Common Noises From Your Vehicle’s Engine And Mitigating Them

Your dearest vehicle is your foremost pride and any kind of noise arising from it could be a highly disturbing scenario. And you ought to know that a noise from the vehicle’s engine could mean anything.

In some cases, the engine noises could be fixed with just a slight tune-up, while others may require a complete overhaul of the part and demands lot more investment than the former. This is why any kind of noise from your car’s engine should be taken seriously so that it does not turn a big-time trouble in the future.

Kinds Of Noises From Your Vehicle

Car Engine Noises could be of the following types:

• Clicking or Ticking Noise
• Squealing Noise
• Popping Noise
• Pinging or Knocking Noise
• Noise during accelerating the vehicle
• Roaring noises while idling

Let us see all these noises in a bit detail:

Clicking Or Ticking Sounds:

These kinds of sounds are generated from the reciprocating parts of the vehicle such as valve lifters, piston or connecting rods when the engine is in operation. If any such noises occur from your vehicle too, listen to them and try to analyze the cause.

For instance, when your car makes a groaning or clicking noise while going over a speed-bump, it could be an indication of damaged struts or sway bars etc. And if you are sure that it’s the engine that makes the sound, check the engine oil. A clicking or ticking noise from the engine could be due to the following:

• Worn valve lifters
• Worn engine bearings
• Incorrect valve clearance
• Low engine oil
• Worn belts or idler pulleys

In order to stop these noises, you could either get the engine oil replaced or replace the worn out part. The cause of engine noises such as those mentioned can be due to something relatively minor, such as a belt replacement or valve-train adjustment to a much more serious and expensive problem, such as a knocking engine bearing. And in every case, you could get assistance from an expert car repair servicemen to get the real cause of the trouble.

Squealing Sound:

Every time you accelerate the vehicle and hear a squealing, squeaking or whining sound, there are clear chances of a damaged belt. And this damaged belt offers a squeaking noise while accelerating.

Apart from this, the squealing noises could also be caused due to the following:

• Pulley damages, which lead to slipping of the belt
• Loose belts, which require tightening

In more than half of the cases of noise, the trouble could be fixed by either tightening or replacing the belt. However, if you are a real newbie and do not know this even a bit, get the assistance of an expert car mechanic. You never know, you may also need to replace a belt pulley in order to get rid of the noise.

Popping Noises:

The popping noises from a vehicle could be caused due to irregular tune-up of the same and you could visit a mechanic to get a quick tune-up.

However, if even the tune-ups do no good to resolve the popping sounds, you should look for the following troubles:

• Choked fuel filter
• Dirty air filter
• Vacuum leaks
• Damaged or leaking spark plug wires
• Ignition system malfunctioning

All these troubles could be extremely simple to fix and never require any huge investment. Wisely, you should take it to a regular mechanic and inform them of the symptoms you are having and the previous repairs and services done. But when you overlook these minor troubles, they generally continue to degrade into whopping problems after a period of time which will also be much more expensive to repair.

Pinging Or Knocking Noise:

Pinging or knocking noises are mostly the indicators of ignition troubles. When the spark plugs ignite the air/fuel blend in the cylinder and then some more fuel enters the vicinity of combustion, “detonation” or “pre-ignition” occurs which causes a pinging or knocking sound.

Ignition troubles could be caused due to the following reasons:

• Incorrect ignition timing
• Worn spark plugs
• clogged air filter
• Ineffective fuel injector
• Ineffective ignition coils

And in any such case, do not attempt to repair the vehicle yourself, unless you’re reasonably experienced with the components and familiar with the way engines operate. Get the assistance of an expert and get the vehicle repaired in a timely manner.

Noises While Accelerating The Vehicle:

You could have heard some sounds that appear only during accelerating it and nowhere else. And some of these sounds indicate frictional troubles which could be easy to fix. You could replace or tighten (as required) the various belts associated with the engine to subside such sounds.

However, sounds during acceleration could be caused due to many other serious troubles too, such as:

• Damaged or ineffective water pump
• Bent connecting rod
• Worn suspension parts
• Worn drive axles or transmission
• Troubles with air conditioner compressor

Any such troubles in your vehicle could dig a big hole in your bank account and hence they need to be identified early to prevent any bigger troubles. Consult an expert car mechanic and let him identify the real cause.

Noises While Idling:

Over time, almost all the engines would make some kind of noise since the wear and tear occurring on an engine’s parts is inevitable. Many times, even the engine makes some kind of noise while idling which is not at all desirable.

If you notice any such noises (such as clicking or hissing) you could attempt the following tune-ups:

• Adjust the valves of the vehicle
• Check the level of engine oil and refill or replace it as required
• Check the oil pressure and ensure it to be optimum
• Resolve the overheating troubles of your engine.
• Check for damaged vacuum hoses and other components which could cause a vacuum leak

All such troubles could also be fixed by contacting an expert car mechanic.

And for any kind of minor or major repairs, tune-ups and other services, you could always contact ‘Car Inspectors’ who offer ASE Certified automotive technicians to assist each and every trouble of the engine.

Plus, you could also get any kind of used car inspected thoroughly before buying it. Contact ‘Car Inspectors’ and obtain these services in a cost-effective and highly convenient manner.