Potentially buying 1987 Supra Turbo with knocking noise

saturnvii7 · 04-24-2007, 05:03 PM

So... Yesterday I went and took a look at an '87 Supra Turbo, that seemed to be running well but it was giving off a knocking/clack sound at 2500+ RPM. About a year ago I scattered a motor that started burning oil over a 3 week period, dropping the oil pressure and causing rod knock, so I'm obviously a little paranoid about that possibility.

The knock persists throughout the powerband after it starts, but doesn't seem to get any worse. It even seems to dissipate at higher revs.

I spoke with the owner of the shop today, who seemed very confident that it wasn't rod knock, but he advised me they needed to do more diagnostic work to determine what might be causing it. I know the valve cover gaskets need to be replaced (it has some seepage there) so I'm not sure if that could possibly cause it. His best guess was a bad bearing in the turbo, which seems like it could also be consistent with the symptoms. However, the turbo is fairly new, having been replaced in 2005.

What do you guys think? The car does have 190,000 miles on it, but I dont mind that if the engine is still in one piece. Any guesses or conjectures as to what might be causing the noise? Perhaps it's something simple that someone here might be familiar with...

He wants $3000 for the car, it has some tasteful mods (intake, exhaust, boost controller, susp but nothing that would drastically increase the value. Sound like a good buy? Am I dreaming to think this isn't rod knock?

04-24-2007, 05:03 PM	#1
saturnvii7 Stock Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Tempe, AZ Posts: 2	Potentially buying 1987 Supra Turbo with knocking noise So... Yesterday I went and took a look at an '87 Supra Turbo, that seemed to be running well but it was giving off a knocking/clack sound at 2500+ RPM. About a year ago I scattered a motor that started burning oil over a 3 week period, dropping the oil pressure and causing rod knock, so I'm obviously a little paranoid about that possibility. The knock persists throughout the powerband after it starts, but doesn't seem to get any worse. It even seems to dissipate at higher revs. I spoke with the owner of the shop today, who seemed very confident that it wasn't rod knock, but he advised me they needed to do more diagnostic work to determine what might be causing it. I know the valve cover gaskets need to be replaced (it has some seepage there) so I'm not sure if that could possibly cause it. His best guess was a bad bearing in the turbo, which seems like it could also be consistent with the symptoms. However, the turbo is fairly new, having been replaced in 2005. What do you guys think? The car does have 190,000 miles on it, but I dont mind that if the engine is still in one piece. Any guesses or conjectures as to what might be causing the noise? Perhaps it's something simple that someone here might be familiar with... He wants $3000 for the car, it has some tasteful mods (intake, exhaust, boost controller, susp but nothing that would drastically increase the value. Sound like a good buy? Am I dreaming to think this isn't rod knock?