1995 Toyota camry knocking?

I have a 1995 camry 3 liter v6 that drives smooth and idles smooth. I have
noticed that when I put my tranmission into gear that it makes this really
faint but audible knocking like a clunk clunk clunk clunk during idle at a
traffic light. This knocking noise isn't apparent when driving and when the
car is placed in neutral or park there is no knocking. When I rev the
engine up in park/neutral it also does NOT make any knocking noises.

I am concerned that maybe there is something wrong with the rod bearings. I
did drive the car really hard for about 5-10 minutes up to over 200 km/h on
the highway on a few odd occasions but I highly doubt something like that
could muck up the bearings. It has 140, 000km's and I am the original owner
that has diligently changed all the fluids in the car as per the service
manual recommendations.

I have no drag raced my car or ever did a hard off the line acceleration in
1st gear.

What does rod knock sound like? Thanks

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 19:28:19 GMT, "Steve" > wrote:

>I have a 1995 camry 3 liter v6 that drives smooth and idles smooth. I have
>noticed that when I put my tranmission into gear that it makes this really
>faint but audible knocking like a clunk clunk clunk clunk during idle at a
>traffic light. This knocking noise isn't apparent when driving and when the
>car is placed in neutral or park there is no knocking. When I rev the
>engine up in park/neutral it also does NOT make any knocking noises.
>
>I am concerned that maybe there is something wrong with the rod bearings. I
>did drive the car really hard for about 5-10 minutes up to over 200 km/h on
>the highway on a few odd occasions but I highly doubt something like that
>could muck up the bearings. It has 140, 000km's and I am the original owner
>that has diligently changed all the fluids in the car as per the service
>manual recommendations.
>
>I have no drag raced my car or ever did a hard off the line acceleration in
>1st gear.
>
>What does rod knock sound like? Thanks

www.pistonslap.com

Steve wrote:
> I have a 1995 camry 3 liter v6 that drives smooth and idles smooth.
I have
> noticed that when I put my tranmission into gear that it makes this
really
> faint but audible knocking like a clunk clunk clunk clunk during idle
at a
> traffic light. This knocking noise isn't apparent when driving and
when the
> car is placed in neutral or park there is no knocking. When I rev
the
> engine up in park/neutral it also does NOT make any knocking noises.
>
> I am concerned that maybe there is something wrong with the rod
bearings. I
> did drive the car really hard for about 5-10 minutes up to over 200
km/h on
> the highway on a few odd occasions but I highly doubt something like
that
> could muck up the bearings. It has 140, 000km's and I am the
original owner
> that has diligently changed all the fluids in the car as per the
service
> manual recommendations.
>
> I have no drag raced my car or ever did a hard off the line
acceleration in
> 1st gear.
>
> What does rod knock sound like? Thanks

If you had a rod bearing loose/ worn I would be able to hear it when
snap-accelerating the engine in neutral while under the hood. You said
you don't hear anything reving in neutral. Perhaps you have worn crank
main bearing(s). You could get the bearings visually inspected for a
few hours labor, but I would suggest you have a good mechanic listen to
the noise first before going that route.

More common on the 1MZ-FE engine is a slow tapping sound most
noticeable at idle. This can be excess clearance between one or more
of the valve lifters and their valve stem. I suspect from experience
that when a car does this fairly randomly that the cause is excess
carbon buildup on the back of the valves that keeps them from closing
completely. This creates the slight clearance issue and a tapping
sound results. I have seen well maintained 1MZ-FEs do this -- and it
was not a result of worn metal parts, just carbon buildup. Its not
exclusive to the 1MZ-FE, but that is a good example of an engine that
will do this more than others.

If a mechanic checks out your car and agrees you have a lifter tapping
sound you may want to go the route of induction cleaning. Successive
attempts may break loose the carbon in your combustion chambers and
restore your valve clearance(s).

Toyota MDT in MO

thanks for the info. Here's the thing... its like a very slight knocking
noise that only can be heard when in drive and idling. Accelerating and
driving and such makes absolutely no noise. In park or in neutral i can rev
the daylights out of the engine and not get any noise from the engine.

The light knocking has a consistent interval but when I step on the gas
slightly while in drive with the brake applied the sound goes away.

Could my main bearings be worn out? I have always changed the oil at 5000
km's and I'm the original owner and I've only bagged it maybe 3 times in the
whole time I've owned it and at the time of bagging it had 17, 000km's on
it.


