# Engine Knocking



## BrokenCruzeNeedsHelp (Oct 24, 2015)

My Cruze knocks some of the time. When it does it won't let me go higher than about 2500 rpm. This makes it extremely hard to accelerate. It also makes my transmission shift hard and it jerks the car. I've been working with my local Chevy dealer and they've never been able to recreate the noise. When I drive my car its a daily occurrence. I still have about two months left on my warranty but I want to figure out what is wrong before that expires. Since they've never been able to recreate the noise the mechanics say that I have a knock sensor that messes up every once in a while and creates the knock. Does anyone think that this is possible or do you think since they can't recreate the noise they just want to get me out of their hair?


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

Have you ever put yer foot into IT out there on a highway ..try stepping down all of the way and get er going yeah WOT ..see what IT can do ..

Burns off that carbon that you have been building up being an economical driver from red light to red light every day of yer life ...

I f this does not work some body else will tell ya something different ..
Shoot stick some Redline fuel additive for ahh 3.000.00 miles ..
$12 .00 a pop you'll like IT ...


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

BrokenCruzeNeedsHelp said:


> My Cruze knocks some of the time. When it does it won't let me go higher than about 2500 rpm. This makes it extremely hard to accelerate. It also makes my transmission shift hard and it jerks the car. I've been working with my local Chevy dealer and they've never been able to recreate the noise. When I drive my car its a daily occurrence. I still have about two months left on my warranty but I want to figure out what is wrong before that expires. Since they've never been able to recreate the noise the mechanics say that I have a knock sensor that messes up every once in a while and creates the knock. Does anyone think that this is possible or do you think since they can't recreate the noise they just want to get me out of their hair?


Model year, model, current mileage?

Rob


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

2 months left on warranty - take it to your preferred Chevy Dealership and demonstrate this for the tech.


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## BrokenCruzeNeedsHelp (Oct 24, 2015)

Robby said:


> Model year, model, current mileage?
> 
> Rob


Its a 2011 Chevy Cruze Eco with a little over 96,000 miles on it.


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## BrokenCruzeNeedsHelp (Oct 24, 2015)

obermd said:


> 2 months left on warranty - take it to your preferred Chevy Dealership and demonstrate this for the tech.


I've brought it there several times and left it with them for days at a time. They have never been able to recreate the noise as I said in my original post. The knocking is intermittent.


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## BrokenCruzeNeedsHelp (Oct 24, 2015)

brian v said:


> Have you ever put yer foot into IT out there on a highway ..try stepping down all of the way and get er going yeah WOT ..see what IT can do ..
> 
> Burns off that carbon that you have been building up being an economical driver from red light to red light every day of yer life ...
> 
> ...


I do not drive very much in the city so there should not be a build up of carbon. When the engine is knocking most of the time it won't allow me to downshift. If does it will only rev to 2500 rpm.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

You will have to be able to give enough time for you to demonstrate the failure.....and you have to determine if you can recreate the circumstances that make it happen......that means you can't just drop it off and hope the mechanic has the car do as described.
Mechanics are not paid to drive around hoping the car will act up.

Your description is not one I (we) have run across.

Rob


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Being able to reproduce this at will is important.

You say knocking, but I'm wondering it's really spark blowout or misfire. That's more common. When's the last time the spark plugs were changed? The coil pack going bad is not unknown. Neither is covered by the power train warranty.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

In fact, you're due for a spark plug change anyway based on miles.


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## BrokenCruzeNeedsHelp (Oct 24, 2015)

Robby said:


> You will have to be able to give enough time for you to demonstrate the failure.....and you have to determine if you can recreate the circumstances that make it happen......that means you can't just drop it off and hope the mechanic has the car do as described.
> Mechanics are not paid to drive around hoping the car will act up.
> 
> Your description is not one I (we) have run across.
> ...


They have had my vehicle for a total of seven business days and they drive it every morning. The problem happens every time I drive the vehicle so I'm not quite sure as to why they can't recreate the noise. All they've come up with so far is that they are assuming the knock sensor is bad.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Like I said......you aren't going anywhere till you demonstrate the sound to the tech.

Leaving it there in the hopes they trip over the concern is pointless.....you have to take a active part in the diagnosis on certain concerns.

Rob


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Just so we have a common understanding of the terminology: A knock is an extra noise from the engine. A sound that shouldn't be there. Usually that doesn't result in loss of power, but the noise might discourage you from pushing the engine. This sound is usually sharp - like someone taking a hammer to the inside of the engine.

A miss is an odd sound, but it's really about something "missing" the cylinder is not firing. If one cylinder is missing, the engine will only have 3/4 of it's normal power and will tend to vibrate. This can sound like a "puh, puh, puh".

If you could use your smart phone to take a video and post a link, that would help. Not just us, but the mechanics as well.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

The OP also mentioned that when the knock occurs the engine won't tach. beyond 2500 rpm.

