So i brought my car to several mechanics who all told me i have a piston slap. Every morning when I would start up my car i would hear a knocking from the engine, as I accelerated it the knocking went faster. After 10 min of driving the knocking could barely be heard from the cabin but could be slightly heard if near the engine bay. About 4 different mechanics told me that it was a piston slap and it is not worth re doing the engine and just to leave the knocking as is with a religious oil change after 5 000km and use 10W 30 oil. They all said that the TL has a "high performance" engine that will last forever even with that piston slap they said my engine is good for another 150 000km before anything happens to the engine.

Could this be true is there any real harm, or solution's to maybe reduce the knocking that I'm hearing from the engine, and can I continue to drive my car like this?

I have a 2000 TL with 190 000Km's so im not to sure about re doing the engine on an 8 year old car. I just would like to know if this is going to be a bigger problem later on if left as is.

 

i'm not sure what you mean by piston slap

 

http://www.pistonslap.com/whatisit.htm

 

im scared...

 

lol, nice going chris...see what u've done now? you've scared him

 

LOL, sorry. I was just giving some quick info I found online. I would guess the motor is worn, and would need a rebuild.

Personally I would either shop around for a used motor and drop it in, or you could go crazy with a TL-S swap/6pd.

If it were me I'd drive the car as is, and save up for a new car in the mean time until the car dies.

 

I would want to put an oil pressure guage on it and see what the oil pressure is on startup-warmup and operating temp driving. If its not getting enough pressure/flow- there may be a problem with the oil pump, the oil pickup tube/screen, or the oil passages are clogged with crud and the pressure is low.
With the amount of stuff the EGR puts into the manifold, imagine whats getting into the oil!

Pistons dont slap- the rings get worn or stuck, or the lower end- crankshaft to rod bearings go out. Again, thats usually an oil starvation issue- not a general wear item with this miles/kms on it. If the OP has kept up on oil changes and never had a warning light on oil- thats not likely.

Without looking at it in person- DISCLAIMER~my guess~ would be- Seafoam the crankcase really well- with new filters- and a drive- see of that cleans the paths and crud away,, and maybe the noise will get better.
If the rings are stuck or glazed- this will clean them out and restore function.
There is a product boats use- called Ringsolve or something like that- its to keep the rings free of oil crud buildup for max compression. I found it in a search for info on seafoam~

You could also have valve noise from being out of adjustment- were they ever adjusted- should be every 100,000 MILES or so, with the water pump and timing belt replacement.

Buy a mechanics stethascope for 10 bucks or less at parts stores- listen to everything on the engine you can reach
In a few minutes you get the hang of what sounds right and what doesnt

 

I would drive it until it dies. Should be good for many more miles. Lots of LSx engines in the Vettes and TAs had piston slap from the factory and go over 100K miles. My GN had it from the beginning of this rebuild with it's forged JEs.

It's not an oil pressure problem if it's piston slap. Usually if it's oil flow or a rod/main bearing it gets worse when the engine gets hot and oil thins out. The fact that it gets quieter as the engine warms up tells me there's a good chance of it being piston slap.

If you really hate the sound you can try a different/heavier oil but I wouldn't worry about it.

 

^ agree. I may do a compression test to see which one or ones and how bad it is, and if it is that. Hopefully it isnt a bearing. If it bother you pick up a used low mile engine and swap it in. Should be able to find one for 400 or so.

 

Never did I ever think I would read about an Acura owner complaining about piston slap!

As I hate Cars put it.... piston slap is a pretty common occurrence in GM LSX vehicles. It does not affect overall engine life.... just an annoyance (at least in GM vehicles)

As I understand it, in GM LSX vehicles the issue was with pistons contracting/expanding with heat...... when up to operating temperature the pistons fit well with no issues.... when on a cold start the pistons were slightly smaller, very very slight, but enough to cause the noise.

GM has gotten around it with thermal coating for pistons these days.

 

Make a video for us to hear the sound of your motor.

 

it just sounds silly lol, piston slap.

but the perpendicular motion of the piston against the wall doesnt wear it out at all? i mean thats a fast moving block of metal clanging against a hot metal wall

 

the pistons do not actualy touch the cylinder wall lining- the `rings` are the contact point and the source of making compression and oil control.
They have a small amount of open end play just so they can move in and out around the piston- keeping the compression up.

If it were my car- I would suspect sludge in the oil system and check for that on the dipstick , and cut the oil filter open for inspection.
Then use an engine cleaner like seafoam to dissolve gum and varnish- maybe that will clean the rings well enough that the are working properly and the `piston slap` noise goes away.

 

All i really want to know is if its ok to leave the problem as is. Everywhere I went to recommended a rebuild of the head which is around a $2 500 job. I'm not willing to shell out almost 3k for a repair on an 8 year old car. But they all said that you could leave it as is for another 100k without worrying. Is this true or BS? Can I still get a couple of years out of my TL with the piston slap problem. Also does the noise get louder over time?? or is it a constant noise that will always be there without increasing as time passes by?

 

You would not rebuild the head for piston slap. If it were a head problem instead of rebuilding it for some ungodly amount get a pair of used ones. They can be found for 1-200 each. Thats alot cheaper than a rebuild. I would find a shop that actually finds the issue. I find it hard to believe the honda motor has piston slap. Have some one run a compression test on it and see what the results are.

 

have them test the oil pressure!!!!! too

 

Piston slap is just that, piston slapping the wall. The rings are supposed to do the rubbing on the cylinder but in reality the thrust sides of the pistons touch too. When you have a lot of clearance, the piston rocks in the bore you get noise. Sometimes you might get a little extra oil consumption, sometimes not. The noise is the piston rocking, it's not as bad as it sounds. Try a thicker oil like a 10-30 or 15-40 and it may quiet a little.

Like I said, my GN does it for a minute or two because the forged pistons require more piston to cylinder clearance. Once warm it goes completely away. You might take extra care to let it warm up for a minute or two before you put any load on it. Otherwise, turn the radio up so you can't hear it and drive normal.

 

I've seen this on a LOT of 4cyl hondas, not as many 6cyls. It doesn't take a lot of clearance for it to happen. I had an accord with 225k on it, and decided to fix it in conjunction with a blown head gasket. There was no ridge in the cylinder, you could still see cross hatching on the cylinder walls, and the new pistons mike'd out SMALLER than the ones I took out. Needless to say, I put the old ones back in, rings and all. The car still has the slap, didn't use any oil till 300k, and is still running strong at 350k. I'd ignore it, let it warm up a few minutes, try thicker oil, etc.

 

Agreed

 

sounds like what happened to my 08 tl but they gave me a new motor..

 

Don't get me wrong, what I suggested anly applies when you've got no warranty left. If I had an 08, I'd be un-slap happy and expect a replacement engine too! I just wanted to assure o.p. that it would probably not affect the engine operation for a long, long time.