2003 Accent Engine Ping?

henkew

My daughter bought a used Hyundai Accent 2003 during the summer. There was a lot of sludge in the oil and we changed it often until it looked clean. Has been running great and excellent gas mileage (37). She has been getting an P1401 engine code from time to time, we changed the gas cap which sounds like the most common problem. But the code still shows up after a few weeks. Then last week several things happen. The weather turned really cold, her gas mileage dropped to 30mpg, and she got an P0325 error along with a ping sound in the engine. Any ideas/suggestions? Here is a link to the video and sound I'm talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGK_-6k8XQ0&feature=youtu.be

Any ideas/suggestions?

Mr_Shiftright

That's not a ping. That is valve lifter or camshaft noise. I would pull the valve cover ASAP and see if there is a lot of sludge buildup. If so, (which I suspect) then the oil galleys in the engine are plugging up and you have a serious problem.

If the engine looks spotlessly clean up top, then have the camshaft lobes examined for wear or "galling" (rough surfaces). If that's all okay, then you should possibly consider new valve lifters, which might be worn or clogged up.

In the meantime, this car is GROUNDED.

henkew

Will pull it tonight, thanks. I do suspect the sludge is heavy, based on our early oil changes and dipstick readings. It had been much better though, thought maybe we had stabilized it. BUT, the oil levels were also very low when we checked it last night. It had been holding up well and it had been a couple months since she last checked. No light had come on yet but it was def scary low. So...yeah. Not good.

Mr_Shiftright

Well if it's sludged up and you are up for repairs, you can pull the head and dunk it in solvent (after removing everything of course) and then drop the pan and clean all that out, too. Or send the head out complete to a machine shop to be broken down and tanked and then reassembled for you (always risky as they might find other problems and then where are you--with an engine all apart).

Given the low value of the car, you're going to have to make a decision at some point whether to hold 'em or fold 'em.

henkew

We took off the valve cover last night, nothing appears broken. From the top, it looks like it is all working like it should. I expected it to be full of sludge and was surprised it wasn't. Camshaft looks fine from my inspections. So maybe it is a bearing, which isn't worth fixing. We'll prob do an oil change tonight, an STP or treatment of some sort, and drive it till it dies. Hopefully it lasts a while. Unless anyone has any other ideas. Maybe I'll check the compression, although I'm not sure that will tell me anything at this point. I don't hear the knocking at all when it's just turning over and not firing (all plugs wires removed). Not sure if that means anything or not....could that mean it's not a bearing?