Will Piston slap cause damage?

Will Piston slap cause damage?

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Discussion

redred

Original Poster:

21 posts

30 months

Hi all, Ford 1.5 petrol eco boost 2019 3 cylinder Dragon engine, 55K miles.
When starting from cold there’s a fairly loud tapping noise coming from the engine under load about 2-3K rpm. It doesn’t make a noise at idle and I’ve listened to a load of YouTube vids so I don’t think it’s rod knock or valves. It will go away after several minutes and sounds worse when I first drive up the road.
I’ve read up on piston slap, and some people are saying it won’t cause any long term harm to the engine, but in my simplistic mind metal-on-metal banging is not good.
Is piston slap a problem? Or could it actually be something else? Definitely power-related and goes away when warm.

GreenV8S

30,736 posts

297 months

That matches the common symptoms of piston slap. It's usually harmless apart from the noise. It can be a sign of bore/piston wear, which might result in increased oil consumption, reduced economy and starting problems, so keep an eye out for those, but the slap itself is not a problem.

Turn7

24,540 posts

234 months

Isnt that engine the stupid wetbelt experience ?

redred

Original Poster:

21 posts

30 months

GreenV8S said:
That matches the common symptoms of piston slap. It's usually harmless apart from the noise. It can be a sign of bore/piston wear, which might result in increased oil consumption, reduced economy and starting problems, so keep an eye out for those, but the slap itself is not a problem.
Thanks, will keep a check on the oil level!

richhead

2,242 posts

24 months

GreenV8S said:
That matches the common symptoms of piston slap. It's usually harmless apart from the noise. It can be a sign of bore/piston wear, which might result in increased oil consumption, reduced economy and starting problems, so keep an eye out for those, but the slap itself is not a problem.
While agree with the above, im not sure a 55k modern engine would have noticeable piston slap, The pistons and bores are usually a pretty close fit, i would be looking for something else.

redred

Original Poster:

21 posts

30 months

Well, it’s got cylinder deactivation technology, so I wonder if it’s something mechanical warming up. So hard to pinpoint noises which are related to load, difficult to hear when driving down the road. I think I’ll record it and try to figure out if it’s happening at the same frequency as the engine revs.

tux850

1,919 posts

102 months

Turn7 said:
Isnt that engine the stupid wetbelt experience ?
Chain for timing, belt for oil pump (although some earlier versions had the pump cog-driven by the crank).

Turn7

24,540 posts

234 months

tux850 said:
Turn7 said:
Isnt that engine the stupid wetbelt experience ?
Chain for timing, belt for oil pump (although some earlier versions had the pump cog-driven by the crank).
Ah ok, thanks