Identify the Noise - win.. nothing.

Timing a notch out

Tried Audacity?

That was the very piece of software in fact, that failed to save a working MP3 file via LAMEenc. I'm sure it relates to the small file size in some way. Either way, right now i'm far more concerned about my car! :)

Oh. Does this mean piston/valve damage?.. What can cause this to shift? Worn cambelt? I was coming up to replacing it within the next 5-6k miles. If no damage, would I be right in thinking that this would be a good course of action to rectify the problem as a whole?

If that was the problem, it wouldn't.

If as in "he's wrong" or if as in "its ridiculous to assume thats the problem based on a 20 second audio clip"? I'm not assuming anything, merely trying to work out what the problem is.

Still, comforting to know that i'm not (yet) looking at an engine rebuild, so thanks.

No, as in if the timing is a tooth out, you'll not have the pistons hitting the valves. For that to occur, we're talking 50+ degrees out, not a handful which a notch out would be.

What he is referring to, I think, is the pump timing being out. The pump is run off the belt/chain and you can think of it along the lines of ye olden distributor on petrol engines but with diesel instead of a spark. It has to be set to inject the diesel at exactly the right time. If it's a bit out you get a knocking sound. Likewise in a petrol car, if the ignition timing is out, you can get pinking.

If it is out, it means the timing belt has stretched or slipped (unless it had been doing it since the last belt change) - neither of which is a good thing.

And for anyone googling for the exact definition of pinking, please ignore any of Peter Macmillan's posts.

To the untrained ear it sounds like every other diesel on the road :-)

It's hard to say. It's more like something just affecting just the one cylinder. If it had been worse when you revved it, I would of said a leaking exhaust manifold gasket, but I'd hazard a guess at something wrong with either a tappet or injector (the tapping seems to match the engine speed quite closely).

Can you tell what area the tapping is coming from?

True, if I hadn't known what the car normally sounds like i'd probably assume it was normal :)... but like I suspect many others, I am very sensitive to any change in the sound of the engine. I drive a lot more care-free when music is drowning it out, quite frankly.

On 05-Mar-06 15:00:25, Chris Bolus said

Hey don't change a thing - this is one of the few sounds I've downloaded that my Amiga played perfectly!

All the best, Angus Manwaring. (for e-mail remove ANTISPEM)

I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga Game reviews by Amiga players

it is a common rail, look up the essentials on that and correct your answer....

Its really hard to tell. If I had to describe it i'd say its internal. Its a lot more noticable from inside the car or aside the car when the bonnet's closed. The noise of the vibration with the bonnet open drowns it out.

Seems to be coming from the head.

Sound quality is good. I have similar engine in a Citroen Xantia. Must admit that's what it sounds like on cold and frosty mornings. Any difference when hot? Does it run ok? DaveK.

On the very cold mornings it has extremely loud diesel rattle but thats perfectly normal and it generally quietens down once the temperature approaches normal. I didn't actually run the engine for long enough today to reach normal running temperature, so not sure, but it felt, to drive, absolutely normal.

Also sounds exactly like my Xantia until warmed up as well, and it's just had a service including cam belt change.

If the Pug 306 '99 is equipped with a knock sensor, then I would not feel easy until I have shown to my satisfaction that the tapping noise is not of rapid engine knocking. The 7 year old car could have enough accumulated carbon deposits to cause this detonation. Before last weekend, the knock sensor was able to produce adequate retardation of the normal ignition advance to eliminate the detonation.

While there are other causes of the abrupt appearance of the noise and of the close correlation between frequency/loudness and throttle pressure, a faulty knock sensor can be easily tested and eliminated.

Ignore my last post! Just read the update!