Engine started ticking, is it a time bomb?

[Sandawgk5]

So it is totally my fault but I was driving to work and when I hit the off ramp (a big sweeping one I like to hit at about 50 to merge onto the next interstate) my oil light came on. I know I shouldn't let the oil get low enough the massive amount of "G's" I can pull cause a loss of oil pressure but I did. Anyway I now have a slight tick at idle and between 2500 and 3500 loaded or with little to no load at almost any RPM it sounds like a rod.

Do these engines have lifters that I possibly could have collapsed one and that is the ticking noise?

Second, I am pretty good with a wrench, which makes this whole ordeal that much more embarrassing, and would rather rebuild than do a JDM swap as this is just my commuter. It has 136000 on the odo, I have found master rebuilds which are pretty much everything except crank and rods for around 300. I have been searching but I have only found performance rebuilds and I am not interested in putting 5K in a motor that will be handed down to my daughter in 2 years.

.

Thanks for any advice

Dik

 

[tweety2300]

That's a rod bearing, lifter ticks are pretty quiet.

I swear my car is a freak my fianc drives it and likes to take turns fast and it was 2 quarts low the other day, I'm seriously wondering how it hasn't spun a bearing yet

 

[Sandawgk5]

It's weird how it only does it in a certain RPM range. First thing I thought was a rod too. Do you know of any decent rebuild kits? I hope the rod is still good and it just needs bearings.

Dik

 

[tweety2300]

http://protegegarage.com/436-product-436.html

Full rebuild, since you may as well replace everything while you're in there anyway

 

[tweety2300]

And if you keep driving it it can score the rod and crank

 

[Sandawgk5]

Ya I parked it and am driving tuned Super Duty big difference in fuel mileage there.

Dik

 

[P-Funk!]

Do some math first - will you really save money doing a rebuild (costs time/fuel driving the Big Rig) versus swapping a junkyard short block (motors are good for 250K miles if well cared for...)?

 

[Sandawgk5]

I don't really know I was starting to compare used engine prices and rebuild kits. A good quality kit is around 500-600 and a used motor is close to the same minus shipping. I could go that route and then sell my old one as a re-buildable short block. I am fairly confident the crank is not damaged but I wont know until I pull it.

A tank of fuel on my truck with todays prices is around $170 so that adds up quick.

To change the subject a bit, I see a lot of the kits have pistons and rings in them, is that needed if I just have a bearing issue or could I just go bearings and gaskets? Also I haven't found a kit yet that has cam bearings in it and since I going into why not stud it? Its just another Benjamin for them.

Too many questions and open to any advice

Thanks

Dik

 

[tweety2300]

The problem with used motors is you don't know how they were cared for.

I would use the new pistons and rings if they came with it.

We actually don't have cam bearings they just sit in a grove in the head for some weird reason.

I know we use a weird special tourque bolt or something like that, I don't see the point in going with studs unless you plan on tearing it down again.

The difference between rebuilding and buying used is, if you rebuild it you will know what you have.

 

[GGRmp5]

I had a ticking issue as well and it turned out to be a spark plug that had wiggled itself loose. It had been ticking for a few weeks and I thought it might be an exhaust leak or low oil. The plug ended up jumping out and tearing apart the boot on the plug wire when my wife was driving home at 2am. New plugs and wires and all was good.

 

[Sandawgk5]

Yeah, plugs are tight, it is def in the bottom end. I am getting parts together to do a rebuild. I can't seem to find an engine for less than the repair parts providing I don't need rods or a crank.

Question, if I am NA only should I spend the $100 and put head studs in? Head bolts seem to be close to the same price it seems so why not right?

Dik

 

[tweety2300]

The kit I put a link of has them

 

[Sandawgk5]

The problem with used motors is you don't know how they were cared for.

I would use the new pistons and rings if they came with it.

We actually don't have cam bearings they just sit in a grove in the head for some weird reason.

