Very Loud Ticking Sound Crankwalk? need help ASAP!

[Sk8er07999]

Okay I have a 97 eclipse gsx and last night after bashing a 4.6 mustang, 95 civic coupe with b18c1, and a fellow 2g dsm'r, I rolled into a gas station and let the car idle for a minute or two (don't have a TT) before shutting it down. I chatted with some friends for a while who where getting some gas but I didn't need any. Time to leave so I went to start the car. It started right up just like normal but had an unbelievably loud ticking sound that I didn't notice when I was letting the car idle before shutting down. The ticking is coming from the driver side of the car around the area where all the pulleys are located. I immediatly shut the car off to inspect but could find nothing that seemed to be out of the norm. Started back up still ticking... Not too sure but sound seems louder towards the bottom of the motor. Ticking increases with rpm. it's not gear dependent does it with clutch in or out neutral doesn't matter ticking is always there. Sounds like a metal object ticking against another. Clutch is about to go out but don't think thats the problem since it's coming from the other side of the motor and clutch engagement is just fine (but slips unber hard acceleration)(Soon to be replaced). I am scared because the first thing that comes to mind is the dreaded crank walk! I have read that a symptom of crankwalk is a ticking that is actually the Crank Angle Sensor hitting the crankshaft itself! Could this be! Motor only has appox. 50k miles with minimal modes. havent even raised boost from stock level on t25! I do always think of the worse though. any help would be greatly appriciated thanks guys!..

 

[my95tsi]

Well check to make sure where exactly the ticking is coming from. My car ticks like hell when it cold out, i just stared her up, or sometimes just out of nowhere. When mine is ticking it doesn't really get louder but it ticks much faster when i rev it up. My probelm is just lifter tick b/c it coming from the valve cover. But if you say its coming from the pulley area i might me worried. Also if you say your clutch is going i would be even more scared. I'll give you an easy way to see if you have crankwalk however if you crank doesn't have tons of play you might not be able to tell with this method.
1. You need two people to do this.
2. Get a flashlight and have one peron get in the drivers seat and start the car. (most likely your freind)
3. While your buddy is sitting in the car take the flashlight and look doen the pulley side of the engine and look way down below at the crank pulley.
4. Now tell the other guy to push the clutch in and see if the pulley moves up or down or even wobbles alittle.
5. Have him take his foot off the clutch and then do it again. Check to see if its moving at all.
6. If its not moving you probably don't have crankwalk but it not 100 percent accurate. However it is is moving, say goodbye and get a 6 bolt!!

 

[96GSxTacy]

i have a 96 GST, mine does that too sometimes it doesnt do it at all, sometimes it does it then goes away, it sounds like mine is coming more from were my belts are..... my one friend is a certified mitsu mechanic, and he checked it out, for crank walk, he said no. I dont know for sure what he did, but he had me push the clutch in, and he was checking at something under the hood, he said a sign of crank walk is when you push in the cluth, and something moves... i dont know what though.. but yeah if any body has a better clue, please let us know...

 

[leet]

Your buddy was checking the thrust measurement of the crankshaft.

 

[Sk8er07999]

It's deffinatley not lifter tick because my car has it but only when it's a cold start and onve the engine reachs operating temp. the lifter tick goes away. This tick doesn't go away ever! Accept for when I turn up the radio. just kidding. It doesn't go away ever. It's rpm dependent, just started happening right when I started it. The car was still warm from the last time I drove it ten minutes prior. So I know what lifter tick sounds like and thats not it. The clutch has been slipping for a couple months but it's definitely gettting worse but thats not the problem. How could it be? The noise comes from the driver side of the motor and I am not sure but if you lower your head to the ground it seems to get louder indicating the noise is on the bottom of the motor somewhere. Thanks for the help so far guys!

 

[my95tsi]

Does you clutch stick to the floor during left turns? Do you engagement points seem to change? Bring it to a mitsu dealer to find out for sure...

 

[Sk8er07999]

No clutch is perfect (except worn out) and yes I know the symptom of the clutch pedal dropping to the floor during hard left turns and that is not an issue. As well as clutch engagement is exteremly consistent, doesn't have harsh engagement either. So it most likely isn't crankwalk but I always jump to conclusions and think the worse. but I have never heard a tick/click this loud before and it sound metalic from the driver side of the motor and seems to intensify the lower you go to the ground. I just read it could possibley be the crank angle sensor hitting the crank but the only way it would ever hit that is if the crank was out of spec in other words crank walk so I don't know but thanks for the help so far. It's greatly appriciated.

 

[Sk8er07999]

Anybody....... Help.....

 

[khendriksma1]

My 7-bolt crank-walked this past February (100 miles after a new clutch) and it sounded exactly like the symptoms that you are talking about.

Here is how I checked mine.

1. Jack up the driver's side front wheel and take it off
2. Use a long screwdriver or prybar to gently pry the crank pully towards the passenger's side of the car.
3. Using a digital calipers, measure the distance from the pully to any stationary point (such as a point on the rear of your brake caliper).
4. Push the clutch all the way in (and hold it there if possible)
5. Measure the distance again at the EXACT same points on the pulley and caliper.
6. Your crank thrust play is the difference between these two numbers.

When I did this, I found that my 7-bolt motor had 0.040" thrust play which is VERY excessive. I think the allowable spec is 0.010".

Kevin

 

[my95tsi]

we can't help ypou any further until you test for yourself. Do the test i told you to do or bring it to a dealer....

 

[tsunari]

I'd jack the front end up, pull off the driver-side wheel, take the access panel off and maybe even the belt cover off. Start 'er up and have a friend push in the clutch . . . does the noise get louder? or Change pitch? Anything? It might be that the Crank Angle Sensor Plate is hitting the Crank Angle Sensor. While you're down there with everything off, might as well check your endplay . . .

 

[greathuskie]

mine did that exactly when i spun a bearing.....

 

[AEMEclipse140]

Grab a pry bar and put it to youre lower end with a rag on the other end and put youre ear to it. you can tell where the noise is coming from worked for me my bearings are going out..

 

[Shupe]

If it's constant and and changes with RPM's it could possibly be a rod. :'(

 

[Sk8er07999]

Well guys doesn't look like its Crank walk!!!! I pulled off the top two timing belt covers and the motor mount to find a piece of what looks like the balance shaft belt laying there! Come to find the blet is all wadded up inside the cover! Thanks god it didn't catch the timing belt and trash the motor. Even though it's rubbing!!! Looks like my car is gonna be out of the game for a while now. Oh well thats a wieght lifted off my shoulders! fewww Thanks guys for all the help!!

 

[Sk8er07999]

Just thought I would give a better description in case anyone ever has the same prob and does a search. The balance shaft belt broke which caused some damage including cracking the lower Timing belt cover but it also bent one of the corners of the crank shaft angle sensor trigger plate. So the answer was yes the crank shaft angle sensor was hitting the trigger plate but it was not cause by crank walk. At least not yet... THanks for the info from everyone! But now I have a new problem after replacing the belts. Car idles like sh!t. Check out the forum here... http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=89788