Engine Troubles

[spawn7037]

I went to start my GSX this morning. It turns over and starts but as soon as I get iginition I hear this real loud clanking sound. Its rythmic and doesn't sound like a rod bearing, the sound is higher up in the engine.. I was wondering if maybe this could be associated with the ignition coil. Its the only thing I can think of since the engine misses a bunch more than it usually does. I was thinking that maybe its the powersteering pump, but the power steering still seems to work. (I used to work at a hydraulic pump shop) I know, change plugs and wire, but it wasn't doing this until now. I had just drove it home last night and it was fine. Any ideas? BTW I have a engine out of a galant vr-4 swapped in my car

It was a loud rythmic clanking. In rythm with the ignition. VERY Loud. My friend had to plug his ear as he got closer to the motor.

I went back to the house and took the head cover off. All the lifters are fine. There aren't any shavings in the oil either. I tried starting it again and it sounds like gears grinding in a constant rythmic patern, like I said it matches the ignition pattern. Could the starter be half engaged or something down those lines?

I don't think its a valve. They look fine, but sometimes thing aren't how they seem. My next step is to pull belt cover and see if I can see any thing wrong with the belts and the balance shaft.

Okay, I will try that, it might be a week though, I don't have a good internet connection.

 

[diggerzmound]

pop the connector off the coils and crank the engine without ignition and see if it still makes the noise. A rod may not make a lot of noise but the piston hitting the head will make it sound high. It could be a stuck lifter, does it get any quiter when its warm?

 

[BUCK]

Hanging out here all these years I don't recall a COIL making much noise around here - First I'd pull the Valve Cover & look over the Rockers - 2nd I don't see BSE in your Mod profile so Balance Shafts maybe - A CLANK could very well be something REALLY bad so be careful as you you may be looking for ANOTHER donor Motor if you run it much more before completing diagnosis.

 

[218dsm]

did you pull the valve cover to see if anything is wrong???pull it and let me know if you see anything...

 

[phillabaum03]

I would check to make sure one of your plug wires didnt come off the coil pack and is arching off something. Other then that i really cant think or anything at the moment. Just trying to give you some ideas..I know you mentioned something about the wires already tho. Hmm

 

[laserspeeddemon]

When you rev it, can you describe the sound as

DzzdzdzzzdzdzdzdzdzdzddzdzdzdzdzdZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ?

I know that sounds weird, but that will help me diagnose the problem.

 

[Blitz_86]

do you have a spare stater laying around, like when they go out and drag makes loud noise.. take your stater off and look at it some teeth could be missing on it just a thought

 

[diggerzmound]

I've read here about broken balance shafts.

Either way, if your buddy has to plug his ears there is a really good chance it is very bad.

 

[Sernadaburna]

Either way, if your buddy has to plug his ears there is a really good chance it is very bad.

I don't wanna get you nerve's or anything but i had a similar problem where i thought it was a lifter tick and ignition problem and there was no shavings in the oil and i was getting 165 throughout all the cylinders. so i drove it after adding some Seafoam to the oil since it sounded like a lifter tick and after driving the car for a day or two my engine went a valve blew and i was screwed. so be careful cause with a noise that causes someone to hold there ears could end up being a larger problem then you suggest it to be.

 

[romeen]

Maybe try turning the crank by hand for a couple revolutions to see if you hear a clank. If yes then I imagine you can safely say the problem is in either the bottom end or head and you can rule out and ignition problem.

Also consider removing the flywheel inspection cover to examine the flywheel. Check while having someone crank it over (and wear some ear protection ).

 

[Sernadaburna]

You should try and record the sound thats coming from your car and post it. That might give us a better perspective of what it could be. Just a suggestion

 

[Defiant]

Your timing belt has jumped.

 

[spawn7037]

Okay, heres the down low. I put the head cover back on today and tried turning it over w/out any of the spark plug wires plugged in. It turned over and didn't make that horrible noise. So I then tried plugging the wires back in and try to start it. It will turn over but won't start now. I think it might be that morning moisture might have gotten in the spark plug cavity and got them wet, so I sprayed them w/wd40 and I will try again tommorow morn.

