Corollas2019-23ToyotasTech

Search Corolland!

Zzzzzing Noise From Engine Bay

by Robert Lortz February 16, 2010

See every reply in these pages:



Alright so I've spent countless hours online trying to find out what might be wrong with my car and i have found COUNTLESS answers to my problem so i have no idea what to do.

Answers; Bad oil contorl rings

leak from head gasket

leak from a vacuum hose of some sort.

gunk in your engine

carbon deposits

warpped or scarred cylinder wall

My problem: I get a zizzing kinda noise from my engine. Here's some stuff that will help you help me solve my problem.

My car is a 2000 toyota corolla CE all stock except for the badass stereo setup i have in it. ( and no the sound is not coming from my stereo i'm not an idiot.)

I clean my MAF about every 10K miles which helps with the sound quite a bit.

I replaced my spark plugs with bosch platinum +4's and it didn't make the sound better but it didn't make it sound worse either.

It gets worse between oil changes.

I burn oil between oil changes at a rate of about 2-4 quarts in between changes.

I change my oil around 3K-5K miles.

The less oil in my car the worse the noise.

The noise is louder at higher rpms. (can't say exactly how many rpms considering a don't have a tacometer)

and the worse part of all, yes i do believe i feel a loss in power =[

so any help would be very appreciative!! thanks

I'm also willing to try some low cost, low skill options that will benefit my car even if it doesn't make the noise better but has the chance to.

I am currently gonna go through and try the DIY's that fish wrote up. https://www.corolland.com/forums/index.php?/topic/22499-diy-info-some-uncommon-maintenance-items/page__p__159456entry159456

will update when anything significant occurs

can you get a video of the sound? and tell us where on the engine its coming from?

I'd dump the Bosch +4 plugs for OEM fine wire iridium plugs - those plugs have a reputation to give you more heachaches than anything else.

Interesting that the noise is worse between oil changes - what oil filter are you running and what kind, viscosity of motor oil are you using? A buzzing noise can come from a number of different sources - the 1ZZ-FE being fairly noisy itself doesn't make diagnosing this issue any easier.

Bitter makes a good point about trying to get a sound clip on the noise. If the noise cannot be picked up that way - try and describe it as well as you can. Frequency of the buzzing, low or high pitch, more like ticking, tapping, rattling, metallic? Vibration can be felt/not felt - vibration in the steering wheel, pedals, cabin, etc.?

the noise can only be heard when accelerating, like if im in neutral and pressing on the gas you can barely hear it at all.. you can best hear it when the rpm's are higher.. like when you're accelerating from a stop.. mostly in kinda second gear i think?

andthe sound isn;t metallic, like pinging or scraping or something, it's like a.... kinda ssssshhhhhing/zzzizing noise and all i can tell is that when i'm driving it's coming form the front of the car..

and what i said about the oil changes is that it gets better after oil changes and then the more i drive the worse it gets

Could be something with the VVTi system. Quite check is to unplug the VVT Oil Control Solenoid when the car is running and see if the noise changes. If the noise stays the same, then you know the solenoid is gummed up or faulty. Given the rate that you are running through oil, this is probably the likely culprit. Excessive crankcase pressure (bad PCV) can cause the noise as well as contribute to excessive oil consumption.

do you know somewhere where it tells me exactly how to do this? or a diy of some sort?

do you know somewhere where it tells me exactly how to do this? or a diy of some sort?

If you open the hood and look for the alternator on the front left (passenger side) of the engine, the electrical connector is right above the alternator. If you need it, use a flathead screwdriver to pry up the clasp very gently. Once it's released, just pull it out.

so i can run my car without ruining this? cause like i said you can only hear it well when you're driving

and you said if the noise is STILL there after unplugging the solenoid that the solenoid is gummed up or faulty?

For a short time - this test will not hurt the car. Basically by disconnecting the OCV electrical connector - you disable the VVTi system (oil will not go to where it needs to go - think of the OCV as the gate that controls oil flow into the VVTi actuator). The right way to do this is with a Toyota handheld scanner and command the OCV ON/OFF. But by disconnecting the connector - you set the OCV to OFF. That point, the idle should be stable, noise may or may not be present - depends on what is really happening. An extention of this test is to jumper the exposed pins on the OCV connector (engine side) with 12V to set the OCV to ON. At idle speeds, this should cause the engine to stall or run poorly. If there is no change, then this points at a clogged or faulty OCV / damaged OCV circuit / clogged OCV filter / damaged power / damaged signal / ECM fault. Once that is addressed, you have to dig deeper and find out what caused the above to fail in the first place.

