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740 death rattle: survey 700 1989

posted by  Dick Slessig on  Sun May 12 12:37 CST 2019
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last visit: Wed Oct 22 15:14 CST 2014
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Anyone who would like to chime in regarding the sound depicted in the video link below, please do. I played this recording for my mechanic; he called it out as rod-knock and I don’t doubt it. This occurred out of the blue the day after this car passed it’s CA smog check with flying colors. It was running great, I pulled int the grocery store, came out, and when I started the car, it would barely idle, and under any torque, I got this knock. It’s an 89 740tT with 220k on it. Transmission leaks and the interior is fairly decrepit, so I feel like a full engine overhaul/ swap would be throwing good money after bad at this point, but it’s such a bitchin’ car that I wanted to solicit some Brickboard wisdom before making a move.







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    740 death rattle: survey 700 1989

    posted by  Will740turbo on  Wed May 22 15:35 CST 2019
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    last visit: Wed Oct 22 16:09 CST 2014
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    Wow, that sounds really bad. Have you drained your oil? I would drain the oil through a colander or screen. Big honkin brass chunks (and a low oil volume) will point to a bad rod bearing... Which is repairable, so long as chunks haven't gouged up other things.








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    740 death rattle: survey 700 1989

    posted by  Amarin on  Mon May 13 11:58 CST 2019
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    last visit: Thu Oct 23 22:42 CST 2014
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    Watched the video, engine idled poorly and have to keep on pressing the gas. My guess could be jumped timing belt as it happened suddenly when all was well before. That sound which doesn't happen at all rpm could be combustion knock from altered timing to which the ECU tried to adjust.

    Amarin.








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    740 death rattle: survey 700 1989

    posted by  james_a_sousa on  Mon May 13 11:15 CST 2019
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    last visit: Thu Oct 23 18:51 CST 2014
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    Added to top of my previous post, after I found your video link - Yup - that sounds pretty bad to me! Sorry!



    Are you sure it is not piston slap?

    How warm was the car when the noise started?

    Have you checked the oil level?

    I would start the car and let it idle for quite a while - note the noise after 2 minutes and note the noise after a half hour of idling or driving under very light throttle.

    If i drove, to warm the car up faster, I would stay within a couple of blocks of home so if the noise got louder I could get home quickly.

    If the noise decreases or goes away, it is probably piston slap. Early turbo 740 were built loose.

    I had a '90 744TI that had quite a piston slap at 150,000 miles, but when it got warm, the slap went away - I drove the car to 245,000 miles, and I know that the next owner drive it to at least 275,000.

    One day at work, a friend of a friend came in to visit, he also had a '90 745 - he got his car for free because the owner thought it was going to blow up, he drove it for several years.

    I could not access your link - perhaps you should spell out the URL

    If you have any doubts, have someone who knows 740 turbos listen to your engine.








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      740 death rattle: survey 700 1989

      posted by  Dick Slessig on  Tue May 21 22:15 CST 2019
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      last visit: Wed Oct 22 15:14 CST 2014
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      Thanks James,
      Oil level is where it should be. The knock definitely doesn’t go away when the motor warms up. It idles perfectly when first started, then once it warms up the idle gets real low and rough.. I managed to make time to get the stethoscope on it this wknd, and the knock definitely seemed loudest at the valve cover, which gives me some pause as to the rod hypothesis. I suppose a compression test would be a logical next step.







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