Rob


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Robby said:


> The OP also mentioned that when the knock occurs the engine won't tach. beyond 2500 rpm.
> 
> Rob


I saw that. At 96K miles I wonder if the spark plug gaps have grown to a point he's getting major spark blowout. I remember when I had the NGK BRK7EIX plugs in my car that I had problems going above 3,000 RPM when the plug gap grew too much. Spark blowout will definitely "rev limit" the engine because you can't fire the plugs fast enough to go faster.


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## BrokenCruzeNeedsHelp (Oct 24, 2015)

Robby said:


> Like I said......you aren't going anywhere till you demonstrate the sound to the tech.
> 
> Leaving it there in the hopes they trip over the concern is pointless.....you have to take a active part in the diagnosis on certain concerns.
> 
> Rob


I've stopped in the dealership while the noise is occurring and they've taken so long to get a tech out to help me that the noise has stopped by the time they get out to my car. I am very active in this process but so far there has always been some sort of timing issue between the shop and I. It gets really frustrating.


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## BrokenCruzeNeedsHelp (Oct 24, 2015)

ChevyGuy said:


> Just so we have a common understanding of the terminology: A knock is an extra noise from the engine. A sound that shouldn't be there. Usually that doesn't result in loss of power, but the noise might discourage you from pushing the engine. This sound is usually sharp - like someone taking a hammer to the inside of the engine.
> 
> A miss is an odd sound, but it's really about something "missing" the cylinder is not firing. If one cylinder is missing, the engine will only have 3/4 of it's normal power and will tend to vibrate. This can sound like a "puh, puh, puh".
> 
> If you could use your smart phone to take a video and post a link, that would help. Not just us, but the mechanics as well.


Here is a video I posted a while back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeT-yFE0pcQ


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## BrokenCruzeNeedsHelp (Oct 24, 2015)

obermd said:


> I saw that. At 96K miles I wonder if the spark plug gaps have grown to a point he's getting major spark blowout. I remember when I had the NGK BRK7EIX plugs in my car that I had problems going above 3,000 RPM when the plug gap grew too much. Spark blowout will definitely "rev limit" the engine because you can't fire the plugs fast enough to go faster.


Did the blow out make the engine produce horrible noises?


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

BrokenCruzeNeedsHelp said:


> Did the blow out make the engine produce horrible noises?


At idle no. When my 2 coil packs failed it did the same not letting me rev that high. 2nd pack was worse as I had an entire cylinder not even firing at all. I'd swap out plugs with 0.027 gap and go from there. You already at that point for miles and plug type changed since 2011. Simple swap vs drop off and pray it happens.


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## KENSTV123 (Sep 21, 2014)

I'm also thinking it's a coil pack-with a torn spark plug boot, probably intermittently arcing to ground depending on humidity, if the computer was holding it back I'd think all sorts of codes would be stored which I assume is not happening, have you asked about codes being stored ?


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## BrokenCruzeNeedsHelp (Oct 24, 2015)

KENSTV123 said:


> I'm also thinking it's a coil pack-with a torn spark plug boot, probably intermittently arcing to ground depending on humidity, if the computer was holding it back I'd think all sorts of codes would be stored which I assume is not happening, have you asked about codes being stored ?


I've seen the codes that were pulled. There was one for an evap leak so I replaced the purge valve and that took care of that code and the other code that has appeared is the knock sensor code. Those have been the only codes that have appeared on the readers.


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## BrokenCruzeNeedsHelp (Oct 24, 2015)

Merc6 said:


> At idle no. When my 2 coil packs failed it did the same not letting me rev that high. 2nd pack was worse as I had an entire cylinder not even firing at all. I'd swap out plugs with 0.027 gap and go from there. You already at that point for miles and plug type changed since 2011. Simple swap vs drop off and pray it happens.


When I start my car and the knocking sound is occurring it sounds like it is going just tear my engine apart. It is very noticeable and I can even hear it over the radio if its pretty loud.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

BrokenCruzeNeedsHelp said:


> When I start my car and the knocking sound is occurring it sounds like it is going just tear my engine apart. It is very noticeable and I can even hear it over the radio if its pretty loud.


hmy:


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## thecyberczarina (Jan 18, 2016)

I have a very similar problem. 2013 Chevy Cruze, 57,000 miles. Regular oil changes and normally use premium gas. Now I have severe engine knocking. Check Engine light just came on, requires a trip to deal for "engine knock sensor". I don't want them to just re-set the sensor, I want the engine knock to stop. I'm terrified the engine's going to blow a rod. Setting appointment for the dealership now.


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## BrokenCruzeNeedsHelp (Oct 24, 2015)

thecyberczarina said:


> I have a very similar problem. 2013 Chevy Cruze, 57,000 miles. Regular oil changes and normally use premium gas. Now I have severe engine knocking. Check Engine light just came on, requires a trip to deal for "engine knock sensor". I don't want them to just re-set the sensor, I want the engine knock to stop. I'm terrified the engine's going to blow a rod. Setting appointment for the dealership now.


I replaced my knock sensor because the head mechanic said that would fix it. My engine is still knocking just as bad.


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## 916LTZCRZ (Nov 13, 2019)

You ever figure out the problem with the knock I have same problem right now after changing knock sensor!!!


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## 916LTZCRZ (Nov 13, 2019)

P0324 code


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