So I just passed 140k and am trying to figure out what maintenance I should do, especially because I'm starting my BT build this summer.

But my main reason for bringing this up is because my car sounds unhealthy... not as in theres a knocking or anything but it just sounds like its in pain when I get above 3500 rpms. Dont know why this could be, it doesn't have that nice deep growl to it anymore, it almost sounds "dry". Sorry for such a terrible explanation but its the best I can do.

My oil changes are up to date, I'm not low on oil, my spark plugs and maf are good, coolant is fresh and full. No I do know that my cam chain tensioner is making a little bit of noise and could be replaced but I highly doubt that has much to do with whats going on.

Any insight?

 

Maybe the engine mounts are getting worn.

 

Primary and (maybe) secondary oxygen sensor(s)?

I just searched in your timeline, looking for an indication that you might be running a test pipe in place of your cat. Didn't find anything. Are you still running the stock/original cat?

EDIT: Nevermind about the cat, I see that you did indeed get a test pipe at one point.

 

And what does the boost gauge say? Please tell me you have one?

 

One of the first things I did! Forgot to mention that both my vacuum and boost readings are normal running on a giac chipped ecu. And I do have a test pipe and I replaced the secondary o2 sensor with a brand new one when I put my test pipe in.

 

Any chance you could get a vid/sound clip of what you're hearing? It's always tough to diagnose engine noise over the web but a sound clip would definitely help

 

How about the primary O2 sensor? This is the one that controls fueling, so if it's in bad/old shape then so could your air-to-fuel ratio.

 

I can try to get up a video, not sure how well it will come out.

And I didnt even think about the primary o2. Wish I had an afr gauge so bad..

 

Have you scanned it? If not, if you have time, I should be able to meet up with you this weekend and can scan it for you. Shoot me a text tomorrow.