So this morning was driving the ol buick. I then heard a knocking from the engine. And the car acting sluggish. I feared the worse. Pulled off. Turned it off and checked all fluids. Only thing seemed low was coolant. Topped it off. Then I checked the spark plug connections. One seemed loose so I fixed it. Crossed my fingers and turned it back on. Knocking was gone and car didn't feel sluggish. And have been good all day. So asking you gear heads what could have been the problem. I came to the conclusion that it was the spark plug connection. Car does need a good time up.
Ok, I'm a guy who works and learn. I assume you are saying non firing cylinder as in a misfire to cause a spark plug that was not working?
It sounded like a knocking. Could be a tapping. But after checking the connections and topped of the coolant it stopped. It also ran rough like the timing was off.
Stick a long screwdriver on the valve cover and stick the other end on your ear and listen for a low sounding knock sound. A high sound is just the valve train. If it is knocking it will be real evident when first starting in morning, but sometimes this is just a piston rocking until lit gets warmed up. Knocking will be a low sound and will not go away once warmed up. DO NOT rev up until warmed up, not over 1500 rpm when cold. I go no higher than 1200 till at 150* plus.
I wasn't able to get a stethoscope. I tried the screwdriver technique. But I guess I do not have the magic to hear. It happened again on the drive home from work. Pulled off checked fluids again and i saw the oil dipstick had hardly any oil. So I used a big jug of oil I keep in the trunk. Filled it up almost 3 quarts. Turned it on. The noise was still there. But stopped after a minute of running. Seems like the culprit is not having oil. ....and yes I do check fluids weekly. And I didn't see any indicator of low oil. Now the big question; has this done permant damage?
What are your oil pressure readings at various rpms while driving? Sounds like you were starving your valvetrain, which would take a minute to quiet down after being low on oil. You may have gotten lucky. Also post what brand and weight of oil you are using.
I hate to be a Donny Downer, but you are probably, have probably caused bearing damage, as the valvetrain gets oiled first, then the main and rod bearings. So if your lifters were clattering, they were obviously starved for oil, being they're first inline for oil, the mains and rods didn't have any oil pressure.
