DSM Broke before I ever drove it. SPUN bearing or bad VALVETRAIN?

[SnowBird]

Just put a tranny, flywheel, and clutch in my 90 awd I just bought (it supposely just needed a clutch and tranny on the ebay listing got it for $800). Long story short, I have never started the car ever before I put all these parts in (the battery was dead from sitting for 4 months and I live in FL but the car is at my parents' in OHIO. It knocks real loud. It knocks consistently all throughout rpm range but once revs get up to around 3K there is a rattling also. Thing is my oil pressure is still STRONG, I dont know what it is suppose to be on these cars but if I can remember it was around 3/4 of the way up. The car has no power either, I put the XACT flywheel in it and the car revs up SUPER slow, did I say super? I tried to drive it down my driveway and its so sluggish you would think it was running on 3 cylinders, and it smokes a little. I did the sparkplug wire test and the only thing is cylinder number one quiets down a little when removed but still very loud, just a little quieter than when the other wires are removed. I took my valve cover off and everything LOOKED ok, but I dont know what Im looking for. No chunks in my oil, though it looks a little metallic. My buddy who has spun many bearings in his mustang days says a rod bearing sounds way nastier than my car does, plus he said even with a spun bearing the car should still haul ass, mine barely moves. Oh, and I set my timing to 5 advanced to rule any timing issues out. thought Id start by buying a head off of someone on here and then flying back up to OHIO on a weekend to see if thats it. Any thoughts on this novel?

 

[black12]

hate to tell you this but you most likely spun a bearing. its time to pull the oil pan to find out for sure.i actually jus bought a car with spun rod bearing and my car had the same problems as yours. i just got done rebuilding the motor.be sure to let us know what you find

 

[blackbyrd]

Yeah i bought a car two years ago with a bearing knock, lasted me about 35k miles til it went all the way. Dropping in a rebuilt motor as we speak. Have you tried a compression and leakdown test, boost leak test? I mean you could just have some serious detonation and lifter tick. Is the gas old? Have you done a basic tune-up? I've been told by a wiseman, that you shouldn't hear rod knock with the spark plug wire removed, as there is not enough pressure durring combustion to put on the rod bearing.. But it might be possible.

 

[Defiant]

Rear balance shaft bearing, guess 1.

 

[dieseltech]

It almost sounds like my car when I found one of the exhaust valves in the #1 cylinder had decided to break and embed itself into the piston. I'm not saying this is it, but if it happened to me it could happen to anyone, I think. There was a noticeable difference in the camshafts appearance when i remove the valvecover though. The cam lobes on the #1 cylinder were very clean or almost white looking. And it was impossible to compress the springs. I found this when I removed the spark plugs and the #1 plug came out extremely hard, removing all threads when I turned it out. I hope for you that this isn't your problem.

 

[SnowBird]

I put new plugs in it, changed oil, drained old gas. I was thinking it was the bearing right from the start, but I still have good oil pressure - and removing the sparkpulg wire only makes the noise go away a little bit. I guess to check the pan and the balance shafts are next.

 

[oldman]

Rear balance shaft bearing, guess 1.

No Guessing - if you don't know the answer for sure, don't reply - we don't need you spreading misinformation. If your reply contains phrases like "I think", or "I've heard", or "everyone else does it", or "my brother's uncle's friend did it and had no problems" - it is not useful. Only post a reply if YOU know the answer from YOUR own first-hand experience. Instead of replying with a guess, post a link to a thread where the answer can be found, or the same discussion already took place.

SnowBird, make sure the wires are in correct order, timing marks are lined up and perform a compression test.

 

[SnowBird]

SnowBird, make sure the wires are in correct order, timing marks are lined up and perform a compression test.

timing is at 5 advanced, and wires are in correct place. Compression test to be done. Only thing is I live in FL and the car is up at my parents in OHIO, so Ill be taking a trip back up soon enough to investigate the problem.

 

[Defiant]

Hehe, everything we do here is a guess. Just like real mechanics.

 

[dieseltech]

mechanics guess, technicians diagnose

 

[Defiant]

"Technicians" just plug the car into some bogus computer and charge you more for their guesses. Then, they install new electrical parts that cost $110 each. It usually takes about four visits before the average customer catches on.

 

[dieseltech]

. Sounds like you've had some bad experiences. Shame on the people who give good techs like myself a bad name.

 

[Defiant]

. Sounds like you've had some bad experiences.

Well, of course. I own DSMs.