big end bearings or not
 

thought ide ask the profesionals a question regarding my 95 wrx jap engine , noticed it along time ago but never asked the question in fear of having to fork out a load of cash , what it is , now and again especially when idling or reversing slowly i can hear a distinct knocking from engine only a few knocks at a time,then it will do the same again whilst (idleing or reversing or even just slowly driving forward onto the drive , it seems to knock maybe 5,6 or even 7 times then stop . been abit worried about it lately as im starting to listen for it to happen all the time , am i worrying about nowt ,or does it sound a bit suspicious like big end bearings etc , and putting two and two together the garage i purchased it from have been servicing this car even before i purchased it and they dont do the oil change as we are supposed to do ,as ive asked them , the car is on extended warranty (due to be running out soon very soon ) and according to scoobynet regulars incorrectly carried out oil changes , can lead to bigger problems , another problem i have is , if i mention it to the garage they would only say its ok ,or down to wear and tear and probably wouldnt be covered under warranty , .In the worst case scenario if it were the bearings what type of money would it cost to repair ,or would it be a case of a full rebuild and thousands of pounds .
any help appreciated ...thanx

does it only do it from cold..??

bearing noise
 

well maybe it sounds abit louder from cold , but it does do it when hot too ,what do you think ?

bearing
 

and when stood outside the car the engine seems to hide the sound ,which ive picked up on from inside the car , as the knocking seems to be abit clearer whilst sat inside the car .

From your description it doesn't sound like an imminent big end failure. Could be any number of silly things. Even to the possibility of hardened bushes on the plate that mounts the turbo duty solenoid on the OS suspension turret. These make a frightening sound to an untrained ear and loosening the screws on the plate will make the noise lessen or even go away. Try it !!

Might be an elderly engine mount shifting around etc. etc.

When an end fails, it fails; it doesn't linger around and slowly die, it goes immediately. Thus I think you have another probably less serious issue.

David API

Needed to hear that ,thanks.

I have just had big end failure (without any previous tell tail sounds) verdict caused by Interuption in oil supply to the bearings.
Warranty company have just walked away !!
When the Big End fails it FAILS !!
The consequences are far reaching !
Incorrect oil servicing (Not priming the system) is a major cause so insist that its done properly !!

Waiting to collect my car with a £4600 bill ! (OUCH!!!!!)

Gonna supervise every oil change from now on !!

Hope your knocking is not serious but worth getting it sorted sooner rather than later !

Mike

pil2255 who charged you £4600 for a big end repair?

I know of companies who will take car remove engine, rebuild it and refit it for way under £2000 and the job is first rate as the company know what they are doing.

When i said that the consequences are far reaching ! the work required to get her back on the road includes :

Warped cylinder heads.
4 pistons and full head rebuild as well
uprated (modified) oil pump
plus all new parts associated (to be on safe side)

Coulda been done here, wouldn't have cost that or anywhere near !!

David API