Itare Sam
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- 131
My GTS had a major engine catastrophe on Wednesday. The scarily loud sound of large pieces of metal crashing together. The nightmare scenario I guess. It is now undriveable and I don’t have much of an inkling as to the extent of the damage. I’ll describe what happened.
The car is a 2011 4.7S Auto, mileage now 32,387. She wasn’t driven much over the winter, but just before the Covid lockdown I noticed a new noise when accelerating hard - a deep, dull knocking sound is the best I can describe it from memory. The noise went when backing off. Soon as the lockdown was eased I drove her again and the car was completely normal until I accelerated hard, when the noise returned.
I came to the conclusion (hopelessly hopeful, as it turned out) that the problem might be poor fuel (causing pinking) as the half-full tank of petrol had been sitting in the tank for months. So on Wednesday I drove about 20 miles to a petrol station, keeping the revs below 3000 and not accelerating hard. Driven like that, the car drove completely flawlessly. Filled up with premium unleaded. Returning home, still driving sedately, after about 10 miles I sensed the car had more urge, even at low revs, so maybe the new petrol had solved the problem. Ha ha! Only one way to test that - I gave it the beans. Instantly - BANG! Or rather BANG BANG BANG etc etc. Really loud metal-on-metal sickening noises. Backed right off instantly, checking the rear view mirror for clouds of smoke - there were none.
Now the engine was making clanking noises even at low revs, though not consistently. I coaxed it the 8 miles home by barely touching the throttle. I checked the dipstick and the oil level was normal and the oil looked clean. Next day she started on the button from cold, and idled OK but there was a lot of nasty loud ‘ticking’ from the engine. For obvious reasons I didn’t rev the engine and won’t be starting it again until I have more of an idea of what might be at stake. With garages closed for lockdown this isn’t an ideal time either.
The car is a 2011 4.7S Auto, I’ve owned for 2.5 years. Last service in September at Bar-Tech Cambridge (previously car was main dealer serviced). About 1100 miles done since service. Car service indicator says service expires in more than one year. No warnings on dash.
To say it’s a shock is an understatement. I’ve owned over 50 cars and trucks from Alfas and AMGs to Porsches in 55 years driving, and if I’d had the slightest suspicion that things were about to go ‘bang’ I wouldn’t have been driving the car at all.
Sorry this is a long post. Thanks for reading. And (obviously) any thoughts or advice are most welcome.
The car is a 2011 4.7S Auto, mileage now 32,387. She wasn’t driven much over the winter, but just before the Covid lockdown I noticed a new noise when accelerating hard - a deep, dull knocking sound is the best I can describe it from memory. The noise went when backing off. Soon as the lockdown was eased I drove her again and the car was completely normal until I accelerated hard, when the noise returned.
I came to the conclusion (hopelessly hopeful, as it turned out) that the problem might be poor fuel (causing pinking) as the half-full tank of petrol had been sitting in the tank for months. So on Wednesday I drove about 20 miles to a petrol station, keeping the revs below 3000 and not accelerating hard. Driven like that, the car drove completely flawlessly. Filled up with premium unleaded. Returning home, still driving sedately, after about 10 miles I sensed the car had more urge, even at low revs, so maybe the new petrol had solved the problem. Ha ha! Only one way to test that - I gave it the beans. Instantly - BANG! Or rather BANG BANG BANG etc etc. Really loud metal-on-metal sickening noises. Backed right off instantly, checking the rear view mirror for clouds of smoke - there were none.
Now the engine was making clanking noises even at low revs, though not consistently. I coaxed it the 8 miles home by barely touching the throttle. I checked the dipstick and the oil level was normal and the oil looked clean. Next day she started on the button from cold, and idled OK but there was a lot of nasty loud ‘ticking’ from the engine. For obvious reasons I didn’t rev the engine and won’t be starting it again until I have more of an idea of what might be at stake. With garages closed for lockdown this isn’t an ideal time either.
The car is a 2011 4.7S Auto, I’ve owned for 2.5 years. Last service in September at Bar-Tech Cambridge (previously car was main dealer serviced). About 1100 miles done since service. Car service indicator says service expires in more than one year. No warnings on dash.
To say it’s a shock is an understatement. I’ve owned over 50 cars and trucks from Alfas and AMGs to Porsches in 55 years driving, and if I’d had the slightest suspicion that things were about to go ‘bang’ I wouldn’t have been driving the car at all.
Sorry this is a long post. Thanks for reading. And (obviously) any thoughts or advice are most welcome.
