i replaced my valve cover gasket, distributor o-ring and oil pan gasket.i finished replacing the valve gasket and o-ring 3 days ago, i ran into some problem with the oil pan bec. it had a crack so it had no oil pan and oil was draining for 3 days. i received the pan and finished installing the oil pan yesterday.
today i turned the car on and i has a loud scratching weird sound that it never had before and it has some smoke coming out of the engine area. i let ran for 5 min to let the oil spread but then i turned it off bec. im scared that i damage it more. it never happened before so i dont know what i should do. is the anything wrong or is it normal?

 

where does the sound seem to be coming from. top end or bottom? If you were worried about oil pressure or the spread of oil you could of primed the motor by disconecting the fuel injectors and cranking it till your oil light goes off.

 

i think the top end, theres no oil light or anything. just a rubbing scratching sound. what should i do? how did i mess up?

 

use stethescope(screwdriver)to narrow down the location of noise. did you install the dist. correctly. maybe what cause the oil pan crack did more damage than you think.

 

the oil pan crack was my fault when i removed it. it didnt have a crack while in the car. it really loud and the sound seems like its coming from the engine. theres is also white smoke coming if i let it run after a minute or 2.

 

double post

 

it seems like it coming from the down pipe from the header to the cat? the sound is like a really loud shaking rubbing sound. i hope its not from the bottom end of the engine. did i loosen something from the cat while having it hanging while waiting for the oil pan?im planning on remving it and putting it back again. i there anything i should be aware before i do it? its a 1997 civic ex btw

 

im having exact same symptons. does it sound like air puffing sound as if there was an exhaust air leak? it has alot of trouble starting and when it does start, it idles like total **** and even if you touch the gas abit, it stalls out. lmk

 

it not an air puffing sound, more likerea loud metal scratching kinda shaking sound. it starts easily and it has that loud sound when it just start and when it idles, the sound is not as loud. it doesnt have sound up top so the valve cover and the distributor must be fine. is it possible to mess up your engine by having oil drain for 3 days while replacing the oil pan gasket or valve cover gasket?

 

Id drain the oil to look at it. If you see shavings, glitter,flakes, etc, your in trouble.
If the oil looks good, dump it back in the engine and pull the valve cover to inspect.
Maybe removed a few cam caps to inspect the cam journals.
Hopefully you can find out what it is before any serious damage is done.

 

it seems to me like its the catalytic converter. the downpipe wasnt shaking that much. i drained the oil and remove the oil pan and theres no flakes or anything besides some tiny glitter type. theres seems to be nothing hanging or loose at the engine from below. so the only thing i think is making the loud noise is the cat, if im right. so how do i fix it?

 

did you say glitter type?
I hate to suggest it but can you post a quick 3-4 second vid?

 

thanks a lot for the help pyro, took me a little while to post back bec. i have to make up for work. anyway the sound was the the dust shield is rubbing on the flywheel.