Diagnosing an engine noise with a device that cost less than £1.00

Jaguar XF 3.0 Diesel
Noisy engine
In this video you’ll see me me experimenting with piezo pickups to identify where a tapping noise on an engine is coming from.

[@Franz_giblet]

Truly amazing, how you use multiple pieces of equipment and extensive knowledge to accurately diagnose faults. There isn’t any guessing, you can prove which components are working or faulty.

[@scorrnorris8768]

Great diagnostic approach

[@theGADGETSplaylist]

Big fan of piezo work. Well done!

[@mechanicmatt871]

That was an impressive diag there. Nice use of the piezo. Cheers Matt

[@brucewilliams6292]

Very impressive techniques. I could see a lot of use of this type of diagnostics for many different industrial settings. Thank you for the video.

[@alwayslearning4418]

Awesome video, it seems like in America, repair shops will just drop a new reman engine and skip the diagnosis. If the scan tool doesn't tell you exactly what's wrong, the young mechanic's are stumped.

[@david619dc]

Very good use of piezo sensor 👍

[@Coombsly]

Very good Mr Wood.

[@xenolard]

Absolutely brilliant. Thank you!

[@masongray9046]

That idea works great I do this on equipment Kubota & Deutz diesel I have no scan tools it’s a great work around love watching video like these thanks

[@davakil]

Excellent video

[@soranghafour]

Very informative and interesting methods of diagnosing engine mechanical noise, your video is packed with full of educational and methodical diagnostic approach when come to non intrusive, saving huge amounts of time and money, thanks for sharing it, learned so much of it .

[@ianelwell8000]

Wow, that’s amazing fella!

[@kellyreid8230]

Brilliant approach. Thank you

[@iankelly2110]

great diag Gary enjoyed that

[@markknights5109]

Great video I wish I had that standard of expertise in the garages near we live. Nothing but guess work around here. Top man 🍺🍺

[@kp-qr6hy]

That was good ,I enjoyed that ,that makes a difference from me putting my eat to a screwdriver to try and here a noise🤗👍

[@jontuckerdeamer1002]

This was clever stuff, like the piezo pickup, and pressure pluse work. But doing a rc test through the obd plug that was the best for me😎. Keep it up!

[@FourRingsAuto]

Just found your channel. Amazing video, up there with super mario and the likes for intelligent techniques and waveform analysis. I've most subscribed and will be taking in more of your videos where I can over the weekend. Thanks for sharing.

[@davidgore92]

Nice work Gary

[@andywitz5993]

Never thought of using a scope to diagnose an engine noise! Great thinking 👍 Impressed with how many possible causes can be eliminated using this method. Part 2 should be interesting

[@intelligentauto737]

No part 2 for this one unfortunately, the car is now deemed to an ELV. It’ll be sold for parts I believe

[@larrydean6215]

First time watching one of your vids, great job! Plus, bonus points for using Rod's "WOT".

[@pmdiagnos8370]

Really Nice strategy! 👍🏽😉

[@anthonyhoran2543]

Fascinating the diagnostic insight. I now feel sorry for the customer as that sounds an expensive job. But it could of been more expensive had he/she took advice from other garages and got new injectors installed which wouldn’t of fixed the problem. Well done mate.

[@northpostman]

Good idea, I make my own Delta pressure sensors using those disks. What I have found works really well for finding noises is knock sensors. You can get them on Amazon for about $6 CDN (I have no idea what that would be in pounds) and place them on the engine in various locations. The first ones I tried were the thread in type with a magnet to hold them in place. They worked okay but were limited to finding a metal surface. So then I got the through bolt style and mounted them to 4" steel spring clamps that can be placed anywhere on the engine. These work really well, even on plastic. The waveform is the same as what you are seeing here. You may get the same results by epoxying the disk to a clamp. Anyway, I just found your channel and have subscribed, I've been a licensed tech. over here in Canada for about 35 years. Looking forward to watching more of your stuff.

[@lawsonthursfield6950]

Great video Gary , though you was going to use scope with pressure pulse with stethoscope attached to pipe ( seen this method) but piezoelectric sensor was another level, especially when you thought about o ring underneath to remove noise. Many thanks for taking time to share.... really enjoy your videos and keep up the sterling work 👍

[@intelligentauto737]

Thanks Lawson, it’s feedback like this that keeps me motivated to make more.

[@garyradtke3252]

Even on this recording the double tap of the con rod can be herd and the louder tap of the piston hitting the head can be heard. Without raising the hood I would be able to tell the customer the engine needs a tear down or replacement. Who cares which cylinder at this point because it has to be torn down or replaced anyway to repair it if the customer so choses to and this is the kind of noise that you can see the cause right of way.

