So last night, I'm driving back from a friend's place in my GSR. My car has quite an exhaust leak and is loud as hell, but tonight it ultimately screwed me over. I turn onto this particular road near my house and bring it up to about 4600 in 2nd, shift to 3rd. No other cars on the road, or so I thought...

Then I see blues, and this guy is flying to catch up with me. I pull over, turn on the interior light, and start getting my insurance/registration out of the glovebox. I hadn't rolled down the window yet, but he comes up to my car and starts hitting the window with the butt end of his flashlight. I roll the window down, he asks me if there was any reason why I was driving so fast... haha. I say no and hand him my info. He comes back to the car, hands me his summons pad, and not 1, but 3! violations on there. He claimed unecessary noise and acceleration, expired inspection sticker (expired last month) and another for not wearing my belt. I know, I should have, but my boy's place is less than 2 miles from my house, I wasn't thinking. All in all, $287 worth of fines. That's just the beginning.

Continuing my drive home, my instrument lights on the cluster light up, and my car conked out. I started it back up but it started to idle erractically, so I limped it home for the remaining 1500 ft. to my house. I got out of the car with it still running, and now I'm hearing a loud knock out of my engine. I don't know if I spun a rod bearing, only b/c I've never actually heard what that sounds like. If this is the case, I'm not sure what to do.

I'm debating whether to just pull the motor and basically do a rebuild, with new pistons, rings, rod bearings, etc. , or just sell the longblock and swap something else in there. I really can't afford much down time, as this is my only mode of transportation. How much am I looking at for machine work? I know the pistons will be CTR .025", but as far as boring the block over, machining the crank if needed, bearings, etc, how much $$ am I looking at spending?

Thanks fellas, I think I need a beer to calm my nerves at this point.

 

checked your oil??

 

Yeah, I just did and it's low. BUT... do you really think the knocking sound will go away if I add more? It sounded pretty bad last night. I shut it off and restarted it, it knocked pretty loud for a sec on startup and then went away some, but not altogether.

 

I don't think its your oil either. I would atleast put some in there and check it out. You said you hit 4600rpms in second, I am guessing your still running the stock GSR vtec, so i'd say it could possibly have something to do with your oil. Did it sputter going into vtec? I would try filling the oil back up and starting her up. If the noise is still there then let it run for a bit. If the noise goes away, take it out and send the car through vtec.

I don't think you spun a bearing but i guess anything is possible.

talk about a shitty night....heres a beer on me , goodluck with the car man, let me know how it turns out.

 

knocking could be anything from a floated lifter to bearings that were too tight. i had a knocking sound once, apparently a mechanic decided to tighten up the bolts on the pulleys. i decided to give the car a good running a few weeks later and i'm pulling into the garage and hear a knocking sound. my dad thought i floated a lifter. but, the bearings on the pulleys were shot. they were overtightened. i saved a bit of money when my dad threatened to sue. i also learned not to run the car hard. but, then somehow the a/c went out a week later and then the a/c switch went out after that. that honda shop in kingwood texas was reported to the BBB. but, the a/c compressor was on its way out.

 

Well, I just went out and listened again, it sounds like the knocking is coming from somewhere in the head, and not the bottom end. At idle, the sound appears and disappears, however, it increases with revving the motor. It doesn't really sound like a valve ticking, so I'm guessing it has to do with a lifter or something. I really don't know what to be looking for as I've never run into this problem. Any more insight on what this might be?

 

the best way to listen into the head is get a socket wrench extension...the longer the better. and put it to your ear, then listen around the head. it really sounds like a lifter was floated. my problem is i know more about ohv motors and that is what it would be. but, the workings of both are the same and the noises wouldn't be too much different. it idle it should stay pretty constant and since lifters and the rest of the valvetrain move with the crank...the sound would increase.
i'm hoping other people will chime in here, but i really think it is a lifter. and that sucks. sorry to hear about the other **** that happened to you. have you thought about trying to defer the ticket. say your car wasn't in gear when you accelerated and with a damaged exhaust(which you can prove, i assume) it wasn't intentional. the tags, however, is something you have to deal with. but, in utah, you can get that defered if you show proof that you have had new tags put on.

 

So if I floated a lifter, what am I looking at to fix the problem? I've heard of floating a valve, but what exactly occurs when floating a lifter? Is it something that can be fixed w/o spending a shitload of $$? Thanks.

 

the lifter lifts the valve. it is a part of the valve train. it could entail replacing much, if not all of the valve train. if your looking to do a rebuild, you might as well do this. but, i think taking off the valve cover would be a better way to look for any problems than trying to listen. if you brought it to a honda mechanic, it could cost over 500 bucks...that would be my guess.