2006 1KZ TE engine just started making a knocking noise

[Swebboss Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Swebboss]

G'day,

Wondering if anyone can help!

My 2006 Manual 1KZ TE Motor has all of a sudden developed a knocking noise which increases with revs.
I drove it several times yesterday with no noise, then pulled out of my driveway yesterday evening after a few hours sitting there and heard a knocking noise as I drove up the hill. Loud enough to hear over the stereo. It's there from start-up now and appears to increase with revs and is easiest to hear as the engine winds down after revving.
My mate (a mechanic) dumped the oil and filter today and there doesn't appear to be any metal shrapnel. New oil and filter didn't fix the noise.
He's going to have a better look tomorrow but just I'm looking for any advice on what to look for specifically to avoid potentially unnecessary and costly fact finding.
I need it to pull a caravan in 2 weeks, the family is a bit stressed...help!

Cheers

Steve

[adrian5800 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close adrian5800]

Did your mechanic mate think to have a listen with a stethoscope? Any other symptoms, recently overheated, smoke, misfire, rough running?

[Swebboss Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Swebboss]

G'day Adrian, Not sure if he listened with a stethoscope but there were no other symptoms. Turns out one of the Glow-Plugs had failed and the others didn't look great. They've been replaced but it's still making the noise.

[adrian5800 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close adrian5800]

Failed - as in tip broken off? If so you now have a piston with a ceramic insert.. Congrats

How many kms on the engine and have you had the glow plugs replaced before? They should be replaced on the 1kz around every 100,000 km or so.

Could result in a catastrophic failure of your engine or it could pass through without a problem. I'll check with the Oracle and my crystal ball..

[Swebboss Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Swebboss]

Yeah the tip has broken off, about 5mm. Engine has done 280,000kms on the original set of glow-plugs so they were well past their best.
That's what we're thinking now, tip is stuck in there. Fingers crossed and hoping for a pain free passage...

[Guest Close Guest]

Likely worth getting a borescope camera into the combustion chamber to check it before heading off and possibly ruining your whole engine.

[SamSta Member Find all posts View Profile Close SamSta]

Old post but for new comers interested, I had this happen with my 1kz engine with a glow plug tip breaking off. I had no idea as I bought the car like that. Damage to the number 1 cylinder wall and a couple of "pock holes" in the piston. Engine ran fine for many thousands of KMs like that without me knowing. Even pulled 2.5 Tonne caravan from Adelaide to Eyre Peninsula and back over a 3 week touring holiday absolutely oblivious! Won't eventually killed that engine was a poorly maintained cooling system resulting in a cracked head. Only noticed the cylinder damage whilst replacing the head! Replacement engine has new head, injectors, glow plugs, brand new cooling system throughout. And this engine doesn't seem to run any better than the last one with the cylinder/piston damage and possibly even a cracked head!

It's a BIG and very expensive job to replace the pistons/rings etc and hone the cylinders etc. If you're tight for cash, I'm pretty confident you could get away with just leaving it as is provided the car isn't running like crap and just focus on your cooling system and making sure your radiator is in top shape and your thermostat and water pump are working and you'll be fine for many more trips to come.

In saying all this, mine is the pre common rail 1KZ-TE so their might be other things to consider but I'm pretty sure the block and everything are all the same (just the fuel injection is different). Hope this helps someone