Engine Knock 3.3 liter

[bbooth]

Hi,
My friend owns a 05 solara convertible with 3.3 liter V6. I figure I would post in the camry
forum to get more hits. Anyway the engine has started knocking at times about 3 months ago about when Katrina hit. We thought it was bad gas at the time, but it still does it. Dealer recommend running premium. This helped, but did not alleviate the knock. We use brand name gas (Shell, Mobil, Amoco). I have run techron fuel system cleaner several times and dry gas. The symptoms show up usually if you let it sit idle for over 5 minutes and then start out on a slight incline barely giving it gas. The noise can be described as a diesling noise back in the old days when some cars would make this noise shutting it off. So it's not a ping, but an actual knock sound. The dealer says this has been common as of late due to the lower quality gas. I own a G35 and subaru forester and neither one has exhibited this behaviour. Has anyone else experienced the knock? Should we be concerned?
Thanks for any insight!
Brian

[Gary_602Z]

Try another dealer it should not be knocking or pinging on the recomended octane in the owners manual.

Gary

[theman33b]

You said it happens on an incline so i would check to make sure there is enough oil in the engine because my 2vz (2.5l V6) I was low on oil and didnt even know it and it started knocking when i was going up a hill and before i knew it the engine had seized up and had to buy a whole new engine. Got to check that oil man