Soooo the other day im driving down, 465 heading down town when all of the sudden it sounded like i sucked up a bag of hammers...ok mabey not quite that bad but it definatly seemed like it at the time. I pulled into a gas station to check it out and decided it was too bad to drive back home and had to pay 110$ to get a tow. Its loudest at about 1/4 throttle no matter the rpm, speed, or the gear im in. On the way back to the apt. i was talking to my friend who is a tech at a local Infinity dealership, and he was telling me that all of the G's that come in way too low on oil make an almost identical sound. The sound comes from the timing chain flapping around when theres not enough oil pressure to keep the tensioner tight on the chain. I wasnt sure if the k20 had the oil pressure operated chain tensioner but a little research proved that to be right...i guess its just something i took for granted and never thought about.

Got it back home and decided to do an oil change to see if this would solve my problem, i was just over due for one and running somewhat low so this seemed like a perfect explination for the knock. Well when you think oil change you dont exactly think pain in the *** or hard what so ever. To bad i decided to be lazy last time, literally the first time i have ever had my oil changed for me, since ive been driving, and im pretty sure Goodyear hired the Hulk to do my oil change. By this i mean my filter is on sooo tight that its been 2 days now and i have turned it about a quarter inch and also managed to rip the oil filter completely off aside from the part that meets the block and the threaded sleeve.

This is where i sit at the moment...with no car...I also just placed an order for about 900$ worth of parts on Friday, obviously not knowing this would happen. So now, not knowing whether this is just a timing chain noise or a rod knock, i have parts payed for and almost in my hands that ive been wanting and waiting to get for months now that i may not be able to use.....What a stupid weekend...

I guess what im getting at through this long story, whether you care or not...has anyone else had a similar problem?

 

No noises like that but definite possibility since we do use oil pressure for our timing chain tensioners

 

How low was your oil? It seems that there has been a few threads about RSX owners having really low oil but they have never mentioned anything about noise. It might be possible that your oil pump decided to go and since there is no oil getting anywhere the valves and your chain etc. could all be suffering. Was your oil light on or any CEL codes thrown?

 

compression check? leak down?

 

It was actually surprisingly low for only being a little over due for an oil change...But i really don't think i was running into any lubrication problems...im certain it wasnt that low...There was one day last week that vtech was intermittent but that was mostly due to the cold...I'm really leaning toward the slight lack of oil pressure causing the issue but with this stupid oil change going ridiculously wrong some how, i cant do much of anything because the car is just sitting...out of oil...with less than half an oil filter...I would love to put everything i just bought on too, but im not going to risk the very real chance that i may have a seriously expensive problem and have to return them...oh well i guess ill just have to wait until i figure out a way to take an oil filter off...laaaaaame!!

We even thought that mabey somehow i had broken a valve spring because the noise sounds more like a top end noise rather than a bottom end noise...but a quick check under the valve cover proved that wrong...everything else looked pretty clean too so im really just stuck at the moment i guess...without being able to change the oil and start the car i cant do a whole lot more diagnosing. My performance did not change and the car didnt seem to run any different at all when the noise started...it just more or less happened without changing anything...

 

now what do you call "over due"? how often do you normally get an oil change?

 

Every 3000 mi or 3 months...I may have been a month over due...maybe 500mi...I havnt driven my car much this winter...

 

sounds like a rod knock to me. i just had a RSX come in with low oil, and no cylinder two rod bearing.

 

Defiantly not something i like hearing haha, but if thats the case then so be it. I still havnt been able to get the oil filter off, mostly because i didnt try yesterday because of a long night at work... so i still dont know for sure though.

Your a tech at a dealer ship i assume right? What was the price you guys quoted them? If i do need to re build im doing it myself but im just curious about how much a dealership would charge.

 

See if its throwing codes.

 

Well i already have an MIL for emissions, and yes i could check for a knock sensor code but a knock sensor will throw a code for anything it hears if it picks up the right frequency, so even if it is the timing belt it may still code out. Im still trying to get my oil filter off!! I have a plan that should work.

 

Well honda paid most of it. I think new short block is around 4800 then there are gaskets, and labor. I had one RSX the bill was 9800 for new short block and a new head.

 

Holy hell!! I think ill just save and buy a stroker kit if thats the case!

 

rebuild time!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Looks like im goin all motor...damn i just made up my mind to go boost!!

 

Finally got the oil filter off...It came off in 5 large pieces...and it only took 5 days!!...Ok so i started it up and sure enough the knock is still there...Since im fairly positive its a rod knock...any suggestions?