I recently changed the headgasket on a 1988 civic hatch with a d15b engine. It started up fine, ran for 1 day, then started shaking a lot making a very loud clanking sound from the engine.

It starts up now, no shaking, but it doesn't run well at all and there is still a very loud clanking sound coming from the engine.

My first thought was that I might have been retarded and dropped a nut or a washer into the valvetrain by accident and then put it back together, so I removed the valve cover and looked around as much as I could but I didn't see anything.

Also I didn't unbolt or loosen any valve components in the head, nothing changed other than a basic head gasket change.

Then I thought maybe some foreign matter got into the intake manifold while the head was off and is too big to drop past the valves but is rattling around in there, so I pulled the intake manifold off and nothing.

It seems to be a constant, very loud rattle that clanks in time with the engine RPM. It quiets down *a little* when I revved it once. What the hell did I **** up?!

Please help, I am running a mobile mechanic business and the money that the guy paid me is spent on rent already. I can't refund his money, I NEED to fix this ASAP.

 

bump for suggestions...

 

No one? F*ck I'm going to have to pull the f*cking head again. God dammit.

 

check your timeing ????

 

Yeah thats what I'm going to do first. Hopefully (or maybe not hopefully since this is an interference engine) its that. God this sucks a$$. Its 99 degrees outside. :-(

 

Update: I checked the timing, it was 9 teeth off from where I marked it...but piston 1 was at TDC and the marks on the camshaft sprocket were lined up with the block mating surface. So, confused, I put it back on where I had actually marked it when I took it off in the first place and rotated the crank until the marks came around again...and again they were 9 teeth off. WTF? So I figure "fine, I'll just rotate the belt and put it on 9 teeth over from where I marked it originally. Rotated it again and it came up spot on.

So I'm like "sweet, it should work now, since it worked before right where I marked it originally". I go to start it up and it is OBVIOUSLY out of timing.

So now I'm cussing and throwing sh*t around since this is the second time I've taken this f*cking engine apart in two days and I'm really getting tired of it. Its not like I'm making any money since apparently I f*cked it up in the first place.

The only thing I can think of is that somehow I bent a valve or two and now have to tear the goddamn thing apart again to replace them out of pocket. FML

If anyone has any other suggestions as to what to do, please let me know. I'm so frustrated with this engine...its a goddamn d15 thats on its last leg anyway but I have to make this right for my customer.

There goes my weekend. :-(

 

P.S. Sorry for all the bitching. Its been a rough week and I've been working my a$$ off in 90+ degree weather and once I get finished with a job, I want it to be f*cking FINISHED. Not have to tear it all down again and again and again. Meh. /rant

 

I don't know if you still have the civic but where did you get the gasket because I can't find one for nothing d15b 2839362 I have a 93 civic