Well... I'm back. I bring problems.
02-25-2019, 02:47 PM
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Well... I'm back. I bring problems.
Unfortunately, I'm coming back to S2Ki with a problem, instead of a celebration. God I hate when that happens 
Let me give some context to start this off:
- Bought a car in January from a private seller. No issues whatsoever during the test drive -- came with a carbon hood and spoiler to boot (also came with a shitty paint job lol). Car spun a rod bearing 12 hours later.
- Took engine out, took it apart, bought new parts, put it together with a friend and the advice of an old honda guru. Every step was followed to a point and every part is OEM. Replaced crank, the rod of the failed cylinder, EVERY bearing (if it moved, it came out), all the piston rings, the TCT, every seal, gasket, and whatnot, and put ARP head studs in just for kicks.
- Engine starts up on first crank, we almost shit ourselves.
- Engine runs beautifully for a while. Fast forward to 100 miles into break in.
- Buzzing sound appears, I guess it was always there, but it sounded like engine noise and I hadn't really noticed it before.
- It doesn't get worse and my engine still runs like butter, so I move on. (keep in mind, i'm driving it like a grandma -- break in and whatnot).
- 50 miles later and the noise is a bit louder. I made a description of it, narrowed it down to a few things I thought it could be, and monitored it. Still didn't seem like an issue.
- 20 miles later, going 40 at 3000 RPM (buzzing is much louder and i'm concerned), my engine lurches, my tires squeal for a fraction of a second, and before you know it, I've pulled over to the side of the road with a big "NOPE. **** YOU, NOT TODAY." look on my face. Engine is still running, as it didn't shut itself off, and it sounded OK.
- Got out of the car, engine still running, maybe 5 seconds later, engine shuts itself off with a distressed putter (note, I did NOT say a loud metal CLANG. It sounded almost like someone pulled the key out.)
- Push the car into a safe spot and go to get my tools.
- Decide to take the risk, and I try to start it again to see what noises it makes. Sounded perfectly normal, but it cranked slowly, like I had a super low battery.
- Remove the valve cover to check for obvious damage, everything looks fine. My timing chain is on and seems to have tension, my cams are aligned with each other properly, and none of my valves seem to be bent (from what you can see through the valve cover at least...)
- Brought out my 19mm and turned the engine two or three times. Crank pulley TDC markings seem to be a hair off (1/32 rotation clockwise) TDC from my memory (aligned with the cams), but my memory could be tainted by my... unwelcoming disposition at the time. I may have just spun the crank too much and not cared to double check the cam markings.
- Cranking the engine felt no more difficult than you would expect from a car with the spark plugs in. Compression, quite a bit of resistance, easy going, repeat.
- I can shift into every gear with the car stationary. Clutch feels normal, but that's often an elusive feeling.
- Car sits as we speak.
Buzzing description:
- Happened at all RPMs and was not dependent on clutch position.
- Sounded like a toned down version of clutch buzz (my old s2k had some BAD clutch buzz). *Also* kinda sounded like rod knock, but I could just have PTSD from when I bought the car.
- Buzzed when I started the car, went away after the RPMs balanced out (like a half-second buzz there).
- Buzzed if I gave it a little bit of gas, or if I was coming off the gas, but never while accelerating or when no throttle was applied. Seemed like harmonic resonance or my timing chain to me.
- Kind of buzzed if I was above 4500 RPM regardless of throttle position and got louder with RPM. This one concerns me for obvious reasons, but I never really got it ALL the way up to 8 to find out -- break-in and whatnot.
- Unsure if I could feel the buzz through the clutch or not, never got a good chance to figure it out.
- For the life of me I could not tell where the buzz was coming from. It sounded like it came from everywhere -- valves, block, pulleys, tranny -- you name it, I stuck my ear there. I was actually on my way to put it on a lift to REALLY diagnose the source of the sound.
That's all the information I have. I have multiple ideas for what it could be, but they all seem to have inconsistencies. PLEASE bestow your knowledge upon my poor ass. I spent 3 grand on this rebuild and I'm not going to give up on it now even if it means doing it all again.
Let me give some context to start this off:
- Bought a car in January from a private seller. No issues whatsoever during the test drive -- came with a carbon hood and spoiler to boot (also came with a shitty paint job lol). Car spun a rod bearing 12 hours later.
