Very loud tick noise

[G-STowner]

I have a 95 gst and a very loud ticking noise coming from under my valve cover or behind it by my intake manifold. It is so loud it is hard to pin point where it coming from and when I stick my head over the valve cover its loud but when I stick my head over the manifold its even louder but then again the hood is a lot closer and the sound is probably bouncing off that making it louder. I fixed a boost problem today( person before me had the wastegate line hooked up to the cold air intake so I hooked up my MBC and used the ic as the boost source and it boosted fine) Also a week ago I changed the timing belt, oil, oil filter, water pump. and a couple other little maintenance things. (cleaned some,fixed a motor mount, cleaned up some wiring and tightened stuff up)

Things wrong with my car: the EBAY greddy type s BOV is broke. (the diaphragm for sure) I figured this out today while working on it. My car had really weird idling and so what I did was I followed the line from my BOV ( the one that connects to the top of the intake manifold) and i pulled it out. pressed my finger over the nipple for awhile on the intake manifold (which sucks in air). My car idled really good. plugged the line back in( idled crappy). put my finger over it (idled good). So then i sucked on that tube connecting to my BOV. I could breath through it. then I hooked up a hose to the bottom nipple( which is there to help open the diaphragm so you hook it up to a boost source). well as I blew on it the air came out the top nipple. so its definitely broke.

My car is also running lean.

THE TICKING NOISE: When I bought the car there was a small ticking noise. but today after driving it a couple miles down the road and back, I noticed how loud it was. this ticking is super loud. it sounds like someone is banging on my valve cover with a hammer. As I was driving I could here it....but then it would totally go away.. then come back.. It wouldn't come back or go away depending what my rpms were. it just ticked and then randomly it would stop. I drove it up my drive way and opened the hood and it was loud. Then waited awhile till the rain stopped and went back out and started it up and It just ticks like crazy and sometimes stops for a second. Nothing seemed wrong when I was driving though. It performed really good.

MODS: injen intake, evo 3 16g knock off(running wastegate pressure), hard ic pipe, narrowband, boost gauge,MBC, type s knock off BOV, turbo timer.

Here is the sound clip on youtube.... you will notice after 9 seconds it sounds like my sound is cutting out but its not. that is the tick sound stopping for a second. when I was driving, it would cut out for a full 30 seconds or so at a time. but my sound clip only captured it cutting out for a quick second. ticknoise 0001 - YouTube

Please help me figure out what this sound is. My plan was to take off the valve cover but im going back to school for one more week. so I thought I would get some advice before I dive into it. THANKS!

 

[johnmel]

Well one thing I know for sure is that your idling problem is due to that broken bov (Joe just by that little test you described ) your pulling in air after the maf which isn't a good thing that will give you some idling issues once you get a new bov that should go away. Now on to the ticking bodies I was going to say you might be low on oil which would give you some ticking noise but I see you changed the oil and such but after watching your video you might have a broken lifter or a rocker arm im not sure but some times they break I had a n/ a a few yrs back that was making that same noise when I bought it and puilled the head off and found out it had a broken lifter. Or it could be something stupid double check your oil level and go from there

 

[2GAWD4U2NV]

Wow... I advise you not to drive that or crank it for anything more than just troubleshooting.

Ticking coming from under the valve cover can be caused my your lifters "sticking". In other words, you have some debris that has clogged the tiny pinhole not allowing the hydraulic characteristic of the lifter to work properly. If you lifters are "stuck", you will get a clicking noise coming from the valve cover. Depending on how bad the clog is, the noise will disappear with continual use of one crank. (Oil begins to seep in and fill the hydraulic cavity and begins pumping properly.)

If you have lifters that aren't pumping properly, your cams lobes may not be hitting the rocker arms and that would lead to power loss due to one or several valves not opening. It would also cause an imbalance across your camshaft and you could be loosening your cam caps. Better yet, you may not have proper oil flow and could easily be scalding your cam lobes and your rockers.

All this can lead to a failing rocker arm and your piston will knock the hell out of a valve if it sticks on a combustion stroke (piston fires up and valves aren't sealed). That's a head and timing job.

So, I recommend you park the car. Wait until you get back from school and take your valve cover off and begin assessing any internal damage.

