Stacked Main/rod bearing still give good compression readings?

[v8s_are_slow]

My motor is making a good amount of noise internally with only maybe 400 miles on the motor. I did a compression test on the motor and it read exactly 165 across all cylinders. Drained the oil and there were no metal shavings. But it's a loud tapping when I hit the gas. I have a crankscraper but don't see how the crank could "all of a sudden" hit it. I prepped the motor today to be pulled on Sunday (just have to unbolt the mounts and out it comes) but wondering if I'd have good compression even if the bearings got stacked. Anyone know? Thanks!

Scott

This is a 2.3L if ya'll care to know.

 

[44pirate]

Does it make the noise under load or just at idle? I would think ilf it was a bearing you would have shavings. Instead of pulling motor why not just drop the oil pan and have a look see?

 

[v8s_are_slow]

It was making the noise only when I'd hit the gas. Now you can barely hear it at idle...but it's there. As soon as you hit the gas though it's loud.

I'm pulling the motor cause I don't wanna have to pull the pan and crawl up under the motor and have oil dripping in my face while trying to inspect for problems. There's also a possible chance I'll part it all out if it's something major. I dunno yet. Just didn't know if the compression would still be the same though with a stacked bearing. It sounds like a rod but I have the same compression in all cylinders.

 

[project_tsi]

Did you do the proper cleanacing needed for 2.3l's? The main caps need to be clearance or they might touch the rods. Your oil squirters may need bent or replaced or removed. Theres a chance a rod bolt is hitting the pan. You may have to clearance the crank on the lower cylinder walls/bottom. On my engine w/ eagle rods the #3 rod would touch and rub the inside castings of the block durring rotation. It did this even when turning over by hand, not just by running.

http://www.wideopenwest.com/~ksmith3289/faq/dsmstroker/dsmstroker.html
http://www.pinktemple.com/stroker.html

 

[dnhieu]

i put alot of help in building this motor and when he got the bottom end back from the machine shop the rods didnt hit ANYTHING when rotating it by hand so i dont see it all of a sudden hitting the block. the guy at the machine shop did something to shave away part of the block and it cleared the rods during assembly. the oil squirters is a good idea but why would it all of a sudden just start making the noise now and not during start up? this is a pretty good guess because he has been getting his oil light flickering on and off at sporatic times and he hasnt been able to figure that one out yet. i was thinking it had something to do with the crank scrapper...

 

[v8s_are_slow]

I had a machine shop put the bottom end together for me. He clearanced the block for the rods. It wasn't making noise till just recently. I was setting my stutterbox settings and tried a launch. Went thru the rpm band and got to maybe 6-7k when the car just shut off. I let out on the clutch again to get it to start again and that's when it was making noise. I was only a couple of blocks away from home so I drove it really slow. I don't see how it wasn't making noise before, and it is now if a clearance issue were a problem. The compression is even across the board. I'll find out tomorrow I guess but hoping to have some sort of idea before I start ripping into it.

 

[1stGenRocks]

Are you sure the noise is coming from the engine and not clutch/drivetrain related?

 

[v8s_are_slow]

It's definately from the motor.

 

[project_tsi]

I'd pull the pan and check it out, look long and closely with flashlight, mirrors, etc. You should be able to find what the problem is if its in the bottom end. Check the rods for excessive play.

 

[v8s_are_slow]

This is what I posted on my local forum....

Alrighty, well I have some good news and bad news....

Good news: I had to tear the motor and transmission out of the car, took off the oil pan, and noticed a piece of metal sitting in the bottom. Everything looked good on the bottom end so went looking to see where that metal came from (which was aluminum). Took off the valve cover and noticed that the valve cover had a piece missing that broke off and fell down to the bottom of the motor. Guess that was getting knocked around by the rods and crank. So hopefully everything is okay.

Bad news: I had to take out the engine and transmission and a bunch of crap just to find that it was this itty bitty piece of crap metal that fell down into my oil pan.

So anyway, hopefully that's all the problems and no more noise when I put it back together. Guess I'll keep the car....for now. Now I just have to save up to get more engine oil, transmission gear oil (which isn't cheap for what I have to buy), more silicone, oil pump gaskets, and plug wires cause a piece broke off in the coil pack :roll: I also have to save and get the exhaust manifold welded since there's a freakin crack all the way around where the wastegate is suppose to bolt up. And I'll get the stock O2 sensor put in before I start it back up to make tuning easier as well.

So there's the update thus far. Dunno when I'll get it up and running again. Dunno when I'll be at the track....if ever :roll: This kinda stuff would only happen to me. Car was running great and just a few days before race day, something like this had to stop me. Oh well....

 

[Maglin]

This piece of "scrap metal" as you call it is what?? Why would this just all of a sudden break off for no reason and create a noise and also cause your car to shut off. And if it did fall to the bottom of the pan it's not going to be picked up and thrown around the motor again to make noise. Their is probably something in your head that is broken and something that caused it. Chances are it will still make this noise if you don't fix the cause of the original problem.

Being that your oil light flickers on and off isn't a very good sign. Do you have a oil press gauge in the car to see what your oil pressure is? Before you pulled it apart it would have been a good idea to put a gauge on the front port on the head to see what oil pressures you are seeing at the head. Wish you the best of luck man.

 

[v8s_are_slow]

It was a small piece that broke off the valve cover where one of the bolts goes in that holds the timing gear cover down. Just a corner of it broke off. Seems to me like maybe it had been tightened it down too hard. I dunno.

When I turn the motor over by hand it doesn't get hard to turn and isn't making any noise. I felt each rod and they were all tight. I'm gonna inspect some more but I looked really hard at the time cause I wanted to see where the metal came from and also was looking really hard to see what the possible problem could've been (before I found the metal). It was about a 1/4-1/2 inch wide piece of aluminum so makes me wonder if it was light enough to somewhat float as the motor was running and get thrown around. Hmmm....

As for the oil light flickering, it was mainly doing that when I had the bad oil pump on there. It hasn't done that with the new one. My oil pressure gauge isn't working (go figure) but have a new gauge cluster I'm gonna try throwing in the car before starting it.

 

[v8s_are_slow]

Incase anyone wants to see the cause of my headache and having to pull my motor and tranny, here's the cause. A piece of $@#^% metal that broke off the inside of the valve cover and fell down into the oil pan.

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