07 Club Car FE350 knocking when hot

[isreal11]

Hi from Minnesota! My 07 club car precedent FE350 is starting to make knocking noise when I run it for about 15-20 minutes. As soon as it cools off its fine again. Oil level is good. Lots of power during the knocking. Starts gradually and gets louder untill it sounds like the crankcase will get a hole any second. I want to get some of your input before I dig into the engine.

I started noticing this problem last fall before I stored it for the winter. Note that I have it lifted with bigger tires extra seats and usually haul 420lb total with wife and kids...so the engine gets pretty hot before it happens.

[isreal11]

From what I've researched I think I've got some sticky Hydraulic lifters. I'm going to change the oil and run some sea foam. I think that'll fix it.

[Fairtax4me]

I would change the oil and make sure there's no metal in it. Silvery swirls are a bad sign.

Lifters will cause a clicking or tapping sound from the top end. If you think its a lifter issue, put a stethoscope on the rocker cover and see if the noise is louder there compared other places on the block. You can also remove the cover and wiggle the rocker arms to see of they feel loose. Be sure to clean around the cover thoroughly before removing it.

[isreal11]

Thanks for the response. I changed the oil and refilled it with 15/40. I saw nothing unusual in the oil. I also put in a healthy dose of sea foam. After loading up the kids and running it hard for another 40 min up and down hills, through thick and thin... got hot motor hot but I heard nothing abnormal. Power stayed strong throughout test drive.

I hope that fixed it...

Thing is...if it were something serious Why would it only show up only when hot? A guy would think it would show up when cold also.

[Fairtax4me]

Could be some varnish in the check valve in the lifter causing it to stick open slightly.
Oil gets thinner when it warms up, and the thinner oil bleeds out of the lifter more easily than cold thick oil.
Metal also expands when it gets warm. And any varnish in the lifter can cause the plunger to stick once it gets warm.
Your recent oil change seemed to help, that suggests either that there is varnish buildup in the lifters or the previous oil you used may have been thinning too much when it was warm. Either way, more frequent oil changes will help.

[Lightninlarry]

Originally Posted by isreal11

Hi from Minnesota! My 07 club car precedent FE350 is starting to make knocking noise when I run it for about 15-20 minutes. As soon as it cools off its fine again. Oil level is good. Lots of power during the knocking. Starts gradually and gets louder untill it sounds like the crankcase will get a hole any second. I want to get some of your input before I dig into the engine.

I started noticing this problem last fall before I stored it for the winter. Note that I have it lifted with bigger tires extra seats and usually haul 420lb total with wife and kids...so the engine gets pretty hot before it happens.

not getting air! pull the skins off and clean all the dead grass and debris blocking your air flow from the fan!