If your car, truck, or C/SUV’s engine is knocking all the time, bring the automobile into Heath’s Auto Service as soon as possible. The sound of the engine knocking could be a sign of a problem that can cause serious engine damage. Therefore, it’s important to have the engine inspected as soon as possible to prevent additional and costly damage. Let’s talk about the causes of a knocking engine below.
Bad Engine Timing
It’s possible that the problem is related to the spark plugs. If your spark plugs are old and worn, they may fire multiple times instead of just once. When this happens, the multiple firings in the vehicle’s cylinders are what make the knocking sound. A faulty engine control module, your automobile’s main computer chip, can also fire the spark plugs out of order and cause bad engine timing.
Faulty Knock Sensor
The engine is equipped with a knock sensor that is designed to detect knocking sounds coming from the engine. If the knock sensor has gone bad, it will be unable to detect knocking sounds in the engine and report them to the engine control module. Consequently, because the module is unaware of the problem and cannot fix it, your engine will continue to knock.
Lean Fuel Mixture
Another cause of constant engine knocking is a lean fuel mixture in the combustion chamber. Any time the engine is fuel-starved, the combustion chamber has a lean fuel mixture. Consequently, there is enough fuel in the cylinders to generate a single firing only. Rather, the excess air will cause multiple firings in the cylinders, and, again, these firings are what make the knocking sounds.
Low Octane Rating
Another thing that can cause multiple firings in the cylinders is fuel that has a lower octane rating than what is recommended for your automobile. For example, if you drive a high-performance automobile, you cannot put 87-octane fuel in the tank. If you do, the engine will not because this fuel does not fire as quickly as 91-octane fuel does.
Worn Rod Bearings
Finally, as we said above, if your engine is knocking all the time, there could be a problem that can cause serious engine damage. If the rod bearings have worn out, the rods are unable to move the pistons up and down in the cylinders without them making contact with the cylinder walls. The knocking sound you hear is this damaging contact.
Heath’s Auto Service is the best auto service shop in Flagstaff, AZ, so call us today if your engine is knocking all the time. We will get to the source of the problem and fix it.
