QuestionQUESTION: Evening, i've got a '97 Hyundai Elantra 1.6 GLI with almost about 300km on the clock, its been giving me a knocking sound from the head where i've replaced my hydraulic lifters 3 times and oil pump once as adviced by mechanics but after a while the noise comes back and gets worse. I've also experienced a starting problem that takes time for the car to start and it happens throughout the day. Please advise! Sakhi.
ANSWER: We can probably safely assume this is indeed lifter noise since you indicate it's gone away after each repair and returned. I've seen two things cause recurring lifter noise-- contamination of the oil (i.e. some sort of sediment in the pan) and constricted oil passages.
As to the starting problem, I'll need more information, but it's unlikely that it's related to the lifters.
-- Does the engine crank?
-- If not, how do you get the engine to start?
-- If so, does it crank fast, slow, or normally?
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Well as for starting it'll just take long to start and i hold de key on start until it does and its not only when the engine is cold but throughout even when its hot too and now i'm wondering if it won't damage my starter! As for the oil contamination, i've recently serviced my car thus i'm thinking there's something wrong with my head top or my i service my oil and sump and maybe use a more richer oil? Thank you! Sakhi.
AnswerIf it cranks normally but just doesn't start, I'd recommend attaching a fuel pressure gauge and checking to see whether the fuel pressure bleeds down to near zero in a short period of time. If so, your fuel pressure regulator is likely faulty.
Since you've replaced the sump, it's likely that there is no contamination in the oil pan, so I'd suspect there is some sort of blockage in the oil passages in the head.
