normal under all conditions, especially at idle/operating temp, it indicates that the bearings are OK. I realize that cutting open the filter produced alarming results and if this was a US V8 and I was concerned, I'd say, what the heck, drop the pan and take a look - it takes very little time to do that/pull some rod/main bearing caps. But on these cars I'd really want to be SURE I'm not wasting a lot of time (and probably even more money) doing unnecessary work.

Frankly, if the pressure was OK and a load test did not produce any thumping/knocking, I would have just changed the oil, installed a new filter and do another filter cut check in 500 miles. Well, actually, I wouldn't have done that! I have never cut open an oil filter so I wouldn't have ever seen those particles in the first place! I guess what I'm saying is that absent an oil pressure problem and knocking under load I wouldn't be looking at the sound as bearing related. Not saying I'm right, just saying that bearings would not have occurred to me as the cause of the noise.

In any case, best of luck and wishes for an inexpensive solution!

 

hehe, did the sound come back again ?

 

Well, 270 kgs is also the figure I have in mind, yes (273kgs??) Can't remember where from, but it should be right.

Rgds

 

Wow.. that can’t be good. How long have you owned the car? Almost looks like some sort of STP additive.