Engine knock
 

Hi this is my first post and was hoping anyone had some suggestions. I hav a 97' with a 3.1 and 271,000 mi. the other day I started hearing a loud knock or maybe mor of a tap after a couple of days it got louder. No power loss, no temp change, really nothing other than the noise. Can anyone offer any suggestions any help would b great

Greetings!

If you are hearing a knock or tapping sound that is getting louder my suggestion would be to stop driving the car until you can have someone investigate why it is knocking/tapping. :)

Is it only while the car is cold, ticking is common in those engines on cold start-up, might need an oil change with a little additive

Welcome to mcf

Could possibly also be a wrist pin.

curious if it quieter at idle and louder while driving. Or seems to be more severe under a load?(acceleration)

It happens while the car is warm too. Actually it quites down a lttle on acceloration

And thank u to all who welcomed me.

the passageways may be clogged causing some areas to not have any oil. have you tried flushing the engine?
It may help it, but also it can cause a leak with that many miles..

Welcome to the site. Maybe you could post a video of the sound. Someone may have better answers then. With 271000 miles tho whatever it is may be terminal

im just hoping that its not a piston or rod requiring engine removel.it's just a very loud tapping somthing I was hoping to fix with just the valve covers off. What surprises me though is no other indication that anything is wrong except that tap