Hey everyone.. kinda weird situation I have here. I just recently switched to Mobil 1 0w-30, so I'm not sure if this is causing the noise. Everytime I turn on my engine, I hear a few seconds of water splashing noises from the engine bay. It sounds like an aquarium pretty much, and then it goes away. Is it because the oil is so thin that it's splashing in the engine when it starts? If someone knows what I'm talking about, please let me know, thanks!

 

I don't think its the oil. If it's that clearly heard, then maybe you have some air in the cooling system? Or it could be that for some reason air is getting into your heater core (as if there's a leak or something) so when you turn on your engine, the water pump begins to cycle the water into the heater core and fills it up, hence the aquarium sound. Do you notice any puddles of water underneath your car when you leave your engine off for a while?

 

Thanks for replying. I found out that it is probably not the oil either. I did more searching and found what you were saying. Either there's air in the coolant or something with the heater core. I'm not too sure what to do at this point; could this be damaging my engine or car in the long run?

 

You should be OK so long as the temperature gauge says the car isn't overheating. Although what is happening is that there is a big air bubble that is circulating around your cooling system. Technically when that reaches the engine block, no heat is released so there is a bit of increased pressure on the head gaskets, then once the bubble passes through, everything cools normally again. Probablly not the best in the long run. For the 1 hr it takes to flush the coolant system, get it fixed or DIY. I did mine and it was quite easy. Just open the coolant bleeder relief valve and keep adding coolant to the radiator until it is full. Then run the engine at around 3000 RPM for a few minutes and keep adding coolant to the rad until it is full. Also, make sure your overflow tank isn't empty.

BytheBay did a great video on how to properly flush the coolant system. That's what I used and it worked great for me.

 

fuel damper?

 

Does your heater work at idle? Turn the heater up full blast at an idle, if there is no heat, and then If you rev it and heat comes out there is definately a bubble.

 

Thanks for your help everybody. I will certainly look into bleeding the coolant! Thanks.