"Comboverfish" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> Steve wrote:
>> I have a 1995 camry 3 liter v6 that drives smooth and idles smooth.
> I have
>> noticed that when I put my tranmission into gear that it makes this
> really
>> faint but audible knocking like a clunk clunk clunk clunk during idle
> at a
>> traffic light. This knocking noise isn't apparent when driving and
> when the
>> car is placed in neutral or park there is no knocking. When I rev
> the
>> engine up in park/neutral it also does NOT make any knocking noises.
>>
>> I am concerned that maybe there is something wrong with the rod
> bearings. I
>> did drive the car really hard for about 5-10 minutes up to over 200
> km/h on
>> the highway on a few odd occasions but I highly doubt something like
> that
>> could muck up the bearings. It has 140, 000km's and I am the
> original owner
>> that has diligently changed all the fluids in the car as per the
> service
>> manual recommendations.
>>
>> I have no drag raced my car or ever did a hard off the line
> acceleration in
>> 1st gear.
>>
>> What does rod knock sound like? Thanks
>
> If you had a rod bearing loose/ worn I would be able to hear it when
> snap-accelerating the engine in neutral while under the hood. You said
> you don't hear anything reving in neutral. Perhaps you have worn crank
> main bearing(s). You could get the bearings visually inspected for a
> few hours labor, but I would suggest you have a good mechanic listen to
> the noise first before going that route.
>
> More common on the 1MZ-FE engine is a slow tapping sound most
> noticeable at idle. This can be excess clearance between one or more
> of the valve lifters and their valve stem. I suspect from experience
> that when a car does this fairly randomly that the cause is excess
> carbon buildup on the back of the valves that keeps them from closing
> completely. This creates the slight clearance issue and a tapping
> sound results. I have seen well maintained 1MZ-FEs do this -- and it
> was not a result of worn metal parts, just carbon buildup. Its not
> exclusive to the 1MZ-FE, but that is a good example of an engine that
> will do this more than others.
>
> If a mechanic checks out your car and agrees you have a lifter tapping
> sound you may want to go the route of induction cleaning. Successive
> attempts may break loose the carbon in your combustion chambers and
> restore your valve clearance(s).
>
> Toyota MDT in MO
>

well I noticed something tonight... When the engine isn't at operating
temperature there is no noise from the engine. After the engine warms up
and in gear but idling there is a barely perceptable knock that is
reasonably consistent. I put the car back into park and placed a long metal
rod against the engine block and place my ear against it to listen to any
noises the engine may be making. I didn't hear anything but the valves and
when I revved the motor I didn't hear any knocking. I placed the rod low on
the engine and up high on the motor getting the same results. I doesn't
appear that the knocking is coming from the block as shown by my rod against
the block and my ear test. It almost seems like I the "popping/slight
knocking" noise is coming from the intake manifold area.

What does rod/main bearing knock sound like?
Thanks

"Steve" > wrote in message
news:%vwYd.647558$Xk.284112@pd7tw3no...
> thanks for the info. Here's the thing... its like a very slight knocking
> noise that only can be heard when in drive and idling. Accelerating and
> driving and such makes absolutely no noise. In park or in neutral i can
> rev the daylights out of the engine and not get any noise from the engine.
>
> The light knocking has a consistent interval but when I step on the gas
> slightly while in drive with the brake applied the sound goes away.
>
> Could my main bearings be worn out? I have always changed the oil at 5000
> km's and I'm the original owner and I've only bagged it maybe 3 times in
> the whole time I've owned it and at the time of bagging it had 17, 000km's
> on it.
>
>
> "Comboverfish" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
>>
>> Steve wrote:
>>> I have a 1995 camry 3 liter v6 that drives smooth and idles smooth.
>> I have
>>> noticed that when I put my tranmission into gear that it makes this
>> really
>>> faint but audible knocking like a clunk clunk clunk clunk during idle
>> at a
>>> traffic light. This knocking noise isn't apparent when driving and
>> when the
>>> car is placed in neutral or park there is no knocking. When I rev
>> the
>>> engine up in park/neutral it also does NOT make any knocking noises.
>>>
>>> I am concerned that maybe there is something wrong with the rod
>> bearings. I
>>> did drive the car really hard for about 5-10 minutes up to over 200
>> km/h on
>>> the highway on a few odd occasions but I highly doubt something like
>> that
>>> could muck up the bearings. It has 140, 000km's and I am the
>> original owner
>>> that has diligently changed all the fluids in the car as per the
>> service
>>> manual recommendations.
>>>
>>> I have no drag raced my car or ever did a hard off the line
>> acceleration in
>>> 1st gear.
>>>
>>> What does rod knock sound like? Thanks
>>
>> If you had a rod bearing loose/ worn I would be able to hear it when
>> snap-accelerating the engine in neutral while under the hood. You said
>> you don't hear anything reving in neutral. Perhaps you have worn crank
>> main bearing(s). You could get the bearings visually inspected for a
>> few hours labor, but I would suggest you have a good mechanic listen to
>> the noise first before going that route.
>>
>> More common on the 1MZ-FE engine is a slow tapping sound most
>> noticeable at idle. This can be excess clearance between one or more
>> of the valve lifters and their valve stem. I suspect from experience
>> that when a car does this fairly randomly that the cause is excess
>> carbon buildup on the back of the valves that keeps them from closing
>> completely. This creates the slight clearance issue and a tapping
>> sound results. I have seen well maintained 1MZ-FEs do this -- and it
>> was not a result of worn metal parts, just carbon buildup. Its not
>> exclusive to the 1MZ-FE, but that is a good example of an engine that
>> will do this more than others.
>>
>> If a mechanic checks out your car and agrees you have a lifter tapping
>> sound you may want to go the route of induction cleaning. Successive
>> attempts may break loose the carbon in your combustion chambers and
>> restore your valve clearance(s).
>>
>> Toyota MDT in MO
>>
>
>