Rubehayseed
Senior Member
I'm older than you. Usually a hard knock with the "fsssst" sound means the leak is close to the head and not further down the pipe. BTW, an AC compressor can make the exact same sound. My brother got a 2 year old (at the time) 69 Dodge Charger, fully loaded for $500 due to the AC compressor.

It was a salesman's car and had over 100k of all freeway miles and a mechanic told him that it was a rod knock so he traded it in for $400. My brother was cutting across the dealers lot and overheard the deal, so he hung around and as soon as the papers were signed, he offered the salesman $500 as is on the spot. The salesman took the deal. My brother opened the hood and cut off the two belts to the AC compressor.

He started it up, it purred like a kitten and he drove it off. The original owner was really pissed as he watched the whole deal go down.

 

Great story, Keith. My Dad had a similar deal happen with a 62 Imperial Lebaron four door. Dude had it wired backwards on the distributor cap and it kept popping and backfiring and setting the carb on fire. Dad asked me if I knew the firing order and I told him "yes". He gave the man $100 for the car, told me to set the wiring straight and he drove it home. Had the 413 engine in it that was one heck of an engine. He drove it for about 10 years before the transmission died.

 

The Catalytic convert has been shot for a year or more wen we removed the exhaust it was the same. Anything else I can check before breaking the engine apart?

 

Yes that is my plan. I have another mechanic down the road that I will check with. It seems most mechanics nowadays do not do engine work if they have to open it up.

 

I'm hearing what Keith is hearing too-but it is kind of hard to tell. First thing I would check would be the flange gasket where the exhaust manifold meets the tailpipe. I'm sure a muffler shop could easily check it for you. Does the car drive OK? How is the oil pressure?

 

Grunthaner, If you wouldn't mind, make another recording with the hood open and the mic pointed at the engine. Maybe move the mic around, pointing to various locations on the engine and the exhaust manifold.