knocking/rattle while stopped in drive?

[mysterl33]

My camrys been making some really odd noises lately. It makes a sort of knocking sound when I'm stopped at a light and in Drive. It stops if I shift it to N or P. The sound seems to happen only after the cars fully warmed up. It's also intermitten, it'll happen maybe at 9/10 stops I make. There seems to be some oil on top of the transmission too which I dont know was there earlier or not since I never really looked there. This car seems to be just falling apart now It has 117k miles, 4-cyl, and is a 2000 camry LE

Anyone know of a good trusty mechanic in central NJ area? PM me

[Mister_Perkins]

Have you checked your oil level?

If you are running low on oil, the knocking sound could be related to the bearings not having enough lubrication. This is a huge problem if so.

You gave a generic idea of what the noise is so it's very hard to try and help you determine what the problem is. If its more of a metallic Rattling/knocking sound, it could simply be a heat shield broke loose from the exhaust and every once in a while when it gets in the right position, its vibrating off of the exhaust causing a sound.

I would first make sure all of your fluids are full though.

[SirThomas88]

Does the rattling stop or improve sometimes after a few moments of sitting in Drive?

Also, just out of curiosity... try this... when sitting in Drive and experiencing the "rattling", pull up the E-Brake and take your foot off the Gas. Pull the e-brake enough to hold your car stationary. Does the rattling lessen?

Sounds like your engine is riding rough at idle. I have a similar issue in my 1MZ, and it's because my RPM's drop down as low as 550 at idle when it's supposed to be at around 700. I also have leaky head gaskets.

[mysterl33]

if I pull the e-brake up, it does stop rattleing. I took a video after I pulled into my driveway today after work, I also attached a picture of my dipstick showing where my engine oil sits. It seems the headgasket is leaking oil.. There is some oil in the back part of the engine towards the cabin side. Hard to get a picture but I tried.

You Tube

You Tube

anyone know how much it would cost to get a new headgasket assuming this is the only thing wrong? I would take it to a mechanic but don't know any good ones since I never took it in before...

as always, thanks for the help!

[Mister_Perkins]

Ehum.. I think you mean Valve Cover Gasket.

You can get one at your local parts store for $10-$20.00. You will need a large socket or wrench to remove it.

And you are low on oil. You should tape a video with the hood open looking at the engine, and also one of underneath the back of the car looking at the exhaust

[mysterl33]

So I added a little more oil, I'll take a look tomorrow to see where it is on the dipstick.

I'll try to take more videos as you suggested tomorrow when there's light out.

Any ideas as to what could be wrong? It doesn't make the noise if its about the idle position so I dont know whats wrong with it.. this car seems to be just crapping on me now, fix one thing, another thing breaks...