[06titaniumgreen]

Not sure if this is the dreaded loose cam cover bolts on the 3.0L but the noise is not present at idle

the noise only occurs during mild acceleration particularly uphill. A farty kind of fluttering sound.

about 110k miles with regular service through its life.

 

[Mountain Escape]

Not sure if this is the dreaded loose cam cover bolts on the 3.0L but the noise is not present at idle

the noise only occurs during mild acceleration particularly uphill. A farty kind of fluttering sound.

about 110k miles with regular service through its life.

Welcome to the city, TG.
Have you listened with the hood up, while you rev the engine? Does it only make the noise when moving?
You should try to capture some audio with your phone – safely – while driving.

 

[LX302]

Sounds like detonation to me. Try running a higher Octane fuel or push on the accelerator a little more. At 110K did you replace the spark plugs yet?

 

[06titaniumgreen]

Welcome to the city, TG.
Have you listened with the hood up, while you rev the engine? Does it only make the noise when moving?
You should try to capture some audio with your phone – safely – while driving.

Thank you! I actually did record a slow drive up a windy road and caught the noises.

Only occurs in drive. I can’t get it to recurr in park

Sounds like detonation to me. Try running a higher Octane fuel or push on the accelerator a little more. At 110K did you replace the spark plugs yet?

 

[06titaniumgreen]

Thank you! I actually did record a slow drive up a windy road and caught the noises.

Only occurs in drive. I can’t get it to recurr in park

Thank you for the reply. I will try the octane upgrade first then probably due for a spark plug check like you mentioned.

Hey what do you think about the preventative replacement of the cam cover bolts?

 

[tomw]

The cam cover bolts will not make any noise that I can think of. The cam bearing caps can make noise if their retainer bolts work loose. Loose bolts would allow the cap to have a gap between itself and the cylinder head, allowing the cam to move around. They are inside the cam cover. I do not know of a problem with the cam cover. If you do remove the cam covers, and re-torque the cam bearing caps(around 15ft/lb from memory, not real tight) I would replace the cam cover gaskets at the same time. They harden with age, and start to allow oil to seep down the engine and coat everything. Not expensive, and the best time is when you check. Do not forget that dab of RTV gasket sealant at the joint of the front cover-block-cam cover as it will hopefully prevent seepage there. Doesn't take much, but will likely make a difference.
tom

 

[06titaniumgreen]

The cam cover bolts will not make any noise that I can think of. The cam bearing caps can make noise if their retainer bolts work loose. Loose bolts would allow the cap to have a gap between itself and the cylinder head, allowing the cam to move around. They are inside the cam cover. I do not know of a problem with the cam cover. If you do remove the cam covers, and re-torque the cam bearing caps(around 15ft/lb from memory, not real tight) I would replace the cam cover gaskets at the same time. They harden with age, and start to allow oil to seep down the engine and coat everything. Not expensive, and the best time is when you check. Do not forget that dab of RTV gasket sealant at the joint of the front cover-block-cam cover as it will hopefully prevent seepage there. Doesn't take much, but will likely make a difference.
tom

Thank you! She is at 110k so will do this and hopefully get another few 100k out of her.

 

[Mountain Escape]

Thank you! She is at 110k so will do this and hopefully get another few 100k out of her.

if it's leaking, deal with it. Don't fix it if it ain't broke. Be prepared to do that sometime possibly in the future, but I think you should do a little more diagnosis.

figure out what is going on. Did you make a sound recording of your noise? Share it please
Do not assume that someone else's problem/fix is identical to yours.
If your cam bearing caps are that loose, it would be clackity-clacking away all the time.

only doing it under acceleration up a winding road sounds more like detonation like LX said, or a CV axle, then cam bearing caps.

we can guess all day, please post audio.