 

[WES_393]

That doesn't sound like typical lifter tick to me. I would pull the valve cover and make sure there is no missing or broken parts. Also, it wouldn't be a bad idea to clean the lifters with some throttle body cleaner or deisel fuel, then refill with clean oil and install. When you changed the oil, did you notice any significant amount of metal shavings or "glitter" in the oil?

 

[2GAWD4U2NV]

clean the lifters with some throttle body cleaner or deisel fuel, then refill with clean oil and install

You can use that method, but that's bare minimum. I suggest finding a parts washer tub that has a pump and nozzle sprayer. Place the nozzle on the top of the lifter and look at how it "sprays" from the bleeder hole. Take it to a vice, cover both ends with a soft rag, turn the bleeder hole so where you can see it, and then tighten the vice down. The initial turns will be firm until you break the hydraulic pressure. You will see oil and parts cleaner fluid weep from the pinhole. Tighten and loosen several times until you finally work the tip of the lifter down to where it bottoms out.

Once you have done that a few times you should be able to squish the tip of the lifter into the cavity with ease. Take it back to the parts washer and repeat the first step. It will not "spray" now but will be a more concentrated "stream". You now have successfully cleaned the lifter the best you can. Assuming you have normal/better oiling conditions, you can place the lifter back into its place. It will fill with oil and pressurize by itself shortly after starting.

Do that with all lifters.

 

[G-STowner]

You can use that method, but that's bare minimum. I suggest finding a parts washer tub that has a pump and nozzle sprayer. Place the nozzle on the top of the lifter and look at how it "sprays" from the bleeder hole. Take it to a vice, cover both ends with a soft rag, turn the bleeder hole so where you can see it, and then tighten the vice down. The initial turns will be firm until you break the hydraulic pressure. You will see oil and parts cleaner fluid weep from the pinhole. Tighten and loosen several times until you finally work the tip of the lifter down to where it bottoms out.

Once you have done that a few times you should be able to squish the tip of the lifter into the cavity with ease. Take it back to the parts washer and repeat the first step. It will not "spray" now but will be a more concentrated "stream". You now have successfully cleaned the lifter the best you can. Assuming you have normal/better oiling conditions, you can place the lifter back into its place. It will fill with oil and pressurize by itself shortly after starting.

Do that with all lifters.

Ya I definitely am not going to drive it. My grandpa has a part washer so I can clean it there like you were saying. Ill keep posting when I actually start working on it. I finally get done with finals on Wednesday but I wont take a look at it until at least Thursday. I got some time to think about the situation though so thanks for the comments it definitely helps having an idea what to look for. I have looked up other tick noise problems like the lifter problem but this is soooo loud and with my symptoms I just wanted to start my own thread.

 

[WES_393]

A parts washer will make zero difference compared to the method I described. Your only trying to clean the inside which can't be done until the lifter is collapsed. The proper way to collapse a lifter is with a tiny drill bit. Place it in the top hole and press down to release the valve inside the lifter. Then compress the lifter multiple times in a container of solvent and flush with clean oil before install.

There is nothing "bare minimum" about this method and it has worked flawlessly for me with over 200 lifters as well as many others doing it this way for years.

 

[johnmel]

Also it might be a snapped lobe it does happen sometime not often but possible

 

[ed1380]

you may not have proper oil flow and could easily be scalding your cam lobes and your rockers. agree

All this can lead to a failing rocker arm and your piston will knock the hell out of a valve if it sticks on a combustion stroke (piston fires up and valves aren't sealed). That's a head and timing job.what are you smoking? If the rocker fell off, then the valve stays closed. No valve/piston contact

My recommendation- pour in a quart of atf and let it run until it warms up. Then clean the lifters and do an oil change and from this point on only use diesel 15-40. It has more zinc and other additives that are good, especially an older engine. It also will increase oil pressure which will help keep the engine safe and keep the ticking away.

Oh and get a ngr diaphragm for the ebay bov. It'll make it as good as the genuine one

 

[2GAWD4U2NV]

A parts washer will make zero difference compared to the method I described. Your only trying to clean the inside which can't be done until the lifter is collapsed. The proper way to collapse a lifter is with a tiny drill bit. Place it in the top hole and press down to release the valve inside the lifter. Then compress the lifter multiple times in a container of solvent and flush with clean oil before install.

There is nothing "bare minimum" about this method and it has worked flawlessly for me with over 200 lifters as well as many others doing it this way for years.

Obviously why you're offended.

