Rattle under valve cover ?

[Wildman95GS-T]

I did a search and found that this problem occures when you have spun a main bearing, i had a question but could not post in that section, my car is quiet when at idle and idles smooth. The rattle only occurs when you rev the engine up to 3k and let off or drive constant at that rpm or higher. When you check by removing the plug wires, do you only have to remove #1 or one at a time until you hear the noise stop

 

[tqmx1]

Three questions

1 does it still have the ballance shafts installed?

2 has the oil pressure been lower than it used to be?

3 does the noise sound about 3 times engine speed?

 

[Wildman95GS-T]

Yes, No my oil pressure was always low at idle and good when driving, No from in the car it sounded like the glass in my door ratteling.

 

[HIGHPSI4]

If it is right under the valve cover then it is probabaly a collapsed lifter. Just figure out which one it is.

 

[talonalex92]

i agree with highpsi4. sounds to me like on angryyyy lifter

 

[Talesin]

Agreed on the lifter thing. There are occasional bad ones... mismanufactured internal valve, who knows.
Also, it could be that one of your oil baffles may have come loose from the VC. I have two points (on the passenger end) where the baffle over the exhaust cam broke its tack welds, and is apparently flapping against the cam.

I have an opposite problem (that for my sanity I will call a bad lifter, with other supporting reasons to believe) when I go over 8500' or so... running it smooths out, and at idle it clatters bad enough I thought at first that I had a bolt fall into the alternator's integrated fan. Doesn't do it (much) near sea level, just at altitude.

 

[mjboehm]

my car made the same noise and about a week or two later it spun a rod bearing. i also thought it was a lifter. it sounded like it was coming from the top of the head. the noise would be around 3k and higher. do you hear the noise when you let off the gas and shift gears?

 

[Dragon TalonTsi]

Or you could check the baffle underneath the cover. You know, the metal ridges on the valve cover. I just did a valve cover for a buddy of mine, and he had described something a little bit like yours, but when I pulled it of, it had been damaged a little bit, but it was broken, constantly hitting either the CAM or the valve cover itself. It was bad, but fixable. And why would you remover the plug wires for? To check what? If this is part of the Head, you wouldn't necessarily need to check it, especially if its right under the valve cover. Take it off, and check the baffles, and the head for any signs of minor/major damages...

 

[Wildman95GS-T]

The reason why i asked about removing the plug wires was because when i did a search for related problems three came up with the exact symptoms i am having. All ended up being spun bearings, removing the plug wire would take the load off that cylinder and if the noise went away it would indicate a spun bearing. I am just a little confused, i always heard that when you spun a bearing you would have a continious nocking in the lower end of your engine and it would get worse at higher rpm. I have no noise at idle and ratteling sould at 3k or when you rev up the engine and let off. I do not have any change in my oil pressure, with a spun bearing i heard you loose oil pressure.

 

[Wildman95GS-T]

I not sure what a colapsed lifter looks like or how to check one out. Valve cover baffle is ok nothing broken. I too these pictures of my lifters, four are like pic#1 and the rest are like pic#2, is this normal or are they colapsed

 

[oVer-Boostin]

I had the same noise 4 days ago and it was.....CRANK WALK. check your oil for milk and lil metal particles. You might have to drain your oil because the milk looking oil wont show on the dipstick

 

[HIGHPSI4]

Ha Ha, well, if you think about it, 4 should have a cam lobe pushing the valve down to open, the rest are closed. The only way to check a bad lifter is to pull it out and check it.

 

[Wildman95GS-T]

Well it looks like i could have crank walk, spun bearings or colapsed lifters, time to push this poc over a cliff, i have no more money to waste on this car

 

[Wildman95GS-T]

I have not had the time to pull the oil pan nor take it anyware to have them look at it, there are no good shops that you can trust around SE Alabama, even the dealer. Quick question , this is not the original engine that came in the car, it was replaced by last owner with a JDM motor, are all 7 bolt 4g63t motors even JDM prone to crank walk

 

[nates6969]

Hey Man, don't even think about CW right now, if it's noise in the head its very rare it's something to do with CW. A simple test, not the best but gives you a rough idea, is to pull back and forth on the crank pulley and look for axial movement. Everybody with a 7bolt thinks they have CW as soon as any part of the motor starts making some random noise...have you had any of the other classic signs of walk...inconsistant clutch engagement, clutch pedal drop when turning sharp left, excessive rpm drop when depressing clutch on idle? If not, put it out of your mind for now

 

[Wildman95GS-T]

I had to replace my crankshaft pulley a few months ago and there was no play at that time. Have had no trouble with my clutch drop or rpm change when engaging, good oil pressure and no ticking or knocking at idle.

 

[nates6969]

if you still can't find the ticking, maybe try starting the engine with the valve cover off to see if you can hear the ticking better or possibly see a collapsing lifter. If you only run it for a min or so, it won't hurt anything,

 

[Wildman95GS-T]

Things have gone from bad to worse, i have had no time to mess with this car, stopped at a shop on the way from work and talked to their mechanic, he said it could be my turbo going out, i thought he was full of crap but did not tell him that. I have been buisy with work and doing thing around the house my wife can not do much, she is having chemo treatment for canser. I removed the intake off and checked out the turbo, stranger things have happend. The turbo spins free and has little to no free play up and down or back and forth. Hooked up everything, mind you it has been sitting for a few weeks and ran fine before i shut her down three weeks ago, only removed valve cover and turbo intake, all is hooked up and tight. I tried to start her up and she tried pooped one time and that is all, now the starter only spins free not turning the engine over like it is should

 

[nates6969]

it could be coincidence about the starter but who knows...this is what you should do:

first, pull off the top timing cover
second, get a 1/2 drive johnson bar or ratchet and attach it to the end of the crank pulley and try to rotate the motor...you should not have to apply a lot of force to move it except when on the compression stroke. you need to make sure the timing notches on the cam sprockets line up so spin the crank and just verify that they do. Im starting to think your ticking is a collapsing hydraulic tensioner. I know 2 people who have had this same problem. if the timing lines up, pull the bottom timing cover and inspect the tensioner. You should not be able to easily depress (if any) the tensioner pin. if you can, replace it!! I replaced mine with the timing belt a while back and with the new one, you can't even budge the pin when applying force to it with your finger. If yours is the cause for the noise it should be very noticably worn

then pull the starter motor out, its 2 bolts on the bell housing and is pretty simple to do. inspect the gear and feel inside the bell housing to verify the flywheel teeth aren't sheared. Usually this shows premature signs of wear but who knows

 

[turbodsm18]

My car does this exact same thing and always has......Just put 3g lifters in it an it is still there. oh well, it has ran like this for the last 25,000 miles and never had problems.

 

[nates6969]

you're referring to lift tick, 95% of the time this goes away once the car warms up...his happens when we revs it up. This could potentially still be the lifters however is doubtful because it doesnt do it at idle. When you rev it up, it will cause a sudden increased tension on the belt, if the tensioner is bad it will bottom out and cause a metal on metal "ticking" sound. If this is the problem it must be fixed right away...if the belt jumps or if it has already, you are screwed