Could not find a sticky on this one...

It is 50 degrees in Dallas today, the max had not been driven in a few days and I started it up and it knocked like crazy for about 5 - 10 seconds.

I know it is normal to get this when the car had not been driven for a while and the weather is cooler but this was loud!

Went away and the engine is as smooth as ever now.

Any one else had this lately?

 

Yeah, I started it up the other day to move it to the driveway to wash it... very loud noise (sounded almost like the timing chain sounds when you first start it up, but much louder and didn't go away). It scared me at first so I immediately shut off the engine. I then started it back up about 15 secons later, and it was still there... so (I know I probably shouldn't have done this, but it has helped with other engine moises in the past), but I gave it some gas and it immediately went away. Strange, eh?

 

I've come across the same thing and began to wonder about internal engine issues. Checked the oil level and that was ok, but went ahead and had the oil changed as it was almost due. Still the knocking noises! What DID remedy the situation was switching back to Premium fuel. Perhaps with the hurricanes and loosened gas regulations the lower grade fuels are no longer being enjoyed by our engines? In either case, that was nearly three weeks ago and nearly 3000 miles ago.

Hope this helps!

 

It's getting cold here in California. I notice that everytime I turn the key all the way (but not start the engine yet) and leave it at that position for >30seconds. I can hear some tiny noises under the dash, like something is turning on then stop. Then I start the engine, no unusual noises from the engine bay. Otherwise, sometimes I heard clapping or metal-to-metal noises. So I kinda have this habit of doing that. Yeah, and wait another 30sec for the engine to juice up.

 

I used to get a little tap in the morning not as long as yours did. I did an oil change and switched to mobil full syn and started using shell v-power premium. I don't hear a tap anymore like I used to but I do hear a little tap when it is cold and my car has sat for a while. I started a thread on it and it really didn't seem to arouse anything so I let it be. Yours sounds much worse than what I dealt with. I hope it anything that is major. Keep me updated I would like to know what came about it does sound scary. My thread was titled "A little tap in the morning".

 

I suspect that your Max's computer lost its ignition settings. It took it a few seconds to correct that problem.

You are more likely to get knocking when it is hot, so don't think the outside temps had anything to do with this transitory problem.

Back when my Max was only 8 months old, I had a wierd ignition problem that fixed itself and has never returned:

We were driving in town. We had been driving for about 15 minutes at speeds up to 55 mph and engine speeds up to about 3,500 rpm. We pulled off of US 24 and came to a stop for about 4 minutes at the local library, with the engine running. We then slowly pulled away, and went around two corners.

Once on a major street, I accelerated the car in second gear, and when the engine reached about 2,200 rpm, the car started to shake and buck. The engine would not go any faster than about 2,300 rpm. I pulled over to the curb and noticed that the engine idle (normally about 750 rpm) was at about 1,100 rpm. The car seemed to run fine (other than the fast idle) as long as the engine speed was below 2,200 rpm.

So we drove about 5 blocks to the grocery store keeping the rpm down, where I stopped the engine for about 15 minutes. When we came out and started the car, the idle was normal and the car no longer bucked when the engine went over 2,200 rpm. From the store we drove home and had no more problems.

I think both your and my ignition problems were caused by computer problems that fixed themselves.

 

Sounds like the oil drained back out of the filter and had to be re-primed and the noise was a result .

 

Has anyone considered the possibility of water in the gas tank? You all mentioned cooler weather, which causes condensation. Depending on the amount of water, it could take anywhere from 5 seconds to a minute for it to work its way out of the engine. While it's in the fuel system, I 'd imagine it could really fool the computer, which may account for ignition symptoms. Try a little dry gas. It may be that simple. Good luck!