Problems with motor knocking

[DriftEmperor88]

Hey guys, recently my motor(sr20det redtop) has been acting up. This is how it starts, in the morning I would start my car and my oil light would turn on. I would let it run for about 10 seconds and it would disappear. Next day, I start the car it would take about 30 seconds then disappear. Now I hear knocking in the motor and the light stays on.
Things I tried
1. Changed the oil
2. Changed the oil filter
3. Took off oil pan to see if there were gunk in the oil pump (its clean)
4. I noticed a mark from the oil pump on the oil pan like a circle shape. (Are they even suppose to touch?)

So my question is how do I fix this?

[Homer_Simpson]

Hey guys, recently my motor(sr20det redtop) has been acting up. This is how it starts, in the morning I would start my car and my oil light would turn on. I would let it run for about 10 seconds and it would disappear. Next day, I start the car it would take about 30 seconds then disappear. Now I hear knocking in the motor and the light stays on.
Things I tried
1. Changed the oil
2. Changed the oil filter
3. Took off oil pan to see if there were gunk in the oil pump (its clean)
4. I noticed a mark from the oil pump on the oil pan like a circle shape. (Are they even suppose to touch?)

So my question is how do I fix this?
Oh dear. Redtop + mark oil pickup on the bottom of pan = oil starvation.

Did you bottomed out and bang the oil pan on something recently? Did you bang out the pan before reinstalling it?

[prodigyJJ]

sounds like you may have spun a bearing.

[Sileighty_85]

did you find/see any gold in the oil or oilpan?

[DriftEmperor88]

I did not find any chips of metal in the oil pan, but yes, I did bang out one little dent. It was a size of a dime on the corner of the oil pan like 6 months ago when I first installed my motor. This never happened the last 6 months I been driving my car. Its been really cold lately, I'm assuming that might be a reason for the motor to be acting strange. I'm thinking about taking the oil pan off again to bang it a little to stop the pump from touching the pan.

[DriftEmperor88]

Oh yeah I haven't banged my oil pan on nothing. There is no dents on my oil pan besides that first one I banged out.

[Chrischeezer]

Yes, remove the pan and hammer out the center a little bit...
there should be NO contact between the pick-up and the pan, clearance is very close.
BAng that sucker out.

[mxexux]

I'm not 100% sure since I have only delt with KA motors, but it sounds like your oil pick up tube may have come loose at the connection right underneath the oil pump itself. If its loose it will droop down and hit the pan and eventually mark it as it shakes. Also the oil pump would only be sucking in air where it is loose and not suck up oil. None the less, it is already too late if you hear knocking and the light stays on. You should have turned the motor off as soon as the light didn't turn off the first 5 seconds.

[Chrischeezer]

this problem is very common w/sr20's because when the motor is being transported every time its placed down/dropped down, the pan is the first thing to hit.

[zylvia213]

Oh dear. Redtop + mark oil pickup on the bottom of pan = oil starvation.

Did you bottomed out and bang the oil pan on something recently? Did you bang out the pan before reinstalling it?

yea did you even inspect the oil pan when you took it off... always place it on a flat surface and hit it with a rubber mallet.... Also did you inspect the oil pick up? there is a gasket on there where it bolts up and if theres a leak that can be a problem. Its like sucking on a straw that is damage. Also maybe the oil pump has gone out or not working properly.

sounds like you may have spun a bearing.

hope that didnt happen ^^^^