Buddy of mine wants to get into a 3v and the one we test drove today had this weird inconsistent engine knock. Possibly a cam phaser maybe?

Here's a short clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq_c...ature=youtu.be

Any help is much appreciated, thanks in advance!

 

It isn't a rhythmic knock so that pretty much rules out an internal engine problem. That noise does sound more like the drive belt tensioner bottoming out on its stop. That means either the drive belt is stretched (or too long), there's a wobbly (possibly idler) pulley, or the spring in the tensioner itself has gone soft. It's an easy enough problem to diagnose and fix.

 

Thanks for the help! It was odd that is wasn't rhythmic at all. We'll go check it out again today and hopefully if it's that easy of a fix he'll be driving home in a mustang!