[@damianomarinelli5883]

great! nice video, interesting experiment

[@acautotech7231]

Impressive

[@threepotMR2]

A really handy bit of kit is a Steelman 60635 Wireless Chassis Ear - 4 channel thing with clips. Was only about £200 but amazing for picking up drivetrain noises etc.

[@intelligentauto737]

I’ve used a chassis ear before but this allows me to reference engine position with the noise so I can identify cause not just location of the noise

[@AutoFreak10]

That is awesome, we'll done ✔

[@terrysheehan9450]

Absolutely bang on dude I would've switched it off sooner would like to know if it was little end or big end? Impressed by your resolve to actually define which one it was I immediately heard the fault but so Impressed by your process to determine which cylinder we used to use a long screw driver 🤣 where or how did you learn to use tech this way ? Id love to learn as I'm old school but still young enough to learn You must be a computer wizard aswell If you need a free hand anytime id love to learn the tech been a mucknic all me life this new shit interests me Keep the videos coming i love em apart from golf n fishing 👍👊💪👌

[@simonrawle7885]

homemade knock senor good thinking in using it

[@jamesward5721]

With this "fault" on a BMW, it's the lifters that have airlocked - the cure is revving it hard & holding revs for a few minutes.. the lifters bleed themselves then, the knocking/ticking noise goes away, being a Jag, with a PSA engine, God only knows. :-) I'd be doing an Italian tune-up before firing up the parts cannon. :-) Then again, it's French, so it could be someone left their lunch in the sump..

[@campen777]

Bloody brilliant , iv just subscribe to your channel 👍

[@Wiltshire-observer]

Very nice diagnosis. I like your use of the scope to monitor current/voltages as the components do their work. The tools on the scope are also excellent when you dive into the individual cylinders. I can imagine that the “knock” on that jag engine would become worse when the oil is very hot?. I’m not sure if the oil pressure would be lower if the big end bearings had slipped around ?. If the piston on cylinder two was touching the head,would that eventually hammer the little end bearing of that piston-and add to the “knock” ? Would be nice to know the outcome !.

[@PhillipBailey]

Very impressive!! Nice if you're able to confirm it with the teardown. I've made a sensor out of a knock sensor with a hole in it and attached a long rod that could be moved around to help isolate the location based on the amplitude. Love the toolbox on that Pico scope. Definitely need that soon. I've used a pressure transducer in a glow plug as a sync if they are accessible. Fortunately we don't get many diesels here at least in cars. Would a scan tool allow a cylinder cutout on this engine. If so I'm thinking if you are correct it would make it knock twice with no combustion event in number two. In other words twice as often as the piston should hit the head on the exhaust stroke and power stroke. I'll bet it's a spun rod bearing. That would lower the compression a bit too. Keep up the great content.

[@intelligentauto737]

I don’t think it would knock twice if that injector was switched off. You’d still have compression and it’s that pressure ontop of the piston that stops it hitting the head. Thanks for the feedback it’s appreciated

[@PhillipBailey]

@@intelligentauto737 ah yes thats true forgot about that.

[@downtowntodd767]

I don't do much diesel work so forgive me if I am overlooking something obvious. On a gasoline engine the fuel is injected during the intake stroke which is 180 deg. before the compression stroke. If the diesel is firing the injector at TDC of the compression it is basically firing at the same time an ignition coil would fire in a gas engine. If the diesel is the same would this not make the bad cylinder #6? I am trying to keep up with the new technologies and direct injection is very new to me. It is mind boggling to me the amount of time and wisdom you and others are sharing. Keep up the great work. DowntownTodd

[@intelligentauto737]

Yes diesels inject at tdc. My thinking with this noise is this, cylinder 6 is on a compression stroke, therefore there’s pressure ontop of the piston so if there were any play in the big end this would downwards and the piston won’t collide with the head. Cylinder 2 is at tdc exhaust stroke, valves open no pressure inside the cylinder as the piston reaches tdc it slaps the cylinder head

[@downtowntodd767]

@@intelligentauto737 Thank you for taking the time to respond. I have learned something new today. I hope I can save it in a place for later use. It seems of late I can remember my first phone number from 40 years ago BUT I can't remember what I had for dinner last night. Downtown Todd

[@mgbnetworking]

excellent video, but where did you get the overlay program from??

[@mikeflach1693]

Nice video. Thank you. I was wondering what type of cart that is?

[@FourRingsAuto]

Also interested

[@carlosschembri1698]

May I suggest the noise could be a result of excessive valve clearance on cylinder two ie failed valve lifter. It could be the rocker arm bouncing against the cam lobe during valve overlap.

