For at least 6 months now my 99 4x4 Durango SLT with the 5.2 (248,200 miles) has been making a knocking noise i can only hear it at idle loud enough to be heard inside the truck. At one point I thought it was coming from the left side but the other day it was making a loud pinging from the right wheel well, it would get loud then quiet but still noticable, kind of scary. I know for a fact that it does it when its warmed up, and probably when its cold too. Its getting worse! and I do NOT want to end up damaging it by not getting it taken care of.

Could it be that the timing is off?

Its about due for an oil change and I replaced the cap and roter, OEM champion plugs and wires...3k miles ago, and fuel pump...1k miles ago

From my experience with fine tuning carburetors in small engines, when I replaced the plugs I would say that a few looked to be running lean.
Thank you for your time,
Mechaniczman

 

what fuel are you using? also you can do the stethoscope check. hose to your ear and listen at each plug and see if it is that.

 

I use regular 87 with the occasional 93 if the stupid gas hose accidently his the premium button, which happens offten...It still pings on 93 octane. Ill try the hose to the ear and see what happens.
Any other ideas?
Thanks

 

Changing the oil might help. Sometimes with engine with higher miles the oil seems to break down sooner, so change the oil with a good brand. Also, what weight oil did u use last oil change?

 

Check the distributor for play. With that many miles it could be ready to be replaced.

 

I already replaced the distributor cap and rotor, last time I changed the oil I used 5w30 because it was winter.
I will change it again, with 10w30 but it still knocked last time I changed the oil. It does use some oil, it leaks a little bit and burns a little but not bad, and I do not let it get lower than a quart low. To to just throw some numbers out there possibly uses about 2 quarts for every 5k miles..more or less....

 

No I meant the distributor shaft, the actual assembly not just the cap and rotor.

 

Pull the valve covers and take a look.

 

Ok I will check the distributor shaft for play, and every last bolt on my valve covers came loose and started leaking so I tightened them back up, ill get 2 gaskets, and take a look inside I already know what its going to look like.....dirty. I stuck my finger in the oil fill hole onetime and it was like scooping icing off of a cake, thats how bad the sludge build up is in there. I can clean the valve covers but how would I go about cleaning the valves and all out?

 

That's where your pinging is coming from. Your gonna have to clean up some sludge