Odd Sound When Cranking Engine By Hand

[SkyGrowsCold]

I'm trying to figure out ANOTHER no start condition on my car. I was driving home after a very short ride (maybe 10 miles) when the car started acting like it had a large boost leak or similar to having your MAFS unplugged (I'm SD). I pulled over and checked my connections and everything on the quick visual road inspection checked out fine so I limped the rest of the way home. After a boost leak test I had small leaks coming from a torn BOV diaphragm and small cracks in my SMIM all of which have been addressed. I tried starting the car up and all I got was cranking which a few days later turned into just the starter spinning later found to be a shot bendix on the original starter so I picked up a brand new starter.

Now the car is cranking over again but still making no attempts to fire so I check fuel pressure which is good and cranked it over with the fuel rail disconnected and the injectors spray a nice mist so they are functioning as well. I next checked spark and I was getting spark on each plug but it looked like it may be weak so I borrowed a known good ignition coil and swapped it to no avail.

Now I did a compression test earlier previous to the original starter going out and on a cold motor got was getting 150psi. Technically I believe the engine should make at least some attempt to fire. The previous owner had said the engine was rebuilt and I bought it with a guesstimated 200 miles one the stock rebuild.

This is where my question resides is when turning the engine by hand, with the plugs removed it was fairly easy to turn then got tight similar to a compresson stroke with the plugs in kind of tight so I powered though it and then the engine was easy to crank again until it hits this tight spot. It does not make any odd noises when cranking normally with the key in though. When I was giving it one last crank to try and align timing marks on the cam (I was using the screw driver in cylinder one to find TDC) it got tight again and while cranking it through this bind I stopped to get another click on the ratchet when I heard a very slow long pause in between tick sound. The sound is similar to hitting a long extension on the valve cover lightly. The sound seemed to be coming from the rear of the engine towards the intake. Now I did not truly check all alignment marks but I'm thinking it might be off one tooth on the intake side. Does anyone have any suggestions or thoughts on this odd noise and my no start condition? Possibly bent valves? Ideas?


Also note that before replacing the starter I did get the car to run once for a short time nursing it with the throttle but it ran terrible and not further life from the motor after that.

Thanks for any help once again.

Sam.

 

[DSMTyson]

My car gets tight when the pistons hit the top of the cylinder without the plugs in as well. Its normal as far as I can tell.

Make sure your timing marks are correct and then get back to us about the sound you mentioned. It might not even do it.

 

[SkyGrowsCold]

Will do. I was running out of daylight and wanted to return the borrowed coil pack to my friend before he headed out. I just thought the ticking was odd since I haven't heard it before. Thats reassuring hearing that your engine gets tight when spinning also I started to worry when I had to add the extra muscle when it was fairly easy to spin prior to that point. After watching the DSM Graveyard Timing Belt Tutorial and how easy he was spinning the engine I thought I was in trouble although he is using a large breaker bar.

 

[jamezbennihanna]

Well I have a 2g and it doesn't get that hard to turn with no plugs in and as far as the timing maybe being a tooth off it shouldn't have bent your valves but the slight ticking noise coming from the engine could be from no oil pressure due to motor not running=no oil in lifters= noises you normally don't hear hope that helps a lil.

Did the spark look any different with the coil pack from the running car?

 

[SkyGrowsCold]

Is there anything in particular to look into with the engine being hard to crank over other then dropping the oil pan and looking while spinning. The bottom end bearings were replaced with ACL bearings upon said rebuild.

I thought while cranking the car (key in ignition) the lifters were being primed with oil. I tried cranking it by hand not to long after trying the substitute coil pack. Shouldn't at least some of the oil remain in the lifters?

Spark appeared the same with the borrowed coil pack.

 

[DSMTyson]

As far as I know. When It gets tight towards the top of the stroke even with the plugs out, it just means you have a healthy motor. Using a breaker bar would make it much easier.

 

[g4ebguy90]

I know this might sound crazy...... But I think his cam sensor took a crap.
It does double duty as a crank and cam sensor on the 1g's.
Meaning if its bad, the ignition timing will either be off, or the car won't start.
I would swap one out.
Just a thought.
Maybe CPU??? take it apart and look for signs of damage.

 

[SkyGrowsCold]

I have read about a bad CAS causing no starts since, as you said, it controls fuel and spark but most of my findings have been the car won't receive one or both. I'm not going to rule it out but unfortunately it may take some time for me to find one to swap it with to see if that's my problem. I would rather test with one than buy a new one since they are expensive and I'd like to know previous to that investment.

If by CPU you're talking the ECU, I have opened it up and it checks fine as well as swapped it out with my spare just to be sure.

 

[DSMTyson]

I know this may be a stupid question.

You have your MPI fuse in right?

 

[SkyGrowsCold]

Yes MPI fuse so far is good. Thanks for checking the basics as I'm hoping it's just something simple that I'm overlooking.

Found out why my car is not starting. A simple timing alignment check would show that the camshafts aligned perfectly.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Looking at the crank shaft there is a problem. The tick is at about 8 o'clock and not on the "T" as it should be.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

So I pull the valve cover and expect the worst.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Oh no it's off its rocker!!

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

So what does everyone think my next move should be? Looks like I've got one bent valve. The others all seemed very tight when grabbing them and trying to move them. Also I know I need a new timing belt (it has a groove in it from someone installing the oil pan bolts incorrectly) so that will finish up re timing everything. What are your opinions on if my piston survived? Is there a way to check without pulling the head or am I looking at a big job here? Once again thanks for taking the time to help out.

 

[jamezbennihanna]

Sorry to heat that the valve is bent and since it is you half to remove the head to fix so you can check the piston when you're working on the bent valve situation.

 

[fourgsixthree33]

Yes, head needs to come off. I couldn't quite tell how far your crank mark was off. Approximately how many teeth was it off? If no more than 3, you should be fine with the pistons. I wouldn't expect just one bent valve though.

You should get a new head IMO. Or at least get all new valves and have your current head checked for straightness and then decked. I just paid $340 shipped for my new head with new EVERYTHING and a 3 angle valve job from aluminumcylinderheads.com: The Leading Cylinders Site on the Net . Just had to ship the old one to them as a core within 30 days.

Your pistons will at least most likely be scuffed up. Just try to smoothen it up and clean it thoroughly.

 

[SkyGrowsCold]

Thanks for the responses I figured the head had to be removed, but for whatever reason asked anyway but know to properly check the pistons this had to be done. I have a spare complete head that I think may be good and will bring both to a friend of mine who builds engines and see what we can do and use which ever is in better condition. Let the fun begin and if anyone has any tips on tackling this job that would be great.