 

[Defiant]

Yeh. You jumped timing, and have bent valves.

 

[spawn7037]

I took the head cover off and checked stuff out, I know thats not the best way to look, but all the valves looked fine. I could be wrong though. What really hit me was that I don't have the grinding sound anymore. It went away. That kinda makes me think that it was the starter getting stuck engaged. I've never heard valves make a grinding sound.

 

[Mr2god]

Sounds like you jumped timing unfortunately, hopefully i'm wrong. Maybe if you could get a video of the sound or something that could help us figure it out. Could still be your initial idea of a starter not disengaging completely if it sounds like a grinding though.

 

[spawn7037]

The problem is it stopped making the noise. I can't get it to recreate it, but it would start and run while I had the noise. It did mis a little here and there but it already did that, I will try and check the timing on sunday morn since thats my day off. I don't have time in the mornings before work to do any work on it and by the time I get home in the after noon its already dark. In light of it all it won't bother me too much to have to change out heads. (it won't be the first time I had to pull a head off a motor) I've already started to look into heads on ebay, but I kinda want to find one thats ported already, if thats at all possible.

If I did have a timing belt that was jumping then its almost for sure that I'm gonna have to rebuild the entire engine right? I.E. The valves smashing into the cylinder heads.

 

[spawn7037]

Thank god, I talked to the shop I bought it from and he said that I might just have to reset the timing and go on my way. The engine still seems to build compression because when I turn the key there is resistance on the starter and it doesn't slip like it would if a valve was bad, so on Sunday I'm gonna take the front drivers side tire off and see if the timing is correct. I'm finally going to get to use my 1/2 drive socket again. (w/a nice long extension and cheater pipe).

 

[Calan]

Thank god, I talked to the shop I bought it from and he said that I might just have to reset the timing and go on my way.

These are interference engines; if you jumped timing and are hearing a clanking sound that is so loud that a friend had to cover his ears... I highly doubt the above statement is true :-

 

[spawn7037]

These are interference engines; if you jumped timing and are hearing a clanking sound that is so loud that a friend had to cover his ears... I highly doubt the above statement is true :-

I described the sound wrong, it was a grinding and it quit making the noise.
I'll just keep my fingers crossed.

 

[GVR4592]

The engine still seems to build compression because when I turn the key there is resistance on the starter and it doesn't slip like it would if a valve was bad,

That's what happens when the valve makes contact with the piston. I would stop cranking it over and check the timing marks before you do anything else. The timing could be fine, but I wouldn't risk it.

 

[Defiant]

Let me try to pose this question yet again:

HAVE
YOU
CHECKED
YOUR
VALVE
TIMING
YET?​

 

[spawn7037]

YES NOW THE THE THREAD IS OPEN I CAN ASK SOME MORE QUESTIONS Yeah the timing is definitely off, the marks on the cams gears don't match up quite right and the marks on the harmonic balancer are pointing towards the ground. There is a little shimmer of hope though because when I turn the crank w/a ratchet I have resistance and it acts like its building compression. The timing belt feels real loose so I'm willing to bet that the the tensioner pulleys have gone out, so I'm gonna try and pull all that apart on Sunday because I have work and no time to do it right now.

 

[Defiant]

Post 14, again.

 

[spawn7037]

Alright, I pulled everything apart and got down to the timing belt. It was loose like crazy. I checked the tensioner pullies and they were fine, rode great and made no sound. I think the problem is the auto tensioner, I couldn't push it in w/my finger, but I know I shouldn't be able to. So I proceded to put it in the vise and try and squash it down. I took an insane amount of pressure to get it to retract any and then when i let it out of the vise it kept sticking on its way out. The rod on it extends exactly 1/2. Does anyone know how much of the rod is supposed to be extended? Any suggestions?