Hi everyone, i got a tj wagon and on startup the one of the crank shells makes a noise then stops when the oil hits it. The power in the engine is still superb so there seems to be no loss there. My mechanic gave me a price but from what hes heard when inspecting it, he reckons i could go another 100,000 ks easy. Thoughts. Im south of sydney.

bump.

Crankshaft bearings? Could be the timing gear also, the automatic belt adjuster is notorious for making a clattering noise on start up.

Hi everyone, i got a tj wagon and on startup the one of the crank shells makes a noise then stops when the oil hits it.

lol
Did the mechanic say it "sounds like" or did he say "it definitely is"?
If the latter, he must have X-ray vision!
All joking aside, any bearing on the crank with enough clearance to get noisy at startup will get worse very quickly to the point where it hammers all the time.

More likely to be the hydraulic cam belt tensioner, as they age they can get noisy in colder weather.

Do "Mal's test for a noisy tensioner" - when you hear the noise turn engine off, wait a bit, start - if the noise is gone, it is the tensioner.

Hi guys, thanks for the reply, had a mate of mine whose a truck mechanic look at it properly. It was a hit and miss sound so he did a big engine flush and replaced the oil with some good magnetic oil. Engine sounds good and quiet but there is still a thumping/knocking sound on the left hand side of the engine bay / cockpit. Thought it was the exhaust but laying under the car and also have the old boot on the exhaust showed nothing there. Also when driving and i accelerate there is a increasing light whine sound from the same side (passenger) if i take my foot off it stop and as soon as i tap the accelerator its back, it's not over loud, but increases to a point then it seems to reach a flat note. Gearbox ? Thinking gearbox drain ( flush if its available ) and refill ? Thoughts

**update** After i posted this i got in my car and the noise is back on the right hand side of the engine so I'm guessing that its the tensioner. I checked through all the receipts i have from when i purchased the car and in 2011 the timing belt was replaced but only the belt. There is no mention of the tensioner or other parts. So I will be ordering the kit this week and get that replaced anyway as the belt is only 38,000ks but 4 years old so might as well do the lot better safe than sorry.

This is my tensioner making noise on start up. It sounded worse in person. Once replaced it never made the sound again:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ2QJrcG2tg&feature=youtu.be