First of all, you did not state anything other than soaking the lifter in a cleaner.

Secondly, I beg to differ. It's like washing a car. You said toss some soap on it and let it sit. Spray some water on it and you're good to go. I said apply your soap accordingly, rinse the soap well, dry the car off, then give her a good wax.

Apparently, you haven't even tried the method I have mentioned. You're oblivious to the fact you left out information and eager to crawl someone else.

I'm sure the engineer that actually wrote out directions for "proper way to bleed a rocker arm lifter" said to "use a tiny drill bit". I'm not here to say your method won't work. However, I am here to describe to a fellow DSMer, in depth, yet as basic as possible, as needed, a technique that works better than the "soak" method. Which, by the way, is bare minimum.

If you actually take the time to get your feelings off your shoulder, everything you have said was in my original post. The only difference I added, in your terminology, is a "solvent pump" that actually flows through the lifter creating a current that helps flush trash and debris from the lifter (plus the additional de-pressurization from tightening/loosening the vice), rather than letting it "soak" and "pumping" it several times to "hopefully" cleanse the lifter of any debris. A vice applies a more evenly distributed pressure than a phalange and opposable thumb at a more constant rate.

Anyways...

This just so happens to be the "best" method I have come across throughout my experience and I freely shared it to those that are eager to learn different ways of solving a particular problem.

"All this can lead to a failing rocker arm and your piston will knock the hell out of a valve if it sticks on a combustion stroke (piston fires up and valves aren't sealed). That's a head and timing job.what are you smoking? If the rocker fell off, then the valve stays closed. No valve/piston contact " - ed1380

Don't deceive yourself. It's not about the rocker falling off prior to lifter failure. The rocker is activated by a properly functioning lifter and unbent valves.

Take this into consideration:

1. the camshaft lobe is rolling around to press on the rocker
2. the lifter malfunctions in "lifted" position
3. the camshaft lobe presses the rocker down and the valve is now open
4. lifter is now malfunctioning and resistance is held on spring not allowing proper seal
5. piston meets valve
6. rocker then falls off

Of course, the thicker the crushed thickness head gasket you have and having an un-machined head help escape from extremely close tolerances, but when you have a fully built high performance block machined for the most output, the slightest off-timing can create a big problem.

So if the hydraulic pressure is unable to bleed-off it can hold the spring from rebounding = bent valves and a rocker arm falling off.

(I just pulled my head 3 days ago and this was the culprit.)

 

[WES_393]

I never said the word soak, I said clean. I'm not here to spoon feed information that has been posted a million times. Your suggesting the OP use a space shuttle to get down the street. That method is overkill, time consuming, and will work no better than the one I described. Obviously you are the one with the "feelings" or you wouldn't be purposely trying to offend me with a demeaning attitude. After all, you quoted me with some snide remark, not the other way around.

A bowl of deisel fuel, a tiny drill bit, and a quart of new oil. That is all that's need to flush lifters. If you want to take some extremely overkill approach to an elementary procedure, be my guest. But don't attempt to put words in my mouth and then call me stupid for not doing so.

 

[2GAWD4U2NV]

I never said the word soak, I said clean. I'm not here to spoon feed information that has been posted a million times. Your suggesting the OP use a space shuttle to get down the street. That method is overkill, time consuming, and will work no better than the one I described. Obviously you are the one with the "feelings" or you wouldn't be purposely trying to offend me with a demeaning attitude. After all, you quoted me with some snide remark, not the other way around.

A bowl of deisel fuel, a tiny drill bit, and a quart of new oil. That is all that's need to flush lifters. If you want to take some extremely overkill approach to an elementary procedure, be my guest. But don't attempt to put words in my mouth and then call me stupid for not doing so.

Lol. If you say so.

It's only overkill if you aren't willing to put in the work.

I referenced my comment, which just happened to be your comment...

It's not elementary to someone that's never had to do it before, which is why I described in detail. Every one has to start somewhere, and if you have the tools to get the job done, why not use them?

I don't care for your antics.

(sorry for partially hijacking thread due to chips on people's shoulders)

To the OP: once you get everything checked out. if you've never tightened a valve cover down, there is a specific sequence and torque spec for when you are tightening it back down. These valve covers are known to crack easily so it is a MUST to do it in the right order!

