Knocking/clicking noise in the engine

Tiny
SWOOD1214
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 MERCURY MARQUIS
  • 4.6L
  • V8
  • RWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 78,000 MILES
Roughly 1.5 years ago the intake went out. Didn't have the money to replace so the car sat for a year. Once I had the money my mechanic replaced the intake, replaced the plugs and plug wires and changed the oil. It's been running great until recently. About two weeks ago, I started hearing a clicking noise when I would start it first thing in the morning. However, the noise only occurred at idle and after a few minutes it would stop. I initially thought it might be a pipe rattling since it would stop once the RPMs were increased slightly. I checked the oil (no visible leaking and it doesn't appear to be burning any oil). Now it's knocking all the time and it's getting louder to the extent that I feel like if I run the engine anymore it will blow. My guess is that the oil pump is about to go, or already gone. Any thoughts?
Wednesday, February 26th, 2014 AT 1:25 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
  • MECHANIC
  • 1,136 POSTS
It could just be a cracked flexplate which is the piece between the engine and transmission that has the starter gear on it. Does the sound get quieter when the car is put in gear and does the car run bad? Itd be worth it to have that checked before condemning the engine. The transmission has to be pulled away from the engine to properly check this but your looking at some cost here no matter what you choose to do or the outcome of the diagnosis. But the car is low mileage so id encourage fixing the problem if the rest of it is in decent shape
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Wednesday, February 26th, 2014 AT 4:18 PM
Tiny
SWOOD1214
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  • 2 POSTS
#knowledge is power
Thanks for your reply. With regard to the knocking noise. It does dissipate when the car is in gear, but doesn't go away completely. The car is not running poorly at all. Regarding the car's current condition otherwise; there are little problems that I could otherwise live with. Mostly electrical in nature, ie; radio changes stations on its own, the drivers window is the only one that is operable, there is a leak somewhere around the air vent under the hood near the windshield that I haven't been able to find and fix, the power passenger seat no longer works. Other than that, the car still looks good.
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Thursday, February 27th, 2014 AT 5:54 AM
Tiny
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
  • MECHANIC
  • 1,136 POSTS
With a cracked flexplate the noise wont necessarily go away but will change pitch or volume when the car is in gear. Now its all up to you if youre going to have this further investigated. Id hate to tell you its the flexplate and its the motor or vice versa
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Thursday, February 27th, 2014 AT 5:45 PM

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