Piston Slap: Is it Piston Slap? Ja-nee, baby!

Mu-een (from Cape Town, South Africa!) writes: Hi I would like to know what is the difference sound of a tappet noise, or bad rocker, or a piston slap. Thanks regards. Mu-een Sajeev answers: I suspect that –for most engines– piston slap is a deeper, more resonant sound than an out of whack tappet.  Pistons are bigger and buried further in the engine (usually) than tappets, it's gonna have a different sound by design.  Conversely, you could easily isolate the two sounds with a decent mechanic's stethoscope, or with a cheap one. So for whatever vehicle you own down in Cape Town, try isolating the noise with a stethoscope…or maybe just a loooooong screwdriver against the cam/valve cover on the top of the motor. Now on to the important implications of this letter. Put another way, OH MY DAMN SON U KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS? We got us some Piston Slaps from North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia…and now Africa! TTAC RULEZ THE WORLD! This is Panther Love with an LSX-FTW swap: a fantastic combination of wonderful things in a singular moment.   Wait…is Antarctica a continent too? AND they drive cars down there? Do they read TTAC? NO??? We were sooooo close to world domination!       Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE FROM ANTARCTICA. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you're in a hurry…but be realistic, and use your make/model specific forums instead of TTAC for more timely advice. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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