Do you happen to know the exact torque for 2.4 valve cover bolts? I wasn't able to drudge it from the internet, only 2.2 at 89 ft lbs which seems like too much.

It's possible that a shop I paid to get rid of a mysterious engine code the dealer "couldn't decode" when my gma owned it, opened my valve cover bc they dropped metal shavings inside. It turned out I had a leak in my oil sending unit and a bad solenoid. They came to me all serious and handed me shavings from my broken solenoid, and said they "found some metal in a hole and it could be something serious." They were just trying to scam me, but they probably really did drop it in the hole. :)

I don't know if it's my fuel tank popping, just because my fuel tank is way in the back and the clang is coming from the front. Not to say my evap is working correctly though, or that "that's not it." I watched some videos of ecotecs with bad purge solenoids, and yeah I have that ticking sound too, coming from the same area (near the timing chain. I replaced my idler tensioner once, but i'm still ticking). Tomorrow morning, I will try unplugging it :) I would be SO HAPPY to get that ticking to go away, and that would probably solve my mysterious vacuum leak that I was investigating in the first place!

Coolant level cold check: Normal. Right on the hump. I want to pop the reserve cap and have someone start it up so I can double check for swirling action.
Oil level following the exact procedure in the book (just to be SURE): Good level, halfway between max and min. Almost time for oil change.

I let my car sit for 12 hours, but no clunk. I brought it home. Here's the vid I got anyway :/ At 3 seconds I think I have a timing chain rattle (what do you think?) At 7 seconds I hear a pop which is that service notice I was talking about, tranny releasing pressure etc. 19 seconds in, I think that quiet rattle is just my ghetto exhaust rattle that I want to fix. 28-41 seconds I test the gears with and without e brake to see if they clang (they don't).

Maybe it will clunk tomorrow. (Or maybe it was 2 isolated consecutive incidents :D)

So seriously, does that sound like a timing chain rattle to you too?

Aha! The devil's in the details. Thank you!

No clunk again this morning. I think the clunk was my timing chain hitting hard due to my cam solenoids being emtpy of oil from taking them out to get the valve cover off. I think that is also a good explanation for why the noise went from violent clunk to slight rattle and now back to normal.

I looked at my evap purge valve and it looks like the lines are really shiny and new but can't tell about the box. I couldn't get it to unplug, clips are a big downfall in my expertise :) it does TICK! I've always hated that ticking!! Now I know what it is �� When I was trying to get the clip to release I could feel the thing pulsing. Are they supposed to pulse?

I gotta learn how to unclip it. Will get back to you.

It may be that. Here is the post where ChevyMgr posted some TSB for us. As long as I use my parking brake it hardly happens!

Not the pressure cap. Just the reserve cap. If a water pump is functioning correctly you can look down in the reserve on startup and observe funnel action. If it doesn't really swirl or doesn't move at all then the pump is bad. I ruined my first car that way, it's just a convenient little trick.

:(

Yeah I am paranoid about mechanics.. My personal experience with mechanics is a long story. But let me just tell you mechanics take one look at me and it's over. They start lying and scamming left and right! It's a hard knock life for us pretty girls ;) I just like to shock them that I know a thing or two and then cancel the appt. they could at least ask, "Do you know what a ball joint is?" Instead of ASSuming and then making himself look like an ASS when he lies. My gma took it to the dealership for every little thing! I know how they do!

Yes. Once upon a time I bought the car from my gpa after gma died. It had the engine light on. He told me "yeah it has had that engine code for years, but don't worry about it. We got so many things fixed so many times that the dealership said it's a false alarm and there's nothing left to fix." So I drive it for about a year and tell people "The dealership said it's just a false alarm don't worry about it. It's been on for years."

Well one day I want to use remote start, so I spend a bunch of money and put it in a shop to get the engine light to turn off, no matter the cost. Turns out the code was for a leaking oil sending unit and a bad cam actuator solenoid. Also got my struts and shocks replaced while it was in, and a leaky ball joint front passenger side replaced and trans fluid checked.

Now all is well. No codes for a little over a year now. It has ticked since the day I got it, and recently it started taking longer to start and idling rough on startup.

Forgot the link: https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/gene...p-lurch-16189/

If it doesn't funnel then what should it do? I took my 2000 cavalier to a shop because it was always overheating, the first thing they did was open the reserve, looked in, and said it wasn't making a tornado so that meant the pump was broken. :) Lol!

Here's a perfect example of a lying mechanic. That shop told me they didn't know why the dealer couldn't decode it because it was such a simple problem.

But yeah I do make pretty stupid statements. Not gonna argue with that.