Alright, so I noticed that my GSR swap developed a slight tick/knock earlier today. I'm not sure what triggered it. It has been fairly cold out and I do have pretty thick oil in it (10w40). It is garaged and I let it warm up before driving it in cold weather for the most part.

Just to avoid any confusion, it is a 96 Civic DX with an all motor GSR swap (CTR pistons on stock rods and crank, ported head, CTR cams and skunk2 valvetrain.)

I thought at first that it could have been a valve that came out of adjustment, so I pulled the valve cover off to check it out. The first thing that I noticed is that it had a very strong odor of fuel. It has been running rich, but damn...It was bad. After I looked everything over, it seems that everything is in order with the valvetrain. I'm going to check valve lash again, but I'm 98% sure that everything is within spec.

I then pulled the pan to double check the rod bearings. Now, I haven't dealt with that many motors that spun bearings, but more times than not it has seemed that the rod would almost be "loose" as well as metal shavings in the oil. Am I right, or should I pull the caps just to be sure? Everything looks really good, and to be honest I'm baffled.

My question is this: Do you think I should go ahead and pull each rod cap to make sure everything is square, or would it be obvious? Do you have any other suggestions as to what it could be? Any help would be appreciated.

The water pump had been making a bit of noise, but I don't think that is it (Although I'm going to replace it anyways since it is apart.)

Thank you in advance for any help
-Steve




Modified by drtysohc at 6:28 PM 12/4/2007

 

anyone?

 

ive seen people give perfectly good cars away cause they thought the motor was knocking and it was the water pump. they will really knock if its bad. ive had 2 spin on single cams and the oil looked terrible. cut the oil filter open and see what it looks like on the inside. if its good i wouldnt worry just adjust the valves and replace the oil pump. could also be lma's. i would get it tuned if its running that rich. do u have a fuel pressure guage

 

Ok, well I guess I'll pull the water pump off and take a look at it. I guess it wouldn't hurt. Is there anything I should look for with the water pump? Do I really need to replace the oil pump if the bearing isn't spun? I guess it wouldn't hurt.

Do you think I should go ahead and check the bearings while i'm in there, or do you think there would definitly be metal in the oil? The oil was black, but it was consistent, and no metal.

 

just look for shaft play in the wheel. should be none at all. yeah if you spun a bearing the oil would deff. hav flakes in it. like i said cut the filter open and make sure. is it obd-1 or 2. if its one upgrading to a 2 would be a good upgrade if its 2 already then you can take it apart and check for scoring and check the clearances on the gears. also bad lma's will make a ticking noise to.

 

Shaft play in the wheel? wtf? and what do you mean by lma's?

 

the water pump wheel

 

doh! lol

Yeah, I'm going to pull the rod caps off tonight and just check...just in case it isn't obvious and I caught it early. expletive it, I may as well make sure everything is right before I put it back together. Torquing it all back down is going to be a pain in the *** though, because it is still in the car

 

Alright, here is another symptom that may pertain to the problem...I forgot about this. VTEC hasn't been engaging until 7k sometimes, but when I put fresh oil in it it will engage at about 5600. Could it be related?

 

Looks like a spun bearing I don't think it is that bad though, the crank may be good still.

Has anyone gotten so lucky that they've been able to re-use the crank and rod? lol When it rains, it pours...this had to happen right before christmas

 

You will need to check for out-of-round on your rods big end and crank journal. If it was an oiling issue and you were lucky enough to catch it early you may be able to reuse them but at the very least should have them both cleaned up a bit, if not the whole shabang while your at it to be safe.

 

did u pull the rod caps off

 

yeah. There is a bearing that is trashed. I just halfass threw it back together. I'm going to pull the motor tomorrow, toss it on one of my engine stands and go through it. I'll take pictures once its apart. Thank you for the help everyone.

-Steve