Not All Engine Noises Are Good...

[YOZ-F6]

Hi everyone,

I was driving back on the freeway on the weekend, and when I stopped at the exit, I heard a terrible noise coming from the front of the car. at first I thought it was the car in front of me, having bad engine problems...if only! so after I overtook him, I heard the same noise at the next set of traffic lights. so I pulled over, and popped the hood, and saw nothing out of place, checked underneath and the exhaust, cat, and dump pipe are all intact. so I limped straight home, and parked it off for the rest of the weekend. Does ANYONE have any idea as to what it could be? the noise is coming from the rear of the engine block, can be described as a LOUD clunking / banging when the engine is at idle. seems to go away when I accellerate, but its really bad when I slow down. There are no engine codes, no lights on the dash, my dad thinks it could be a pully of some sort come loose inside? since its the weekend, I'm taking it back to the guys who did the mods on it on monday, cause I'm just assuming that FPV won't touch it cause its been flashed.

so anyone know what could be happening? I was going to do a recording of the sound, but its so loud, my neighbours actually came out to see what was wrong when I pulled up. so out of respect for them I'm gonna leave it for tomorrow.

[Boosted1]

flexplate has come loose I would say without hearing it.if so dont drive it, if your competent on tools can be done yourself, if not your nearest tuner/ trusted mechanic can have it done in no time. seggest getting an atomic flexplate and new bolts if you are going down the mods path later on. zf auto too?

how much power are you pushing?

Edited 17/07/11 12:56 PM by Boosted1

[YOZ-F6]

Thanks for the reply!

yep, its the zf auto. my understanding of internal combustion engines and their components are just theoretical for now, so I'm not that comfortable doing a flex plate in the 'box myself! I'm having it towed tomorrow after work, and the regular guy I take it to should be able to suss it out in no time! I thought it was something bad like a blown piston or something! I hope it can be fixed easily!

[CCCC]

Hey buddy,is your car an auto,if it is theres a good chance that your flexplate bolts came loose, happens to these cars when you add more power to them. You gonna have to pull your box out an tighten those bolts back up, an while your there, grab a welder an tac the bolts to the plate so they dont come loose again, or ring atomic up an grab there special bolts for these cars.

[arronm]

I agree and if its a manual the flywheel has come loose.

Just saw its an auto , so I would say the flywheel is still at ford.

Edited 17/07/11 12:58 PM by arronm

[YOZ-F6]

that's such good news, thanks heaps guys. you have no idea how much I've been stressing all weekend about the possible damages I've done! has anyone else had this problem with their beasts? or just me? will Ford fix this as part of their warranty? the car is only a year old? or will they wipe their hands off it cause its been modded?

[JVK]

I would agree with the guys who have posted, seems to be a common issue once the boost gets turned up.

[spoolxr6]

An old trick to stregthen the flexplate is to add a beef plate in the middle. What I did was buy another flexplate, cut the middle out and weld it over the centre of the original again so that it is double the thickness in the middle of the flexplate. This is where they tend to strip out. This will save you about $ 600 from buying a billet one. Buy new bolts from Ford, use locktite and torque.

[Roof]

How did ya go?

Did you end up taking your car to someone else?

You'd definitely know about a stuffed/melted piston if it happened to you

[YOZ-F6]

Yeh not good, they checked the ECU and found its been flashed, so naturally they voided all warranty issues, and said its not the flex plate / bolts, and that I need a whole new bottom end! they quoted me $14000 for the new engine from melb, or $12k for a second hand one! if I wanna just rebuild the bottom end, its gonna cost $8600!! so the guy who did the mods wasn't happy, he went and had a chat to them, and he rekons its an oil gear issue, and nothing the mods did should affect that. not only that, but he also doesn't think its the bottom end that's gone, because of the noises its making. its more of an infrequent knock rather than a rythemic knock that I typical bottom end would have with issues. so he's gonna pull the box out tomorrow, and have a look, and I'm gonna pray hard that it is the flex plate, rather than me needing a whole new bottom end! cause I think its obvious I don't just have 8 grand sitting around, so he also said if worse comes to worst, fight them for it, cause they need to prove its the mods that did the damage, so I spoke with my dad, and he says that he's willing to take them to court to get this warranty issue sorted out. I'm also gonna look at insurance as a last resort, cause I can only ask the question, but if I need 8 grand to fix it, I don't have it so its gonna have to wait! much as its gonna kill me, I got no other options..

I drove it back from the dealer to the mechanics place, and the noise was still there, I dont even know if they even pulled the 'box out to see if it was a flex plate / bolt?! ford said straight out its the bottom end and I have to get a new one, or get this one fixed. so I'm hoping that they find something when they rip the 'box out tomorrow, then I'll keep you all posted!