Feel free to PM me and and I can help you through the sequence and with the torque specs! (and anything else that I'm able to provide accurate information with)

 

[G-STowner]

well thank you both for the info. no matter which way I do it the point is I need to clean them. or replace something if its broke. I hope when I fix this problem I stop running so lean. Also, I have heard that narrowband gauges are inaccurate. Now I know obviously it would be better to have a wideband, and I know they give you an exact a/f ratio. But if my narrowband is reading all the way lean I would think that it would be running lean then. I hear some people say to other people like "Oh don't even go by that they are so unaccurate". I just don't know if those people are serious or if they are the kind of people that think if you don't have top of the line stuff then your stuff is crap. Trust me I wish I had a wideband but do I really need to spend 100 something bucks on one right now to see if im actually running lean?

Lol. If you say so.

It's only overkill if you aren't willing to put in the work.

I referenced my comment, which just happened to be your comment...

It's not elementary to someone that's never had to do it before, which is why I described in detail. Every one has to start somewhere, and if you have the tools to get the job done, why not use them?

I don't care for your antics.

(sorry for partially hijacking thread due to chips on people's shoulders)

To the OP: once you get everything checked out. if you've never tightened a valve cover down, there is a specific sequence and torque spec for when you are tightening it back down. These valve covers are known to crack easily so it is a MUST to do it in the right order!

Feel free to PM me and and I can help you through the sequence and with the torque specs! (and anything else that I'm able to provide accurate information with)

Alright cool thanks man. unfortunately one of the bolts on the valve cover is stripped out too.

 

[2GAWD4U2NV]

What brand narrowband are you using?

I used to have the AutoMeter Ultra-Lite narrowband and it was a good estimate as to where your A/F readings were. Usually off by +/- 2. It's not something that you would want to rely on, but as far as a more stock based car, it is fine and can serve a good enough purpose as far as running too lean/rich.

Which ECU input did you wire into?
2G Turbo ECU Pinouts

I chose pin #76 for "front 02 sensor".

Your mods do not list an actual engine management system, such as DSMLink, so you cannot know exactly if your gauge or o2 sensor is faulty. A tell-tell sign of a o2 sensor going out is an A/F ratio that is not consistent to usual performance.

I'd recheck your narrowband wiring: the hot wire, ground wire, and the one you wired into the ecu. If that checks out then you can try another o2 sensor if you happen to have a bud that has one. If not, you'll need to buy one to check.

I'd be willing to say your problem is within those areas.

Don't fret the stripped out bolt hole. Those are no longer much of a hassle now-a-days thanks to Helicoil. You simply match the corresponding Helicoil kit with the drill bit, drill the hole out, run a tap into your drilled out hole, then run the thread insert into the hole, then use the tool to break the end tip off and you have better threads!

How to Repair Threads With A Heli-Coil Insert - YouTube

You're looking for a repair kit that is for a M6x1.0

You can find these at Advance, AutoZone, etc... Also, you can go to any hardware store and replace all of the valve cover bolts by using the dimensions aforementioned in a 25mm length

 

[G-STowner]

okay thanks! I just bought this car from a guy like 3 weeks ago for $1500. he owned it and another person owned it before him and obviously the guy I bought it from doesn't know much about the car which kinda scares me but I cant go back now haha. I bought it only running on 2 cylinders. the car squealed horribly when it started(was the waterpump), and there was a little tick noise, and the boost was running at 20 psi. Im sure the guy thought, "My car is F'd". so anyways replaced the CAS, ignition coil, water pump and timing belt, and other maintenance and it runs good except for the tick I have now. and of course the running lean. I will have to do some research on those gauges and where you hook them up. Because I have no idea what your talking about for pin 76 haha. I have never hooked up a gauge or messed with any ECU before.

That doesn't sound like typical lifter tick to me. I would pull the valve cover and make sure there is no missing or broken parts. Also, it wouldn't be a bad idea to clean the lifters with some throttle body cleaner or deisel fuel, then refill with clean oil and install. When you changed the oil, did you notice any significant amount of metal shavings or "glitter" in the oil?

Didn't even see that last part there, but no I didn't see any metal shavings or anything. didn't look at it too much though either.

