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O/T Strange Dodge Dakota Knock

L

Lanse

Well-known Member
Hey guys...

Welp, a few nights ago, my mom and i picked up a 1996 dodge dakota for me to drive around in. I changed the air filter,and the oil, and i am going to change the transmission fluid sooner or later.

The last owner diddnt even remember the last time he changed the plugs, so today when i was in town, i picked a set up.

I put them in, and now it sounds like a washing machine.

Its really strange. It is a softer knock somewhere in the front of the engine. I noticed it right away after i started it after changing the first four plugs. It is very noticable at idle, and kind of goes away if you rev the engine. Im not sure it goes away, but it definatly isnt noticable anymore.

Ive never heard of anything like this. I dont think its the oil, since i changed that and then drove it for a few days and there was no problem, and its sure not cheap oil.

Any ideas??
 
Did you set the gaps using a feeler gauge? Did you use a torque wrench to install them? Did you do just one plug and then replace the wire?
If you did those things then most likely you didn't get the plug wire and boot back on the right plug or you haven't seated it all the way down. Remove each wire , one at a time and reseat it. Make sure they all have the smae feel and sound going on the plug.

Gordo
 
I diddnt gap them, or use a torque wrench.

But yes, i did do them one at a time. They all went on the same.

But ill go try that..
 
Possibly damper pulley separating.

or loose torque converter if auto sound could travel and make it sound like comong from the front.

My 93 Dakota had a miss that I replaced all electrical parts in and still a miss under low power , $1,400.00 later I found it to be torque converter was coming apart .
 
The torque converter??

I know im kinda clueless... But i diddnt know those things went bad...

It always looked like a hunk of steel full of atf to me...
 
when ya get one come apart you will find the pieces all through the valve body and definatly don't do the rest of tranny any justice BTDT
 
Lanse, did you put the new plugs side by side with the old plugs to make sure they were the same length? As mentioned below, if you got the wrong plugs, you could have a piston hitting them. Invest in feeler gauges, there very inexpensive and gap your plugs. Another thing comes to mind from the BTDT school of hard knocks, pull the plugs you put in and make sure you didn't crack the porcelain while installing them.
 
hey Lanse ,, Pay STRICT attention to Germs Question ,and ,, Dont START THAT ENGINE UNTIL YOU RESEARCH the plugs ... OK ,, you could hurt that little Dakota ,, And they will run FOREVER ,, had a racket under the hood of JEEP this week , turned out to be the P/steering pump ...
 
Allright, i wont...

Tomorrow first thing ill go compare them, and then put the old ones back and see if it goes away...

But, would they all be hitting the pistons?? The knock seems to be coming only from the drivers side front of the engine...

And im pretty sure the serpintine belt is fine, it looks great and i remember thinking "Dang, thats pretty new" looking at it while putting in the plugs...

Thanks guys!! :)
 
You could have knocked a piece of carbon loose when you removed or replaced a plug. I did it once in the mid 70's. A guy sold me a can of Justice Brothers engine cleaner. He told me to run it down the carburetor (now throttle body) with the engine running and just at the end of the can, dump down enough to kill the engine. Then let it sit for a day. This chemical helped soften up the carbon and break it in to small enough pieces to blow out the valve into the exhaust. It worked for me! First take out the plugs and verify that the piston is not hitting the plugs.
 
Can you get the noise on video for us? Might help us track possible causes. Are you back in Stow or in Dayton?
 
OK, let's consider ALL the possibilities [which the posters below have touched upon]. Either [A] the knock is directly related to the changing of the plugs; or the knock is NOT directly related to the changing of the plugs.

So first, pull the plugs out one at a time, and compare them with the old ones. Make sure they have an identical thread reach. If that's OK, then look at the electrodes. If the side electrode looks like it's been hammered flat to the center electrode, SOMETHING is making contact with the plug.

If it's carbon, an old time mechanic's trick [technicians don't use tricks; they use fancy analyzers and scanners and such] was to start the engine [replacing the plugs, of course], bring it to a fast idle, fill a 6-1/2 ounce Coke bottle with plain old tap water, and SLOWLY trickle the water into the throttle body [or carb, back in the old days],continuing until the contents of the bottle are gone. When the fuel in the cylinder ignites, the water in the cylinder vaporizes from the heat, and it effectively "steam-cleans" the carbon out of the cylinder. The water also helps break up any chunks of carbon that may be in the cylinders, too. [Ever notice that when you have a blown head gasket, the leaky cylinder is the cleanest and has the least amount of carbon? Same principle.] Or you can buy a can of Hastings Products' "CASITE" and do the same thing, but the neighbors will be convinced you're fogging for skeeters before you're done. But with CASITE, as I recall, you pour in about half a can, and then start pouring faster until the engine stalls...then let it "soak" 30 minutes before re-starting the engine. At least that's how I remember doing it in years past.

If there's NOT an [A} scenario going on in your Duck-odor, then obviously it's simply something coincidental that "chose" that moment to make itself apparent. Good luck tracking that down, because the only way to do that is to be there with it...which I'm not. But the other guys have given you some good ideas on which directions to look.

Again, good luck with it, Lanse. I believe you have the makings of a good mechanic.
 
Could only be ome plug, You said you did not regap them when you put them in so one could have had a wider gap from the factory and just that wider gap could throw it off enough to hit, even if they mixed up the plugs for you and gave you one that is 1/16" longer could do it. Do not know if the truck would have the tapered seat plugs or the flat seat plug with the crush gaskets, if the type with gasket just the gasket falling off could do it by letting it go deaper into the cylinder.
 
OK Lanse I owned one of those trucks it was a 94 with 3.9 V6 and just after getting it it developed a noise warranty repair was the oil pump and timing chain little while later it came back I drove that truck for about 80,000 miles and the noise came and went but that little truck was strong as many V8s. is yours a V6 or V8? I thought you had a nice newer Ford.
 
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