[andydunn7]

Hey, I just bought a used car and I think I got screwed over so am looking for a diagnosis to see if the car is worth fixing.

I purchased a 1998 toyota camry 4 cylinder 5S-FE. A day after I purchased the car I checked the oil fill cap and felt strong blow by coming from the engine. I changed the pcv valve, spark plugs, and the oil along with putting oil stabilizer in the car.

I hear that this issue can be costly to fix and I already got screwed on this car so cannot dump much more money into it.I am really at a loss as I thought I was purchasing a reliable car. I have already dumped over $700 into it plus the purchase price of the car and this whole ordeal is causing me a significant amount of stress.

The issue that I would really like to get rid of is this chattering/tapping noise coming from the crankcase for a bout 5 mins after I cold start the car, then goes away. It is really annoying and I would be satisfied if I could just make that initial noise go away.

Here is the link to a youtube video of the noise after I cold start my car. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[Mergatroyd]

Try to determine if the noise is from the engine internally or from external accessories. Remove the two belts that drive the AC compressor, alternator and power steering pump and run the engine briefly to see if the noise is gone. I suspect that the noise is from one of the external components-- this will make the diagnosis certain.

 

[andydunn7]

Hey, thanks and I will try that. The two belts are the alternator belt and the power steering belt correct? I sprayed water on the pullys and the sound is still there, but will try removing the belts and starting the car. The sound really sounds like it is coming from the crankcase tho.... Any point in trying seafoam or marvel mystery oil?

 

[BMR]

In your video, when you unscrew the oil fill cap, it appears to "float" due to the amount of air flowing out. Is that before you replaced the PCV valve? This engine may have excessive blow-by past the rings. That combustion gas goes into the crankcase and then up the oil ports, into the valve cover area and out the PCV. Some flow is normal; that's why the PCV exists. But yours seems awfully high to me.

 

[mcgowaw]

i think if it was me, i'd do what i recommend to anyone buying a 'new' old car. take it to a mechanic to have it checked out for a cylinder pressure test and to drop the oil and trans pans and see what's there, etc., as it sounds like you're not that familiar with diy yet. if there's excessive ring wear, you'll need to figure out how much more you want to spend to get it running well.
tony

 

[Stillrunning]

Try to determine if the noise is from the engine internally or from external accessories.

Yes, sounds like accessory noise to me. Could be alternator bearing, etc.

I'd suggest hot compression test and engine vacuum test. That will tell you how bad blow-by. The shaking oil cap could just be engine vibration.

 

[Mergatroyd]

The loose oil cap noise sounded like vacuum to me-- no smoke blowing out. At this point, that is meaningless. Nothing in the noise sounds to me like internal engine problem to me. But the belt removal procedure is very low cost and probably what some mechanics would do. Some use a stethoscope to pinpoint the source of noises.

 

[andydunn7]

In your video, when you unscrew the oil fill cap, it appears to "float" due to the amount of air flowing out. Is that before you replaced the PCV valve? This engine may have excessive blow-by past the rings. That combustion gas goes into the crankcase and then up the oil ports, into the valve cover area and out the PCV. Some flow is normal; that's why the PCV exists. But yours seems awfully high to me.

Thank you for your reply. Yes this was after I replaced the PCV valve unfortunately. I am more concerned about the noise upon cold start. If I could fix that then I would be happy.

 

[andydunn7]

Try to determine if the noise is from the engine internally or from external accessories. Remove the two belts that drive the AC compressor, alternator and power steering pump and run the engine briefly to see if the noise is gone. I suspect that the noise is from one of the external components-- this will make the diagnosis certain.

I just took the belts off and started the car. The noise still persists during a cold start. It really sounds like the noise is coming from the engine.... What should I try next? Thanks

 

[jjzepplin]

My Echo cap does that too. No Bigge there. Runs Great!

 

[jwsmsmith]

Noise from timing belt? I have heard a similar sound on an old Escort that turned out to be a bad timing belt. That particular engine (1.9) had a tension pulley on the timing belt.:|