[@intelligentauto737]

If there was a valve clearance issue this would have been picked up by the pulse sensors in either the intake manifold or tail pipe. As the pressure pulses were uniformed in both this led me to use the Piezo pick up to further investigate the problem.

[@Russell_Duncan]

You’re my new favourite KZbinr! And we have two things in common; we fix cars and we have a Buell! Hi

[@intelligentauto737]

What Buell do you have? I’ve also got an EBR 1190

[@Russell_Duncan]

@@intelligentauto737 XB12R Firebolt. I’ve had bikes for over 40 years since I was a kid, got the Buell a year ago, never had anything else like it, let’s face it, there is nothing else like it! I bloody love the thing. It’s like a mountain bike with a tuned Harley engine in it. I’d say anyone that was brought up on 350LCs would love it. Mature hooligan / lunatic bike 😂

[@intelligentauto737]

@@Russell_Duncan I’ve had an XB9SX, XB12XT and an S1 Lightning, still have an 1125CR as seen in background of videos and I have an EBR1190RX as well as a Husqvarna 900 Nuda and a Motto Guzzi Stelvio.

[@GazVDS]

Great video, learned alot. What is the additional software you have to place the 4 stroke sequence on the screen with the picoscope? Do you have a link to the piezo sensor too? Subscribed Many thanks for you videos keep up the good work Gaz

[@gertjanh4118]

This is a very handy tool to use! I want to know the name for this software as well

[@intelligentauto737]

It’s called a piston chart, here’s a link to one you can download www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/pressure-waveform-overlays/9ngwmcx2rmth?activetab=pivot:overviewtab The piezo pickups are available on Amazon

[@FourRingsAuto]

@@intelligentauto737 thanks for sharing. I'll give that link a go next week at work.

[@adnandahmeti7653]

👍

[@CANlectric]

Where can I find that cylinder chart app? Many thanks!

[@timothymohammed919]

did you try testing pulses on the dip stick?

[@colin5064]

So what was the outcome did customer authorise further investigation were you correct?

[@drivewasher]

Beltin video that, thanks. If this TDV6 was in a landrover that noise sounds like the snapped crankshaft knighmare

[@simonsherwood7169]

What's that issue all about .anymore info

[@petermmilne]

What was the outcome?

[@brandonsteckler1307]

curious, If not for the #2 RC suspect-peak, would you have considered the #6 injector to be at fault or at least proceeded further towards a #6 injector fault, Gary?

[@intelligentauto737]

With the car in front of me I could hear that the noise was more audible on that bank so didn’t proceed onto the opposite bank (no. 6 is the rear pot on the opposite bank and no.2 is the centre pot so they don’t share a journal on the crank). My thinking and you may have a different opinion was, on an exhaust stroke there’s no downwards pressure on the piston so when it reaches tdc on exhaust stroke the slop in the big end will allow the piston to “slap” the head, remember diesel pistons protrude the deck of the block so there’s only the thickness of the gasket stopping them coming into contact with the face of the head. I hope this makes sense.

[@brandonsteckler3417]

Intelligent Auto , I’m with you 100% Gary. I don’t do much diesel so I’m learning from you

[@FourRingsAuto]

@@intelligentauto737 I think you were on the money here Gary. Only next steps prior to pulling the head for me would be, checking oil filter for swarf as suspected mechanical failure, remove cylinder 2 injector and borescope the piston crown for visible witness marks on the crown where no carbon is present from striking the head. Finally roll the cylinder 2 past tdc and partially down the bore so the ring tension is holding the piston and rod up, and then proceed to push on the piston crown with something thin that would fit down the injector bore and feel for any freeplay. It's a shame the customer wasn't keen to go ahead with the repair, or even a replacement engine allowing stripping of the failed unit for investigation purposes only. Great video, learnt a lot of techniques. I like your idea of the decade box and spare DRV to trick the ecu to allow injector sync!!

[@husaberg4]

great analysis . i also use the pizzo pickups there great ! why do you not use pico 7 ?

[@intelligentauto737]

I’ve used Pico 6 for so long now, pico 7 infuriates me as I can’t get used to it.

[@kierandoyle2466]

Has it been strip down yet love to know

[@intelligentauto737]

No the owner did not want to proceed with a repair

[@williamcruickshank3055]

Where can i get my car into you how do i contact you

[@intelligentauto737]

I’m based on Tyneside

[@Skydiver1000]

If all mechanics were as good and thorough as yourself, diy car fixing would die out quickly. Would you be a good fella and offer some really expensive contract help to Ford. They can’t even find warranty problems on their own vehicles.