Most common and hard to diagnose rattles from this engine center around the VVTi and OCV/OCV filter. Doesn't take much of anything to clog that little filter up - even a temporary blockage of small amounts of debris floating around in the motor oil can cause problems.

Under more dire conditions - the lock pin, inside the VVTi actuator (underneath the valvecover), will eat away at the actuator end plate and the pin detent hole. Other cases, the oil pump might be on its way out and causing an inadequate amount of oil pressure, that will starve critical components of lubrication..

Since you also have a hefty amount of oil consumption - stuck piston rings/damaged oil control rings and/or piston rings, faulty crankcase ventilation, and heavy combustion chamber deposits are not helping the matter. The car doesn;t even need to be making any visble smoke from the exhaust to show indications of an internal engine problem. Many cases, people have their engine consume more oil than that and see no smoke from the tailpipe at all.

hmmm.. alright i'll check it out i'm gonna clean my pcv valve sometime soon so i'll let you know how it runs afterward

Update: Alright so i went over to my dad's today, and i cleaned out my pcv valve (it was super gunked up) so i figure i'll just buy a new one considering they are a total of under $7 with tax at kragen, but for now i cleaned it out.. i also cleaned out my throttle body a little bit, i want to take it off my car so i can get a deep cleaning though.. but after those 2 things i gained a noticeable power increase as well better sound and a quieter idle...

i also added more oil at a gas station on my way home because my level was down to about halfway in between the 2 dots so i filled it up to the dot.. that also made the sound better,

i honestly believe whatever is making the noise has something to do with the oil i am going to look into cleaning my ocv filter and was gonna do that today but could not locate it so i need to hopefully find it in my manual... but for good measure could someone please tell me?

Update: Alright so i went over to my dad's today, and i cleaned out my pcv valve (it was super gunked up) so i figure i'll just buy a new one considering they are a total of under $7 with tax at kragen, but for now i cleaned it out.. i also cleaned out my throttle body a little bit, i want to take it off my car so i can get a deep cleaning though.. but after those 2 things i gained a noticeable power increase as well better sound and a quieter idle...

 

i also added more oil at a gas station on my way home because my level was down to about halfway in between the 2 dots so i filled it up to the dot.. that also made the sound better,

i honestly believe whatever is making the noise has something to do with the oil i am going to look into cleaning my ocv filter and was gonna do that today but could not locate it so i need to hopefully find it in my manual... but for good measure could someone please tell me?

It's right behind the alternator on the front of the engine. Look for a 14 mm (?) bolt. It holds the filter in. It's right underneath the electrical connector to the ocv.

friendly_jacek

Without recording of the sound, we are wasting our and his time throwing wild guesses. I could be anything starting from noisy belt tensioner and ending on engine knocking from oil starvation. Not everything can be diagnosed on forums.

alright so all i have is my phone so i took a couple recordings of video and some just sound recording of me while i drive because when you can here it best i'll post it up when i find a way to get it from my phone to the computer

also it's not a knocking noise... it's like a hissing noise, so i think that a gasket of some sort might be blown, and i take back what i said earlier, cleaning the pcv valve and cleaning the throttle body made the sound WORSE but i definitely have a little more pep to my acceleration..

i also know it has nothign to do with my belts because my belts are pretty darn new because they were replaced about 2 years ago and still look nice (no sign of cracks even starting to form) also the oil level would not effect the tension of the belts so if you even tried to read any of the prior posts you would know that..

What was the condition of the PCV hose - was it dried out or cracked? How about the other hoses that are close by? The 1ZZ-FE is pretty noisy even when running normally. Hissing noise could be just about from anything there - from a bad bearing on a pulley, to one of the VSV valves, to a leaky hose. Could even be the noise from the HVAC system - AC and related components make a hissing noise, same with the upper valvetrain.

A worn gasket will not make that noise - unless it is leaking from the oil fill cap. Any gasket that is leaking will toss oil and whatnot out along with the added noise. Also depending on how large of an audio system you have - unless you replaced the OEM alternator with something that can generate more juice, that noise could be from the alternator - charging system. The 1ZZ-FE has shown to be exceptionally picky about noise - couple of ground loops, some loose grounds - and the ECM is not very happy.

