Will Piston slap cause damage?

[redred]

Hi all, Ford 1.5 petrol eco boost 2019 3 cylinder Dragon engine, 55K miles.
When starting from cold there’s a fairly loud tapping noise coming from the engine under load about 2-3K rpm. It doesn’t make a noise at idle and I’ve listened to a load of YouTube vids so I don’t think it’s rod knock or valves. It will go away after several minutes and sounds worse when I first drive up the road.
I’ve read up on piston slap, and some people are saying it won’t cause any long term harm to the engine, but in my simplistic mind metal-on-metal banging is not good.
Is piston slap a problem? Or could it actually be something else? Definitely power-related and goes away when warm.

[GreenV8S]

That matches the common symptoms of piston slap. It's usually harmless apart from the noise. It can be a sign of bore/piston wear, which might result in increased oil consumption, reduced economy and starting problems, so keep an eye out for those, but the slap itself is not a problem.

[Turn7]

Isnt that engine the stupid wetbelt experience ?

[redred]

GreenV8S said:

That matches the common symptoms of piston slap. It's usually harmless apart from the noise. It can be a sign of bore/piston wear, which might result in increased oil consumption, reduced economy and starting problems, so keep an eye out for those, but the slap itself is not a problem.

Thanks, will keep a check on the oil level!

[richhead]

GreenV8S said:

That matches the common symptoms of piston slap. It's usually harmless apart from the noise. It can be a sign of bore/piston wear, which might result in increased oil consumption, reduced economy and starting problems, so keep an eye out for those, but the slap itself is not a problem.

While agree with the above, im not sure a 55k modern engine would have noticeable piston slap, The pistons and bores are usually a pretty close fit, i would be looking for something else.

[redred]

Well, it’s got cylinder deactivation technology, so I wonder if it’s something mechanical warming up. So hard to pinpoint noises which are related to load, difficult to hear when driving down the road. I think I’ll record it and try to figure out if it’s happening at the same frequency as the engine revs.

[tux850]

Turn7 said:

Isnt that engine the stupid wetbelt experience ?

Chain for timing, belt for oil pump (although some earlier versions had the pump cog-driven by the crank).

[Turn7]

tux850 said:

Turn7 said:

Isnt that engine the stupid wetbelt experience ?

Chain for timing, belt for oil pump (although some earlier versions had the pump cog-driven by the crank).

Ah ok, thanks

[JONATHAN_11_80]

My 2020 ford focus 1.0 ecoboost has piston slap when it's cold. It goes when warm. This seems to be a characteristic of the ecoboost engine. I've heard it on my parents 1.0 ecoboost puma as wel.l I've heard others make the noise on cold start aswell. It's only a problem if it stays when the engine is warmed up.

[Panamax]

A bit of piston slap from cold shouldn't be a problem. As always, avoid labouring the engine until it's warmed up. The cylinders will warm up very quickly. In other words, avoid low rpm in high gears which is the automotive equivalent of a cyclist standing on the pedals. A few revs never hurt an engine wheras high torque from cold is likely to increase wear.