SR redtop knock

[Gjohnson7]

Ok, I picked up a clean s13 with a redtop for cheap cause it had engine knock. I'm planning on working on the engine tomorrow, but this will be my first engine teardown. Here's my question, should I do compression test before I pull the oil pan and start tearing things apart? I was planning on dropping the oil pan to see if there are any shavings, but will a compression test tell me which cylinder is housing in the culprit? Sorry, if the questions are dumb, I just haven't tried anything like this before. Closest thing to this I've done is a timming chain.

[DOOK]

compression and leakdown tests before disassembling anything, give yah a leg to stand on

[benefitx]

you can check my thread if you want...my first build from a rod knocking engine...

[Gjohnson7]

Ok, cool. I think I will have my next door neighbor help me alot. He has built mutiple engines. Just a matter of catching up with him when he has time.

Oh, another quick question. I hear other people say that it's ok to run the engine below 1500 rpm when there is a knock. Is this true? I've only ran the car to pull it in the driveway. I really don't want to do more damage, but I think I should listen to the engine just to see if I can pin point the problem. I had a buddy help me pick up the car and he hear the engine when I was pulling it off the dolly and into the garage. He picked up a coupe a couple of weeks ago with a knock in cylinder one (SR) and it turned out to be a bad bearing, or lack there of. He thought this engine sounded a quiter, so I want to see if something else might be the culprit. Is that just a lost cause????

[O3DigitalBath]

^i'd run the motor as little as you absolutly have to with rod knock....

[Racer X]

probably lost cause most likely a rod ate a bearing common on sr. if you want to be sure rotate the engine until the piston is just past top dead (starting downward stroke) and push on the piston (a long socket extension works well) if you can move it down the bearing is most likely gone. good luck!

[corey240]

is it positivly a rod knock? it would be cool if you found it it was just really loud lifters although doubful you should bleed the lifters to get rid of the noise they make and then see how loud the knocking is, post a vid of it running, youl get a good answer then.

[benefitx]

well i can tell you this much , you will

A) need to buy a new crank
B) have your current crank polished/grinded down or w/e

A) buy new rods

A) buy new bearings

[Gjohnson7]

Ok, I drained the oil a dropped the pan. It doesn't really look like there is a whole lot of damage, but hey what do I know. Here are some pics:

The engine
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/2664000-2664999/2664385_1_full.jpg
They're kind of hard to see.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/2664000-2664999/2664385_3_full.jpg

In this pic you can see the metalic tint to the oil
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/2664000-2664999/2664385_4_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/2664000-2664999/2664385_5_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/2664000-2664999/2664385_6_full.jpg

What do you guys think from the shavings? Am I in really bad shape or can I just replace some bearings and call it a day?

[GSXRJJordan]

"replace some bearings and call it a day" lol... cause that's easy.

You're going to pull the motor, pull the head, disassemble the block, and then decide what to replace, and it's most likely going to be lots. Do it. Post pics of your breakdown if you want.

BTW that oil means you're F'd fo sho. Teardown now.

[DOOK]

"replace some bearings and call it a day" lol... cause that's easy.

You're going to pull the motor, pull the head, disassemble the block, and then decide what to replace, and it's most likely going to be lots. Do it. Post pics of your breakdown if you want.

BTW that oil means you're F'd fo sho. Teardown now.

couldn't agree more, I once threw a rod through the block of a cast iron jeep 4.0 block which some say can't be done. Rod knock is bad, pull it now and start the rebuild.

[benefitx]

Gjohnson7...replacing bearings is not easy, just like how GSXRJJordan said, you will need to pull the engine out , pull off the intake and exhaust mani's, pull off the head , and tear the block apart COMPLETELY meaning the rods, pistons , and crank...it will take you about a week at most given you have a new Headgasket , Headstuds , Bearings , Crank , Rods , Pistons ready in hand and if its your first build like it was mine it will take you about 2 weeks and make sure you are organized~~~

[Gjohnson7]

Crap! Alright, will I need to take the block to a machine shop and have any work done?

