sophocha

Hi,

I need a wiz to help me out on this.I`ve already took my car to 3 mechanics but they are either too bored to find what the problem is or they are not trying hard enough.

The story goes like this:

Bear in mind that my car was totally fine before this!.....I`ve opened the engine cover to fix a minor oil leak that I had into the 4th spark cylinder.Then, I`ve accidentally droped a metallic washer inside the timing belt cover, so I had to get the P/S pump and brackets out so that I could get a magnet pen inside to get the washer out.....no luck, then I thought maybe the washer landed on the timing belt itself, so I turned the crank pulley by hand clockwise and anticlockwise to see if there was a resistance, and it did!....the pulley traveled on the opposite side of the belt and voila, I could get it out with the magnet.....then I put everything back and started the car.Idle was just fine, I reved the car and everything seems smooth.Next day, I got the car for a spin and oh the horror!....when I accelerate I could hear a rattling/metallic sound coming from the engine (like marbles are inside the engine!).At first I thought I jumped a tooth on the belt but I`ve checked my timing and fuel mixture and everything was good!....the engine sounds just fine on idle or when it`s cold....it`s only when the car is warm and I accelerate that I get the loud rattling sound on all revs....I`m baffled!What do you think it is?Did I damaged anything (like tensioner or pulleys or belt) when I manually turned the crank pulley with the washer still in?


The mechanics were saying, oh, it`s your fuel mixture, oh it`s your injectors, oh, it`s your exhaust rattling....but it`s not!It happened from one day to the other and the only thing that I messed up was the dropped washer inside the timing belt!

I`ll try and record how it sounds but it would be tough as it only happens when I drive.

Thanks

TheAsian

Go through and check all of your bolts on everything you took off. Have someone help you rev the engine and you listen for the noise. You will be able to pin point it fairly quickly that way.

rustanghunter

it could be somehing not even related that you didnt know you touched or moved in some way, do you have any heatshields on your exhaust still? check em

TheAsian

^agree check that to.

sophocha

....I think it`s just a devilish coincidence that something rattles and it`s not related to the washer droped inside the timing belt.I called a friend today to help me check the car, he said the timing is perfect and that the noise is pre-detonation!....how about that!It`s coming from around the 3rd-4th cylinder.He said it`s about time to change my injectors (they are 15 years old!).....but the weird thing is that I have a cheap air-fuel mixture display and it doesn`t show any significant change on the air-fuel mixture, but I guess it makes sense if JUST ONE of the injectors is clogged.

rustanghunter

ive driven myself crazy with stupid coincidences like that

sophocha

Oh, wow....I found the exact sound!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGJZ6...eature=related

I don`t know why they name it 'knocking'...it`s more of a rattle kind of sound.In my case it only happens on one or two cylinders, when warm and when I accelerate....If I was naming this sound for the first time I would go for 'marbles inside the engine'!....eehehehe

I`ve retarded the timing a little bit and raised the fuel pressure, put some 100 octane fuel in it and it seems to be slightly better but not much....it`s just a temporary solution until I get some new injectors.

TJChad

If you have ANY pre-ignition or detonation DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT drive your car even one more mile until you find the source of your problem.

sophocha

What in your opinion could be the problem besides injectors?I know it`s coming from cylinders 3 or 4 and I now know that the sound I hear is predetonation.I`m getting 4 injectors tomorrow to replace the old ones but just in case it`s not the injectors what else can it be?

TJChad

Take your head off and inspect your cylinders, if you have excessive carbon build ups/ deposits or any metal burrs/ Sharp edges they will heat up and actually ignite your fuel mixture prior to your plugs igniting it. Hence the name "pre ignition" the sound you hear are actually the two "flame fronts" colliding.

sophocha

Thanks.Taking the head off sounds a little bit drastic.I`ll try to seafoam it first, change the injectors and see if I have a positive change.If I don`t then I`ll be looking on opening the engine up.

sophocha

It was the timing after all.The belt slipped 1 or 2 teeth when that washer went in.Easy fix!

Everyone was saying that the timing is ok because they where paying attention to the 3 ignition marks and NOT the actual timing marks on the crank pulley (The old hondas have 3 marks, that`s the ignition marks, and an inch on the right of those marks another 2 marks, and that`s the timing marks!).