- Took engine out, took it apart, bought new parts, put it together with a friend and the advice of an old honda guru. Every step was followed to a point and every part is OEM. Replaced crank, the rod of the failed cylinder, EVERY bearing (if it moved, it came out), all the piston rings, the TCT, every seal, gasket, and whatnot, and put ARP head studs in just for kicks.
- Engine starts up on first crank, we almost shit ourselves.
- Engine runs beautifully for a while. Fast forward to 100 miles into break in.
- Buzzing sound appears, I guess it was always there, but it sounded like engine noise and I hadn't really noticed it before.
- It doesn't get worse and my engine still runs like butter, so I move on. (keep in mind, i'm driving it like a grandma -- break in and whatnot).
- 50 miles later and the noise is a bit louder. I made a description of it, narrowed it down to a few things I thought it could be, and monitored it. Still didn't seem like an issue.
- 20 miles later, going 40 at 3000 RPM (buzzing is much louder and i'm concerned), my engine lurches, my tires squeal for a fraction of a second, and before you know it, I've pulled over to the side of the road with a big "NOPE. **** YOU, NOT TODAY." look on my face. Engine is still running, as it didn't shut itself off, and it sounded OK.
- Got out of the car, engine still running, maybe 5 seconds later, engine shuts itself off with a distressed putter (note, I did NOT say a loud metal CLANG. It sounded almost like someone pulled the key out.)
- Push the car into a safe spot and go to get my tools.
- Decide to take the risk, and I try to start it again to see what noises it makes. Sounded perfectly normal, but it cranked slowly, like I had a super low battery.
- Remove the valve cover to check for obvious damage, everything looks fine. My timing chain is on and seems to have tension, my cams are aligned with each other properly, and none of my valves seem to be bent (from what you can see through the valve cover at least...)
- Brought out my 19mm and turned the engine two or three times. Crank pulley TDC markings seem to be a hair off (1/32 rotation clockwise) TDC from my memory (aligned with the cams), but my memory could be tainted by my... unwelcoming disposition at the time. I may have just spun the crank too much and not cared to double check the cam markings.
- Cranking the engine felt no more difficult than you would expect from a car with the spark plugs in. Compression, quite a bit of resistance, easy going, repeat.
- I can shift into every gear with the car stationary. Clutch feels normal, but that's often an elusive feeling.
- Car sits as we speak.
Buzzing description:
- Happened at all RPMs and was not dependent on clutch position.
- Sounded like a toned down version of clutch buzz (my old s2k had some BAD clutch buzz). *Also* kinda sounded like rod knock, but I could just have PTSD from when I bought the car.
- Buzzed when I started the car, went away after the RPMs balanced out (like a half-second buzz there).
- Buzzed if I gave it a little bit of gas, or if I was coming off the gas, but never while accelerating or when no throttle was applied. Seemed like harmonic resonance or my timing chain to me.
- Kind of buzzed if I was above 4500 RPM regardless of throttle position and got louder with RPM. This one concerns me for obvious reasons, but I never really got it ALL the way up to 8 to find out -- break-in and whatnot.
- Unsure if I could feel the buzz through the clutch or not, never got a good chance to figure it out.
- For the life of me I could not tell where the buzz was coming from. It sounded like it came from everywhere -- valves, block, pulleys, tranny -- you name it, I stuck my ear there. I was actually on my way to put it on a lift to REALLY diagnose the source of the sound.
That's all the information I have. I have multiple ideas for what it could be, but they all seem to have inconsistencies. PLEASE bestow your knowledge upon my poor ass. I spent 3 grand on this rebuild and I'm not going to give up on it now even if it means doing it all again.
02-25-2019, 02:51 PM
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02-25-2019, 02:58 PM
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One thing I forgot to note is I found a disconnected ground on the main wiring harness behind the valve cover that I must have forgotten to connect. Not sure if it's related.
ALSO
The engine did NOT, I repeat, did NOT throw any codes.
ALSO
The engine did NOT, I repeat, did NOT throw any codes.
02-25-2019, 02:59 PM
#6
This is very important... put that back on and re-check.
02-25-2019, 03:11 PM
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02-25-2019, 03:30 PM
#8
02-25-2019, 04:13 PM
#9
You checked the engine compression, after rebuild? Did you mic (Plastigage) the surfaces of the main and rod bearings, with the new crank?
Last edited by windhund116; 02-25-2019 at 04:17 PM.
02-25-2019, 04:21 PM
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