 

[2GAWD4U2NV]

okay thanks! I just bought this car from a guy like 3 weeks ago for $1500. he owned it and another person owned it before him and obviously the guy I bought it from doesn't know much about the car which kinda scares me but I cant go back now haha. I bought it only running on 2 cylinders. the car squealed horribly when it started(was the waterpump), and there was a little tick noise, and the boost was running at 20 psi. Im sure the guy thought, "My car is F'd". so anyways replaced the CAS, ignition coil, water pump and timing belt, and other maintenance and it runs good except for the tick I have now. and of course the running lean. I will have to do some research on those gauges and where you hook them up. Because I have no idea what your talking about for pin 76 haha. I have never hooked up a gauge or messed with any ECU before.



Didn't even see that last part there, but no I didn't see any metal shavings or anything. didn't look at it too much though either.

Soo.... an evoIII 16g at 20psi? That's good enough to max out factory injectors an then some. So apparently the guy had a piggyback A/F controller and has larger injectors in. He probably has global fuel cut quite a bit and is tuned for 10:1-11:1 fuel curve. That explains why you'd run lean almost constantly. I think you may have purchased a headache. :/

Read that ECU pinout. You'll notice the wiring job they did once you remove your driver side kick panel and gain access to the ECU. AutoMeter A/F gauge to ECU wire is usually purple. So you could spot it fast. As for anything else, just look for a wire cap or anything spliced into corresponding to the pinout I linked you.

I hope that's not a rod bouncing around every where. >.<

Like WES said, you should drain some oil and let it set for a moment and look for glitter, aka metal shavings. That's gonna allow you to get real good with these cars cause you're gonna have to pull the motor and get some work done.

 

[G-STowner]

Soo.... an evoIII 16g at 20psi? That's good enough to max out factory injectors an then some. So apparently the guy had a piggyback A/F controller and has larger injectors in. He probably has global fuel cut quite a bit and is tuned for 10:1-11:1 fuel curve. That explains why you'd run lean almost constantly. I think you may have purchased a headache. :/

Read that ECU pinout. You'll notice the wiring job they did once you remove your driver side kick panel and gain access to the ECU. AutoMeter A/F gauge to ECU wire is usually purple. So you could spot it fast. As for anything else, just look for a wire cap or anything spliced into corresponding to the pinout I linked you.

I hope that's not a rod bouncing around every where. >.<

Like WES said, you should drain some oil and let it set for a moment and look for glitter, aka metal shavings. That's gonna allow you to get real good with these cars cause you're gonna have to pull the motor and get some work done.

First off... thanks for the help and the replies man!
my gauge is also an autometer narrowband.
the evo 3 16g i have is a knock off. Ya my fuel was not keeping up with the amount of boost. my car would pretty much loose all power at like 4k, it would just stop accelerating basically. (I assume thats what fuel cutting is). When I fixed the boost problem though it ran really good at 10psi. I really don't think he had it tuned or has large injectors. The reason the 16g was boosting 20psi was because he had no boost going to the wastegate. He had the line running from the wastegate to the cold air intake which is a vacuum not a boost source. so I taped the ic pipe and hooked up a MBC (which I bought, he didn't have one) anyways, right now its running wide open at wastegate pressure. I just wanted it incase I ever wanted to turn the boost up. right now its boosting 10 psi. I could turn it up a couple psi but i'm not driving my car or even worrying about that right now. Here is the deal man. I probably shouldn't have bought it from the guy because of how shady he was. He literally tried to tell me the car was all stock. okay? he also said on craigslist the car had 120k miles on it but it has 180k. he is a sketchy Mexican guy I didn't believe a word he said but I thought I could fix this car, so I bought it. Just judging by how the turbo was hooked up, I am guessing he doesn't know much, probably thought "oh man I'm gonna buy this huge turbo and throw it on and I'm gonna go so fast" or the guy before him did it. I don't think he knew anything about this car. I spend a lot of time reading on here and trust me I'm not going to give up on this car. If I have to buy a whole new engine ill do it. I'll definitely agree with you I got myself a headache ha. honestly though I'm not the kind of person to say "well I just got F'd over I'm done with this" I will MAKE this car run for me no matter what. It's going to happen man I'm not gonna let this car beat me haha

alright so I need to figure out why I am running lean. Here is the timeline.

Saturday:
1.fixed boost problem

2. started it up and it was running lean(said it was rich for like 15 seconds, then it went to stoich for like 15 seconds and then it went to lean and stayed there) probably just the gauge.

3. took it for a drive and after driving it kind of hard for a mile I noticed a really loud ticking noise.

