I get this loud clicking noise coming from under my hood and i have no idea what it is. It sounds like the motor, but the car runs normally, in and out of boost. The oil pressure is normal and no CEL's or any other warning signs are going off. The idle is normal and in about mid RPM range the noise is the loudest. The only thing out of the ordinary that i can find is that there is smoke coming from the pcv breather. I am perplexed, any help, suggestions, things to check for? BTW, i'm gonna do a compression test early next week. Thanks.

 

That doesn't sound good. Check the PCV valve, if it's not the PCV valve I think that's blowby. If you've got smoke coming out the PCV breather the PCV breather is meant to suck air in. If it's pumping out smoke that would mean exhaust gases are getting past your rings and entering the ccrankcase with enough pressure to reverse the normal flow.

Do a compression test that'll tell you for sure.

 

that sounds about right, can i get some more help as to if i can drive my car 30 minutes to my house and what exactly is gonna need replacement? I'm guess rings, ringlands and maybe pistons? Any and all info is greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

stupid as it may sound...did you change your spark plugs lately? A friend of mine did that on a Dels Sol Vtec and didnt tighten 1 of the plugs all the way and it sounded like a machine gun firing under the hood

 

Mike,

A small amount of vapor from the oil catch can filter is normal.

Check your valve lash.

Go to Sears and buy a compression tester for $25 if you don't already have one. Test your compression, the numbers will show you if something is screwed or not.