Hey,

Just noticed recently my TL has been complaining a bit when i start it up in the cold
I uploaded a sound clip of it here: https://soundcloud.com/therasisback/magna-doesnt-sound-very-gud

There's a bit of a "knocking" sound that starts in the engine bay somewhere then goes back to the muffler... What do you guys reckon I should check?

Cheers m8s

edit: or am i just being silly and this isn't a problem at all

I don't know what it is but I always try to let me cars warm up a bit >more so in winter ;) < rather than just start and drive off totally cold.

yeah fair enough m8 i had been letting it sit for a bit before taking off so hopefully i'm not doing too much damage lol :)

What oil is it running? Could be too thick for the cold weather.

Not sure what the link was as I could not view it without signing in, I dont have an account there

Warming up modern engines does more harm than good

More information in text would be good but may be pre tensioner which is common during the colder months

Why does warming up do more harm than good?
I warm up my engine so that the idle rpm drop to 1,000 or less just so it's easier on the auto transmission when I shift it into R and then D

I do it to warm the interior in winter and cool it in summer ;)

Modern engines are designed to be driven to warm them up quickly thus reduce wear. By sitting idling a modern engine it will not warm up fast enough and actually wear the motor faster, keeps a richer mixture for fuel and is simply a waste of money anyway

"Warming up" was ok in the old days, when you had to juggle a manual choke to stop the engine from stalling if you drove off too quickly. Warming up uses fuel, you might as well use that fuel to move the car seeing a cold EFI engine drives no differently to a warmed up one. I just like to keep the revs and acceleration down until everything is warm though, ie the temperature needle gets half way to normal reading.

Ras, it would probably be wise to get your cat (s) checked

thanks for the comments guys,
just noticed it was happening the other day when the engine wasn't cold at all... happens every time i start now
i noticed i can feel the engine(or something in the engine bay) shaking a lot as it's happening as well

friend of mine who's a mechanic said it may be clay(?) or something in the cat

As for warming up, is it safe to shift into D or R with the higher rpm of a cold engine?

Yep....just make sure you have your foot firmly on the brake.... lol

As for warming up, is it safe to shift into D or R with the higher rpm of a cold engine?
Does this mean you've always waited for it to come down?
I have to travel up a long incline first thing in the morning. When its been very cold (< 5c) these past few mornings the engine sounds like it "hates" it and i have been letting it idle for a minute before driving off.
I do notice it sounds noisier on such mornings. Does that mean its wearing more quickly? I guess so but AFAIK these engines typically outlive the rest of the car anyway, so whats it matter?

Yes I always warm up the car a little bit, and then I use the tiptronic to maintain low rpm until the engine is fully warm

As stated earlier, with modern engines there really isnt any need for a warm up first, this was only the case 20 years ago, engines/cooling/warming systems have come along way since then

Just get in, start and drive casually till warm is all you need to do