EDIT: well, i need to get my head checked. my uncle took a look at my car today (construction equiptment mechanic) and said my car seemed fine. said he drove the ____ out of it too. i took it for a drive, and heard only the rattling of my intake pipe.

i guess since i was so paranoid about another problem in my car, i took the "knocking" as something bad. when in reality, it was an unbraced intake pipe at the time which was making an extremely loud rattling that ive never heard before because my intake pipe is usually braced. anyway, thanks for all the suggestions, my car seems ok for now.


but...that "popping"/ backfire when i turned the key to "on" came back once again. the cold engine compression tests still bother me also. so hopefully my engine is not as screwed up as i thought it was.

end edit


ugh...

well, got my car running without throwing a code, but it seems as if im having some sort of knock when putting the engine under a slight load. right now i can only think of valves and a blown turbo. i only heard it twice which was enough to tell me stop driving it. it sounded like a rattling noise kinda. when just cruising, i didnt really hear anything, only as i put some load on the engine. also, when i brought the car in the garage, my dad says the valves sounded louder than usual, even though it sounded fine to me.

im just looking for suggestions on things to look/listen for and what it might be. i know this is hard without having some sort of soundclip. hopefully, i can find my old camera.

 

What issues were you having prior to this happening?

 

Get a valve job done and see if that fixes the issue. your retainers might just be rattling.

 

Worst Case Scenario....My cousin's Nissan Spec-V was making a rattling noise like you described due to cracked rod....We changed the oil and lots of metal came out.

 

^^ I think that is a good suggestion. Change the oil and look at what comes out. Gold colored flakes mean it's a bearing surface. Silver colored flakes mean piston/rod damage. Some cars have noiser valve-train than others.

Sometimes a heavier weight oil 10-40 will help dampen the moving parts a little better. Your turbo is oil cooled = Your oil is hotter than it normally would be in a NA car so a higher viscocity may not be a bad idea.

If a valve is going bad you will see weird things happening to your boost/vac gauge. Like low vac, or a jumping vac needle while decceleration.

 

thanks for the suggestions so far. when i get home, im gonna try to change oil, check compression, and check the turbo. hopefully one of those things let me find something. i was hoping for a best case scenario: blown turbo...o well...

 

alright, im screwed (i think)...

compression: 170, 180, 165, 150

thing is, i also drained my oil and no traces of metal shavings. is valvetrain problems likely to cause loss of compression?

i dont know if you guys remember my thread, but when i was troubleshooting before, sometimes when i would turn the key to "on" (not cranking) i would hear a "pop" like fuel was being ignited in the combustion chamber while smoke came out of my exhaust. these "pops" have stopped a while ago though. im wondering if they are related...

 

Hey man remember what happened to me? My leaky injector caused so much fuel to pool up that when I turned the key to "on", it caused a pre-ignition spark plug discharge that BLEW UP my intake manifold. Luckily those are made of plastic and explosions follow a path of least resistance. It literally sounded as though a stick of dynamite went off under my hood. Plastic pieces and smoke everywhere. My mind was blown when the compression tested out fine. My semi educated guess is that that is not what caused your problem, all though it could have had a part in damage to your motor. In my honest opinion, I would say take it to a shop and have them check it out. If the motors toast, build it and run 15 pounds of boost man! Best of luck and keep this updated so people can provide guidance and help.

 

ya, i dont think my detonations were of that magnitude. just enough to make the motor shake a little. i also realized i didnt do the compression test right. i did it while it was cold and not warmed up. im gonna try get a clip of the sound tom. it honestly sounds like rattling. i dont think the rings and bearings are bad, my oil seemed clean and normal. so this leads me to suspect theres something wrong with the valves. maybe those "pops" caused a bent/miseated/stuck valve?

anyone know what bad valves sound like?

 

I just did a compression test on my turbo charged tC. I was measuring around 210 psi on all 4 cylinders after 6 or so cranks.

 

Last post I read that the tC has a slight rattle in the engine compartment when the engine was on a very light load at 1500-2000 RPM's was the Stu Gotti Saga.

That story had a sad ending. Basically the dealer blamed metal shavings from a CAI caused one of the rod bearing to go bad. The engine had to be pulled from the car and basically the entire engine had to be taken appart. The repair bill alone cost more than an engine from a totalled tC.

I hope that this will not turn into a sad story.

 

im gonna test it again, hopefully get a clip of the noise. then test the compression again.

i honestly dont know what to do right now. we'll see after today i guess.

 

not sure what to tell ya.....hope it all turns out ok

 

update at top, seems like its nothing to worry about.

however, unsolved mysteries still remain...

 

I think you have either a slight injector leak or an injector that is not seated correctly.

 

try the dealer if your still under waranty(aside from the turbo) if you cant figure it out

 

the thing is though, i know i put back the injectors correctly, i redid them. i took them out in the first place to get them tested. turns out they were completely fine and werent leaking. i have rc's and i know you have the deutchworks (sp?) plug n play ones. idk, maybe it could be that the o-rings aren't sealing good?

 

Very Possible....you are using the o-rings that are provided by RC, right?

 

im using stock rings on top and the rc's on the bottom (i think).

 

Hey man it's Chris again (Autocross Guy). Sorry to hear that your having trouble with your car. Let me know if you need any help with repairs or diagnosis. I live in Kaneohe. I'm pretty knowledgable and installed my Turbo System all by myself. Best of Luck.