[opponheimer]

No, you might not have to unless cylinder walls are egged. If the block is damaged from Rod Knock, i wouldn't even use that engine. Have the crank turned, and rods checked by a machinist for irregularities. You will probably need a new crank if its extremely bad, and a new rod or rod(s) .

Also do not use clevite-77 bearings, they work fine, but are not a tri metal bearing.

[Sileighty_85]

if ya want dude check out my SR tear down and Build up to see what your getting into its really not that hard as long as you got an FSM. Just put everything in individual zip lock bags and lable them!!

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2431168/1

Good Luck!

[Gjohnson7]

Ok, well I almost have the engine pulled. I just have to get the tranny bolts off as well as the bolts on the down pipe. So, this is what I'm thinking. Since I am tearing the engine apart. What do I need to do to make sure this doesn't happen agian? Are the bearings the main weakness of the SR or do I need to watch out for something else?

[Gjohnson7]

Anyone???? Also, does anyone have a site they would recommend to pick up the bearings and other parts? What about brands?

[benefitx]

ok well i asked the same question...

you cant really be sure what you need until the engine is apart...

buuuutt...i bought a complete new bottom end , if thats the route you wanna go its gunna be $$. you will want to buy a new crank,rods,pistons,bearings(acl)...

if not then wait till the engine is apart to see what kind of damage it is

[WilloW]

Anyone???? Also, does anyone have a site they would recommend to pick up the bearings and other parts? What about brands?

I would go with OEM bearings, new front cover. You can get these parts form Courtesy, Performance Nissan, WestCoJustin (sorry if I spell it wrong) he's on the board here. Go OEM!

http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?

http://www.mynismo.com/

[Sileighty_85]

I just dropped in my SR two days ago fully built from the crank up I picked up some Nismo and Tomei Racing Bearings from www.RHDJapan.com (http://www.RHDJapan.com), and Wiseco Pistons, and Eagle H-Con Rods from WWW.Enjukuracing.com (http://www.Enjukuracing.com), www.hybridynamics.com (http://www.hybridynamics.com) has good OEM stuff. If your rebuilding the Engine go ahead and relace the oil pump with a new OEM one.

[Gjohnson7]

It's been a few days so I figured I would post and update on where I'm at now.

After tearing down the engine completely I found that I had damaged the bearings on Cylinders 1 and 3. The Crank has some scaring, but it could possibly grinded. One of my thrust bearings was destroyed also. I recently got a qoute on the machine work needed and parts.

Vat block $40
hone 40
Install plugs 25
Resize Rods 40
R & R Pistons 20
Grind Crank 100
Balance Assy 65
Clean & Mag head 30
valve job 128
surface 40

total $528

Also, I called Courtsey Nissan to get a parts qoute on OEM parts and this is what I'm looking at:

Rod Bearings [8] $36.32
Main bearings set 42.33
Thrust bearings [2] 15.24
Piston ring set 85.44
Cylinder head bolts 33.80
washers 13.80
Engine Gasket set 142.05
water pump 54.36
oil pump/outer cover 177.23

total 600.57

grand total $1128.57

Now this total is assuming my crank can be grinded and doesn't need to be replaced. It's at the machine shop now getting checked out. I would also like to swap the Oem head bolts for Arp head studs, but it depends on the cash flow.

What do you guys think? Am I missing something? Can I skip something or save money some where?


I also picked up a complete Z32 brake set, with rear 5 lug hubs. Now I need to find some front hubs for cheap. It just depends, if the engine work starts to get to expensive I might have to dump the brakes and hubs.


http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/2664000-2664999/2664385_32_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/2664000-2664999/2664385_33_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/2664000-2664999/2664385_34_full.jpg

I'm not sure how well you'll be able to see, but.....
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/2664000-2664999/2664385_35_full.jpg

And the crank.......

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/2664000-2664999/2664385_36_full.jpg