I know we use a weird special tourque bolt or something like that, I don't see the point in going with studs unless you plan on tearing it down again.

The difference between rebuilding and buying used is, if you rebuild it you will know what you have.

I don't know how I missed this post but it answered a lot of the questions I had. I have decided to rebuild my block, now I just need to get a cherry picker and engine stand. Anyone in SD have one I can borrow?

Dik

 

[tweety2300]

If you pull the trans out first you can pull it out by hand with one person, if you have a second person you can dual lift the motor out. This is of course if your not weak, I could carry the trans in my Honda with one hand and it wasn't much smaller

 

[Installshield 2]

Our G-series gearbox is ~95lbs drained...not too bad for one person to carry around, but a complete bastard to wiggle on or off laying on your back under the car by yourself. If you're rebuilding the engine, personally i'd just pull the gearbox and engine as one unit with a rented crane. I can't stress enough how easy it is install or uninstall the gearbox with it out of the car on a stand...compared to doing it from underneath...you can also leave the half shaft bolted to the block when you pull it, leaving one shaft in the differential...making it much less likely to slip those spider gears and have an even more annoying problem when reinstalling everything...

and yeah, thats assembly related from what i can tell too. Noise related to resonance like that is often not just a single rod bearing, but also crank cradle related too...which is why its related to engine speed. The rod bearings will usually start to make noise at idle, and keep it all the way through the rev band...but it'll often create crank resonance that will chew up its seats, but only make noise at very specific rpm. Oil starvation usually hurts almost everything, not just one thing, so its very likely the entire bottom ends bearings/journals needing attention...not that that is really a bad thing though, you'll be in there anyway...and at least you didn't seize the cylinder walls, thats usually a chick thing...

also, luckily you can check valve clearance in under and hour on the FS-DE...with the engine still in the car. quick oil starvation like that usually hurts the bottom end, not the head...as there is enough oil pooled up there to keep everything smooth for that brief amount of time...so again, its unlikely that, but its and easy check anyway...the FS-DE has solid lifters, by the way...and shims are cheap and available at nearly any parts store.

 

[Sandawgk5]

Thanks for the advice. I have pulled the trans and rebuilt by myself when I broke a shift fork. I have no intention of pulling it then the motor, it was a beeeotch to get back up in place and aligned in the clutch disc last time. I will be replacing the entire bottom end bearings. I have never been much of a fan of fixing just the one that was bad, it just leads to other problems down the road.

I am also replacing water pump, oil pump, and timing set with new idler pulleys. Hopefully the pistons and rings are fine but the oil was going somewhere and not leaking so I might have been burning a little.

I didn't even think about lifter shims, I do have the service manual at home so I can do the measurements. I should do that, then pull the head and check cylinder wear and piston crowns, then I should be able to tear the rest down.

Thanks again

Dik

 

[Installshield 2]

good to hear, you seemed to know what was up anyway...so not sure why i posted that essay haha...

if you're doing all that other stuff, this is the best price i've seen for these items in a long time...

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...s-USA-Timing-Belt-Kit-for-your-Mazda-Protege5

you'll only need a head gasket and bolts, and just the pilot shaft seal...but it'd be a good idea to inspect the oil pump and make sure that didn't get killed as well...

 

[Sandawgk5]

Hopefully it won't need cylinder work but if it does I am just gonna go ahead and punch it .020 over and get new pistons and rings.

Dik

 

[tweety2300]

I have a ticking lifter and its nothing close to that, also if you put a pry bar between the block and trans it comes right off, with a jack it's easy to get the trans back up

 

[Sandawgk5]

My problem was getting the trans up and on the splines of the disc. Might have been cause I was extremely tired and working alone. My son also helped "relocate" some of the bolts so I was in a great mood too. I still plan on pulling it as one unit then breaking it when I get it on the ground. I also need to reseal my trans as I have a slight drip on the case halves.

I also have a line on an engine hoist and stand so this should be working shortly.

Dik