4. got home, opened hood and TICK! TICK! TICK!.......

The tick that was happening during and after the drive on saturday was way louder than the tick it had before the drive. the tick before the drive came and went. sometimes you could here it a little some times you couldn't. wasn't very loud either.

I think its safe to say that the drive on Saturday screwed something up pretty bad, or whatever was almost broke just couldn't take it anymore and it broke on me during the drive. So I must be running super lean if it has done that kind of damage right? I feel like I definitely need to figure out why I am running lean because if I don't... I will end up replacing what is broke under my valve cover, and my engine will eventually just break it again because it's running so lean. So do you have any ideas what could be causing me to run lean?

 

[2GAWD4U2NV]

First off... thanks for the help and the replies man!
my gauge is also an autometer narrowband.
the evo 3 16g i have is a knock off. Ya my fuel was not keeping up with the amount of boost. my car would pretty much loose all power at like 4k, it would just stop accelerating basically. (I assume thats what fuel cutting is). When I fixed the boost problem though it ran really good at 10psi. I really don't think he had it tuned or has large injectors. The reason the 16g was boosting 20psi was because he had no boost going to the wastegate. He had the line running from the wastegate to the cold air intake which is a vacuum not a boost source. so I taped the ic pipe and hooked up a MBC (which I bought, he didn't have one) anyways, right now its running wide open at wastegate pressure. I just wanted it incase I ever wanted to turn the boost up. right now its boosting 10 psi. I could turn it up a couple psi but i'm not driving my car or even worrying about that right now. Here is the deal man. I probably shouldn't have bought it from the guy because of how shady he was. He literally tried to tell me the car was all stock. okay? he also said on craigslist the car had 120k miles on it but it has 180k. he is a sketchy Mexican guy I didn't believe a word he said but I thought I could fix this car, so I bought it. Just judging by how the turbo was hooked up, I am guessing he doesn't know much, probably thought "oh man I'm gonna buy this huge turbo and throw it on and I'm gonna go so fast" or the guy before him did it. I don't think he knew anything about this car. I spend a lot of time reading on here and trust me I'm not going to give up on this car. If I have to buy a whole new engine ill do it. I'll definitely agree with you I got myself a headache ha. honestly though I'm not the kind of person to say "well I just got F'd over I'm done with this" I will MAKE this car run for me no matter what. It's going to happen man I'm not gonna let this car beat me haha

alright so I need to figure out why I am running lean. Here is the timeline.

Saturday:
1.fixed boost problem

2. started it up and it was running lean(said it was rich for like 15 seconds, then it went to stoich for like 15 seconds and then it went to lean and stayed there) probably just the gauge.

3. took it for a drive and after driving it kind of hard for a mile I noticed a really loud ticking noise.

4. got home, opened hood and TICK! TICK! TICK!.......

The tick that was happening during and after the drive on saturday was way louder than the tick it had before the drive. the tick before the drive came and went. sometimes you could here it a little some times you couldn't. wasn't very loud either.

I think its safe to say that the drive on Saturday screwed something up pretty bad, or whatever was almost broke just couldn't take it anymore and it broke on me during the drive. So I must be running super lean if it has done that kind of damage right? I feel like I definitely need to figure out why I am running lean because if I don't... I will end up replacing what is broke under my valve cover, and my engine will eventually just break it again because it's running so lean. So do you have any ideas what could be causing me to run lean?

1.The fact that it's an ebay knockoff isn't going to make much of a difference unless it was blown. The compressor maps are basically identical and flow the same amount of air, granted it's in working condition.

2. Fuel cut is pre-detonation and can be detrimental to weak internals, such as factory rods/pistons- especially 2g since they are not as strong as 1g factory internals. It can also bend the hell out of valves, knock rocker arms off, etc. When you hit fuel cut, it's basically like hitting a rev limiter, except there is nothing keeping you "limited" besides your foot and the strength of your internals. It's how you can easily grenade your motor, sling a rod, punch a piston... list goes on. Factory rev limit is around 7250 +/- a bit. Been awhile since I changed mine to 8k. So if you are driving and having this pre-detonation, you are on the verge of messing something up pretty bad.
(running open wastegate as the previous owner had the lines ran allowed the turbo to continue to build boost; injectors maxed cc/min; could not supply enough fuel to cylinder; pre-detonation/fuel cut; loud backfire; and eventually does the aforementioned or shook some bolts loose).