But since the car "seemed" to have run different after the cleaning - I'd keep on the cleaning and tuneup aspect for now. Need to eliminate as many variables as possible - rule out the simple stuff. Otherwise - we are just tossing darts out there and not getting any closer to what is really happening. Just keep an eye on the oil levels to keep the engine happy - even a slight drop in oil levels (only have a little under 4 quarts to start out with) will put a heavy strain on the lubrication system.

ye, i looked over the video and sound recordings i took and they were completely useless, i also noticed that tweaking the throttle cable that goes from the throttle body to whatever it goes to (the one that isn't attached to the gas pedal) change the amount of noise and when it starts if i press my foot on the gas enough to engage the gears you don't hear it but the more you press on the more you hear, i've come to the conclusion that the time in which you can hear it best is when you are on the freeway going a steady pace, the noise isn't as bad when you are accelerating as when you are staying a set speed

also, i'm not sure if this is related but i can also feel like a light licking on my gas pedal, you can't really hear it and it is more prominent when you are accelerating so i figure it doesn't have to do with the noise..

Does it seem to be keyed to a specific RPM or RPM range? Does it seem to be most noticeable at a certain throttle position? Anything else that seems to make it better or worse, that you haven't already mentioned here?

the ticking or the sound??

i have also noticed that after i let my car cool down and then get back in it, the sound is almost completely gone for about 100 yards where it starts back up again, not exactly 100 yards to the T but you get what i'm saying, it doesn;t happen when i make my first acceleration from a cold engine

exhaust leak?

that was my first thought unti i realized that the sound was coming from the engine bay

that was my first thought unti i realized that the sound was coming from the engine bay

There are 3 places in the engine bay for an exhaust leak: 1) where the manifold attaches to the engine; 2) where the downpipe attaches to the manifold; 3) where the oxygen sensor gasket meets the downpipe. At this point why don't you just take it in and save yourself a headache? Meineke (and other places) will check exhaust for free.

A more thorough diagnosis at an independent shop typically runs $50-$100. Just find out from an expert what the problem is and fix it yourself. Still save $$ in the long run.

dshadle, finding out what the problem is half the fun, and yea it may save me some money.. but in the long run it won't cause half the stuff i'm replacing should have been replaced 50K miles ago anyways haha so by doing it now i am saving my engine.. i never replace anything that doesn't need to be replaced anyways,

my pcv has crusty black stuff on it that i can't get off because in the 220K miles that has been put on my engine, the pcv valve hasn't even been taken off the car let alone replaced, and it cost me a total of $11 and change for a new one, so you can't say that something like that is a bad choice..

anyways, an update.. checking the exhaust sounds like a good idea, i just called meineke and i'm driving down there right now for them to check my car i will repost when i get the verdict thanks shadle

ok i just got back and it turns out i have a leak from a broken gasket in between my exhaust manifold and exhaust pipe.. they said this is caused by faulty engine mounts in my car and that i need to get my engine mounts replaced and a new flange gasket installed, they quoted me $1,054.04

this is ridiculous haha i am going to buy the engine mounts i need from a reputable parts dealer on ebay and will pick up a gasket from my local car parts store..

if anyone could toss out some good websites where i can find cheap NEW 2000 toyota corolla ce automatic transmission engine mounts it would be greatly appreciated =]

Over a grand? Yeah - that will happen. Exhaust donut is known to blow out on the 8th gen Corollas. If you drive through a puddle of water and the engine note suddenly changes - you probably have a leaky donut. I'd pick one up at the dealership or NAPA - other retailers don't seem to fit for some reason - but I'm not sure if that is a regional thing or not.

For mounts - many have bought them from www.1sttoyotaparts.com and www.rockauto.com - at the very least, you can use those prices as a basis for price shopping. Other than your labor, I'd be suprised of you spend more than a couple of hundred bucks on this - donut is aronud $5, the mounts run from $15/each (aftermarket) to $60/each for OEM replacements.

k i got a gasket from kragen today, if it doesn't fit then oh well, it was only $2 and change

as for installing the mounts, that is something i can do myself, my friend just replaced his and my dad feels confident that we could do it



Topic List