KA24DE Valve Train Noise?? Rod Knock?? Timing Chain??

[Itsuki Takeuchi]

After much research, Ive tried a lot of things to diagnose my noise issue.

https://youtu.be/vL8zne8Fi7E

https://youtu.be/vL8zne8Fi7E

video i just uploaded of my phone in the engine bay.

Symptoms: I have a rattle/ticking noise at 2500-3000 rpms under 1/4 of throttle.

No noise at idle or revving or deacceleration.

noise in all gears....even reverse.

Ive inspected upper timing chain....guides removed and tensioner cleaned and made sure functional. with the guides removed the chain hit the valve cover. upper guide put back on. i can hear that noise at idle. and its not the same as what i have at the rpms stated while driving. the tensioner when installed compressed 1/4 inch or more. is the spring worn out? new tensioner? has the chain stretched? new chain?

Ive used a stethascope and checked both sides of the block and around the oil pan. No noise. my injectors are loud.

Installed a mechanical oil pressure gauge and i have oil pressure. about 60 psi driving at 3,000 rpms. and at idle about 25ish. Not sure what the oem psi should be. couldnt find it in my chilton manual. ????

i flushed my old oil with marvel mystery oil and put a heavier oil and lucas additive in with a k&n filter. didnt really change the noise at all.

Something I have yet to do is check the valve lash. question is....if i do check it and find its the cause of the sound....is this going to cause significant damage and cause engine failure over time?

What I plan on doing this weekend is jacking the rear end up on blocks and having a buddy drive in the the rpms 2500-3000 and ill listen with a stethascope to find it. hopefully this will work and i can pin point the noise.

Thanks for any and all help everyone

[KAT-PWR]

Sounds like rod knock. I doubt valve lash would cause noise like that.

[Itsuki Takeuchi]

Forgot to mention....

I've understood pulling the plug on a cylinder one at a time you can find if it's a rod bearing and which cylinder.

This didn't work idleing.

But I did drive with one plug pulled at a time on each cylinder and the sound did not go away or quit down.


So not rod knock

[Itsuki Takeuchi]

Rod Knock
http://youtu.be/NnTFsQ6m9n0

Timing chain rattle
http://youtu.be/-cSA4ZwOri0

I know the difference.

Neither is the sound I'm having.

[Itsuki Takeuchi]

More video of my current noise.

https://youtu.be/2IYeHUxPE4A

[Itsuki Takeuchi]

So still havent diagnosed the noise. 80% sure its a failing rod bearing. so before it goes out completly i bought another engine. Swapping it this weekend. Ill post pics of what i find in the crank case.

with the noise i really dont want to chance driving 2 hours to the next drift day and throwing a rod through the block and paying to have it towed. so my solution is swap the motor and inspect the old one and rebuild. i have total of three engines now lol
hashtag "drift life" lol

[KAT-PWR]

Well glad that's cleared up.

[Itsuki Takeuchi]

wont know for sure until torn down. still doesnt act or sound like a normal rod knock. all power is still there, no oil consumption. no decreased compression.

so really wont know until i open that crankcase and look with my beady lil eyes

[omgosh]

The last video definitely sounds like rod knock at the end. Yeah, its in the beginning stages though. It sounds exactly like my last KA after the oil pump gave out.

[Itsuki Takeuchi]

welp, the weather has been pretty nice here so ive got my bike out and couple of my buddys got some new bikes and went spent the weekend choppin and riding. Good stress reliever. Everything is planned out to pull the motor this Friday. so next monday ill have pics of what ive found.

[drewusmaximus]

wont know for sure until torn down. still doesnt act or sound like a normal rod knock. all power is still there, no oil consumption. no decreased compression.

so really wont know until i open that crankcase and look with my beady lil eyes

Hi again, it sounds like my car if you remember.
http://yourlisten.com/drewusmaximus/engine-rev

But, does it make any sound while it idling? Mine doesn't at all. Mine make noise only when I rev the engine. I think if yours is making sounds while idling then it's possible it might be a rod knock.

[Itsuki Takeuchi]

Hi again, it sounds like my car if you remember.
http://yourlisten.com/drewusmaximus/engine-rev

But, does it make any sound while it idling? Mine doesn't at all. Mine make noise only when I rev the engine. I think if yours is making sounds while idling then it's possible it might be a rod knock.


yulp. mine was not making the sound idleing. after 5 months of not being to figure out the noise, now it makes the noise idling at 3,000 rpms.

i just pulled my engine the other day. Ive been focused on building bikes right now as the weather just started getting nice in missouri.

after i swap in my new motor and have it running, then ill break open the crankcase and check it all out and see what happened.

im 95% sure its rod bearing failure

[Itsuki Takeuchi]

listened to it again and yea...... that sounds just like mine did. i thought it was the chain.

[drewusmaximus]

listened to it again and yea...... that sounds just like mine did. i thought it was the chain.

So you think I have a rod bearing failure? I was planning to replace the rod bearings while replacing the timing chain.

[drewusmaximus]

There is a way to check if you have a bad rod bearing. I saw a video where this guy pulled the spark plug, used a long screw driver and slid it in the spark plug hole, turned the engine enough to be able to push on the piston and if the piston moved then the rod bearing was bad because there was enough play to shift the piston.

[drewusmaximus]

I'm confused. A rod knock is also heard while idling because the shaft is continuously moving like the youtube video you linked. It's hard to believe that a rod knock can't be heard during idle and only under load.

[drewusmaximus]

I'm planning to replace the rod bearings from underneath by dropping the crossmember and then the oil pan. it will be messy and uncomfortable but, it wouldn't hurt to replace the bearings. but, before I do that, I am going to test each cylinder with a screwdriver to see if there is play on any of the cylinders. If there isn't then it would be worth replacing the bearings. If there is play, then it's probably not worth replacing because there might already be more damage.

[drewusmaximus]

Here is the test to check for rod knock.

Here is the test to check for rod knock. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYleKxjl0uY&nohtml5=False (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYleKxjl0uY&nohtml5=False")

[Itsuki Takeuchi]

well its been super nice weather for the most part so ive been focusing on my harley chop. and messed with my s13 really. i have swapped all my parts over to the new engine but i have yet to crack open the oil pan and find out what exactly happened.

but there is defently good info in here for anyone with the question of rod bearing failure

[boatwright_doug]

Bump for good info, bought my s14 September 2015 and have had a interesting low end noise, half of us 240 guys agree it's chain, the other half says rod knock. I'm assuming a fresh chain, tensioner and bearings would do the trick. Who knows, I dog this car from time to time and it's been holding like a champ.

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[Itsuki Takeuchi]

A little update.

I put inspected the rod bearings and crank.

Number 2 cylinder did spin a bearing and two others were close to failure.
Put in new rod bearings.

And the noise continues lol idfk anymore.

I beat in this engine and it's still holding up

[boatwright_doug]

Did you use measure the clearance before putting new bearings in? Also the crank could be scorn

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[KAT-PWR]

If you spin a rod You probably need the crank polished and new bearing, or crank cut and oversized bearing. Hope you didn't just buy a standard size bearing and are just putting it back together.