3. Great job on fixing boost leaks and setting an appropriate boost level!

4. I don't believe the culprit is running lean. Lean is when you are making the most power and a cleaner burn. Now, too lean and you can grenade your motor as well, but your problems aren't what's making your car run lean... if you see where I'm coming from. That will only be due to airflow and your fuel delivery. It does need some attention though. Can you estimate how far lean you are?

5. You shouldn't be lean the entire time of operation. You should stay a bit lean-stoich-rich under untuned operating conditions. As you increase boost pressure and increase rpms and grams/per rev, you will run more lean as you get to shift point. However, if you are set to 10psi, that should be ok.

Currently I run 450cc injectors on my Holset HX40 set up. 75lbs/min 60mm. I run 10psi and can shift at 7k rpms with no worries. An evo3 16g should handle it no problem.

You have multiple problems at once. You need to get the valve cover off and check carefully for any incidents that may have happened. Post pics etc... If that checks out then more than likely gotta pull the motor and you've probably spun rod bearings and very close to slinging a rod- which can be deadly.

Who knows? Could be a very simple fix. But you gotta get the valve cover off!

 

[G-STowner]

1.The fact that it's an ebay knockoff isn't going to make much of a difference unless it was blown. The compressor maps are basically identical and flow the same amount of air, granted it's in working condition.

2. Fuel cut is pre-detonation and can be detrimental to weak internals, such as factory rods/pistons- especially 2g since they are not as strong as 1g factory internals. It can also bend the hell out of valves, knock rocker arms off, etc. When you hit fuel cut, it's basically like hitting a rev limiter, except there is nothing keeping you "limited" besides your foot and the strength of your internals. It's how you can easily grenade your motor, sling a rod, punch a piston... list goes on. Factory rev limit is around 7250 +/- a bit. Been awhile since I changed mine to 8k. So if you are driving and having this pre-detonation, you are on the verge of messing something up pretty bad.
(running open wastegate as the previous owner had the lines ran allowed the turbo to continue to build boost; injectors maxed cc/min; could not supply enough fuel to cylinder; pre-detonation/fuel cut; loud backfire; and eventually does the aforementioned or shook some bolts loose).

3. Great job on fixing boost leaks and setting an appropriate boost level!

4. I don't believe the culprit is running lean. Lean is when you are making the most power and a cleaner burn. Now, too lean and you can grenade your motor as well, but your problems aren't what's making your car run lean... if you see where I'm coming from. That will only be due to airflow and your fuel delivery. It does need some attention though. Can you estimate how far lean you are?

5. You shouldn't be lean the entire time of operation. You should stay a bit lean-stoich-rich under untuned operating conditions. As you increase boost pressure and increase rpms and grams/per rev, you will run more lean as you get to shift point. However, if you are set to 10psi, that should be ok.

Currently I run 450cc injectors on my Holset HX40 set up. 75lbs/min 60mm. I run 10psi and can shift at 7k rpms with no worries. An evo3 16g should handle it no problem.

You have multiple problems at once. You need to get the valve cover off and check carefully for any incidents that may have happened. Post pics etc... If that checks out then more than likely gotta pull the motor and you've probably spun rod bearings and very close to slinging a rod- which can be deadly.

Who knows? Could be a very simple fix. But you gotta get the valve cover off!

I'm not saying that my problems are making my car run lean I'm asking if running lean caused the problem under the valve cover. But I do need to take the valve cover off it's just I am at school right now. Anyways... I have noticed that my gauge stays at lean even when driving it. it just doesn't come out of the lean section. also, you say you can shift at 7k but on my drive I brought it up and once it hits 6k it usually gets really loud and I don't gain any power at all. basically it sounds and feels like my tires are just peeling out(I know they aren't). but when I shift at 5.5k it shifted really good. 6-6.5k it would just not gain any power. it just got louder and got rough. the rpm's would still gain to 7k but I definitely was loosing speed shifting like that. The only thing I can compare it to is peeling out, it gets louder, the rpms still went up but its like a lost power and it was kinda jerky. could that be caused by running lean?

