valves?
exhaust leak?

 

check for an exhaust leak, if there isnt one, i'll bet $5 its time for a new engien... have you taken the liberty of doing donuts recently? hows the oil level?

 

Thanks for the tips. I took the car to the dealership yesterday but they cant figure out what it is. I hope you guys are right and its an exhaust leak because I dont have the money to pay for an engine replacement. I did check the oil level and it was pretty low...I dont know if that creates any other possibilities.

 

Read this site about precats. What year is your car? Does it have the original header on it.

 

Its a 2001 Spyder, and I do believe the headers are the originals.

 

Uh oh. Your pre-catalytic converters, located in the exhaust manifold, might have deteriorated, and some of the abrasive ceramic debris might have gotten sucked back into the cylinders, thus ruining the engines. That's what's meant here by precat failure. It's rare but common enough to be famous on this site. Primarily effects 2000 and 2001 models and some 2002's also. Better read up on it.

How long have you owned the car? Did you buy it from a dealer? Does it have a warranty that covers engine failure?

 

I just bought the car from a lady like 2 weeks ago but never noticed it until one night when it was really quiet but it seems to be even worse now. I checked the warranty because she bought it from the dealership 1 year ago and I found out that the warranty literally expired on the 9th. I missed it by like 6 days.

 

Might be louder because it's losing oil. Get the oil up to level and the noise might get better but you still probably have a serious problem. I'm no expert. I'm just filling in until the experts arrive in this thread.

I assume your bill of sale with the woman said "as is", with no implied warranties. Do you know how long she owned it? Did she say why she was selling?

 

Unfortuantely the bill of sale was as is and she owned it for a year as of October 9 which was when the warranty ended. She said she was selling it because i "wasnt a realistic car for a mother with a kid because there was no room to put groceries or anything"...I hope I didnt just get scammed

 

Nope. You got an opportunity to get a 2zz. Or buy my 1zz.

 

Don't you guys think it's a little early to be saying that his engine is done? It could be as minor as an exhaust leak. This doesn't necsesarily sound like the typical pre-cat failure if it's just a noise. Like someone said, check for exhaust leaks. Then keep a very close eye on your oil level. If it's pre-cat failure then you'll most likely be burning oil.

 

Ill take a look thanks. The sound seems to be coming from the engine though, but I dont know too much about cars so maybe it still could be an exhaust leak.

 

emissions are covered up until 80k miles isnt it? you will have to fight the dealer but it should still be covered

 

I thought so but I think its either 80k or 6 yrs whichever comes first. Im gonna go in hopefully tomorrow to argue with them and try to get it done under warranty.

 

Might only be one of the heatshields.
Oh wait, Toyota checked and couldnt find anything?

Might be two of the heatshields

 

Man this is scarying me. I think I hear the same noise in my car. The car starts up fine but when I drive it I hear a buzzing noise through certain RPMs. The noise would go away after the engine warms up but when I am stopped and the engine is ideling I can hear clicking and ticking noises coming from the engine bay. Everyone who rides in my car askes me "whats that sound?" I really hope it is nothing serious. The car drives fine and it doesnt seem like I am losing any power. Seems like a lot of people have gone through engines becuse of the precats.

 

these engines are noisey. keep an eye on your oil level, and gut your precats. :wink:

 

If its over 6 years, you have no warranty.

Have you revved the crap out of your engine recently?

Check your precats and look for disgregation.

An exhaust leak will show up as black deposits around a exhaust joint or possibly a crack in a pipe.

Where are you located?

 

Well I talked to Toyota today and they say it needs a new engine but in order for him to file a claim with Toyota he needs to see it has been well maintained, but I cant find my oil change slips anywhere.

 

So if you were to have done the oil changes yourself then that wouldn't be "well maintained"?

 

That sounds just like my original Spyder motor when it went.

Rev it to 3.5k RPM's (almost exactly, you can tell when you hit 3.5k because the noise starts), and "tik-tik-tik-tik". For me, it was a spun rod bearing. I could have cried, because I had owned the car for less then 6 months as well. 1zz's are notorious for doing this, especially with the precats, but not only with the precats. My precats were pristine. It had just been burning oil, ran low, and blew the engine.

I would be like everyone else, and vote you go 2zz (I did recently, and I'm very glad I did), but I was in your situation. Just bought the car, didn't have any money at all, much less $4200 or so for an engine swap.

There's good new and bad news. Bad news is, your engine is more than likely blown. As someone who's owned at 2 different engines with this problem, I would put a ton of money on it...if I had a ton of money.

Good news is, it's not as bad as you are thinking.

Let Toyota do the work ONLY if it is covered under warranty. If it's not covered, they will charge you as much a 2zz swap for a motor that'll just do the same thing over again (they'll leave the precats in it).

So, if it's not covered, do this IN THIS ORDER:

1. Gut your precats. This is only after you have determined, for sure, that Toyota won't do the engine work for free. There are threads in the Library explaining this process. If you put in a new engine with bad precats on it, the new engine will sound just like the old engine in no time.

2. Buy a used engine. You can find a good Corolla motor on carparts.com for around $400. The Corolla motor fits, but takes a couple hours of "extra" work (easy stuff, though) to swap it over. If they tell you a Corolla motor won't fit, laugh at them. I drove a Corolla 1zz motor in mine for months, and now another SC member is driving around with it in his car.

If you want a good used Spyder 1zz engine, those can be found reasonably priced as well (ask around here, for instance, Oilfield Trash mentioned above that his was for sale). A new engine can be in your car for well under $1000. I've done it, as have tons of other people.

3. Put the new engine in. If you do this yourself, you'll save a lot of money, and you'll gain priceless knowledge of your car. I had never changed oil in a car before I swapped my motor, and the helpful people here made it possible to swap it in a weekend.

Or, pay someone else to do it, and point them here for easy tips from people who have done it before.

4. Drive away happy.

Our cars are great, but the 1zz motor does this a lot due to the precat problems. If you gut your precats, change the motor, and check your oil regularly, you'll be safe (as safe as with any car, anyway). Don't let this experience ruin you on these cars. Stick with it. You'll be glad you did.

MoAtt

 

00000000000

 

Thanks everyone for the help. They filled it up with oil and the sound is a lot quieter but they told me that the engine is probably damaged but its hard to say how badly. They said they are willing to file a claim with Toyota but it would be more credible if I had oil change slips showing it was well maintained. I would tell them that I did it myself but earlier I told them I had it done at a place because I thought I could find the slips.
If I do end up paying for it Im definitely going to drop a 2zz in. Thanks again everyone.

 

Good luck, caverick. Don't let them push you around one single bit. Insist that it be handled under warranty. Show no mercy!

 

Originally posted by T-bone
+1 go back there and say that you did your changes every 3K and that many have been done by yourself. and I did not charge myslef. If they still want reciepts get the guy to give you his full name, the managers name and the Toyota phone number. His BS will soon disapear.

They then will ask for reciepts for the oil and filter.