 

[2GAWD4U2NV]

I'm not saying that my problems are making my car run lean I'm asking if running lean caused the problem under the valve cover. But I do need to take the valve cover off it's just I am at school right now. Anyways... I have noticed that my gauge stays at lean even when driving it. it just doesn't come out of the lean section. also, you say you can shift at 7k but on my drive I brought it up and once it hits 6k it usually gets really loud and I don't gain any power at all. basically it sounds and feels like my tires are just peeling out(I know they aren't). but when I shift at 5.5k it shifted really good. 6-6.5k it would just not gain any power. it just got louder and got rough. the rpm's would still gain to 7k but I definitely was loosing speed shifting like that. The only thing I can compare it to is peeling out, it gets louder, the rpms still went up but its like a lost power and it was kinda jerky. could that be caused by running lean?

I'm gonna say no. You do have a FWD car and depending on traction efficiency, you are more than likely doing what's called "wheel-hop". Your tires are slipping a bit and if the suspension is under load the front tires will actually "hop" up and down causing loss of traction and rough vibrations. So that's probably what you are experiencing.

 

[G-STowner]

alright thanks man.

 

[G-STowner]

Okay so I took the valve cover off and everything seemed in perfect condition. no slop anywhere. Then I had a friend come listen and he thought for sure it was the rod bearing and so I took the oil cover off to check if the rods were loose. They were NOT LOOSE. they had a tiny tiny bit of play but that was sliding with the crank not against it which Is normal right? that basically tells me the bearings are tight to the crank. then I took all the caps off and inspected the bearings and they seemed like they were in perfect condition. I don't get what it is! Could it be the timing? I just don't understand how it could be because the tick would go away and come back when I drove it.

also I drained the oil and did not see any glitter from metal.

 

[2GAWD4U2NV]

Okay so I took the valve cover off and everything seemed in perfect condition. no slop anywhere. Then I had a friend come listen and he thought for sure it was the rod bearing and so I took the oil cover off to check if the rods were loose. They were NOT LOOSE. they had a tiny tiny bit of play but that was sliding with the crank not against it which Is normal right? that basically tells me the bearings are tight to the crank. then I took all the caps off and inspected the bearings and they seemed like they were in perfect condition. I don't get what it is! Could it be the timing? I just don't understand how it could be because the tick would go away and come back when I drove it.

also I drained the oil and did not see any glitter from metal.

Lol. God I just listened the sound clip again. That's miserable. Your rods may be perfectly secured. You probably have a broken wrist pin. That holds the piston to te rod. You're gonna have to pull your motor bud.

The only other thing I can think of that might save you a pull would be maybe balance shaft failure. I have mine eliminated.

Your rod caps can be fine, as well as your bearings, but your wrist pin is on its on. Check that out.

 

[G-STowner]

Lol. God I just listened the sound clip again. That's miserable. Your rods may be perfectly secured. You probably have a broken wrist pin. That holds the piston to te rod. You're gonna have to pull your motor bud.

The only other thing I can think of that might save you a pull would be maybe balance shaft failure. I have mine eliminated.

Your rod caps can be fine, as well as your bearings, but your wrist pin is on its on. Check that out.

okay thanks for getting back to me so fast I just checked the timing and its right on with the crank shaft. I am going to run back outside and clean up its about to storm here.

Lol. God I just listened the sound clip again. That's miserable. Your rods may be perfectly secured. You probably have a broken wrist pin. That holds the piston to te rod. You're gonna have to pull your motor bud.

The only other thing I can think of that might save you a pull would be maybe balance shaft failure. I have mine eliminated.

Your rod caps can be fine, as well as your bearings, but your wrist pin is on its on. Check that out.

I checked to see if the i could push the pistons up and down when I had the caps off and I couldn't. they had no play. I am thinking I am just going to pull the motor and rebuild it. My compression from cylinder one to four is 152 155 160 160. that's what I got. it has a 180k on it.

I will need to read up on balance shaft elimination. I hear about it all the time but I don't know what it is!

 

[G-STowner]

THE CAM WHEEL WAS A LITTLE LOOSE! So... after checking the crankshaft and everything else down there I pulled the spark plugs and turned the motor over. we could pin point the sound easier and it was coming right over the cam wheel. Grabbed the cam wheel and it had the tiniest bit of play in it. Tightened it up and thought there is no way this is going to work. It worked. absolutely no ticking. I also measured .0098 play in the crankshaft which is max. so I'm not sure if i'm going to put it back together or try and hope it doesn't walk or put new bearings in.