I just completed a timing cover swap and started it for the first time tonight. When i started it it had a knock coming from what sounds like the bottom end. I looked underneath and the harmonic balancer is wobbling alot. Is it possible to install harmonic balancer wrong or could the cam sensor cap being 180 out cause this from firing out of order? It idled good but the knock did get worse with a little throttle. Any ideas?
engine knocking
- Thread starter Cbring
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2003
did you pull the cam sensor and prime oil system witha drill before firing
whats the oil pressure at?
balancer shouldnt wobble , crank bolt should have been torqued to 220 lb/ft
cam sensor cap has an tab and base has an indent to index cap to base to prevent install 180 out but if you didnt check for it it could be put on wrong but that wouldnt cause the noise you describe. If you followed the proper cam sensor install directions at www.vortexbuicks-etc.com then chance of being wrong is zero .if you just dropped it in without finding 25ATDC on #1 compression stroke and didnt properly test the cam signal to adjust the cap its possible its dropped in 180 (or less) out
whats the oil pressure at?
balancer shouldnt wobble , crank bolt should have been torqued to 220 lb/ft
cam sensor cap has an tab and base has an indent to index cap to base to prevent install 180 out but if you didnt check for it it could be put on wrong but that wouldnt cause the noise you describe. If you followed the proper cam sensor install directions at www.vortexbuicks-etc.com then chance of being wrong is zero .if you just dropped it in without finding 25ATDC on #1 compression stroke and didnt properly test the cam signal to adjust the cap its possible its dropped in 180 (or less) out
Yes i primed oil pump and installe cam senso according to same link u posted. Oil pressure went to 75 psi during priming and when car startes it went to 50 psi at idle. Harmonic balancer bolt was tightened to torque. Im thinking keyway broke or missing or harmonic balancer is cracked. Gonna pull it tomorrow i guess and ill see.
If they key was missing odds are the balancer would be off and the crank sensor would be getting the wrong timing. It's pretty common for those balancers to crack. Do you have a way to remove the nut where the car is?
on they upside, it sounds like you have one hell of a pump!!
on they upside, it sounds like you have one hell of a pump!!
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2006
I've had the metal ring on the seal come out and become sandwiched between the balancer and the crank. It caused the balancer to wobble like you describe.
FFT
RL
FFT
RL
Earlbrown-very pleased with your product! Would recommend to anyone needing a timing cover built. What nut are u talking about? Do you mean the bolt holding the balancer onto the crank? If so im gonna try to remove the small fan then the crank pulley and then harmonic balancer with the stock intercooler still in. Its a tight fit though especially since i have the grand prix front frame brace smashing againt the intercooler shroud. Might just have to pull all the piping intercooler and front fan as well.
gettting the intercooler out of the way might be worth it. Since it's the stock intercooler 1/2 the shroud bolts should have fell out by now
I keep forgetting about that goofy fan. I sent mine to ebay years ago. I would pull that if you're going to leave the intercooler in place. It would suck if you drug a fin across the core and bend up a bunch of fins.
I keep forgetting about that goofy fan. I sent mine to ebay years ago. I would pull that if you're going to leave the intercooler in place. It would suck if you drug a fin across the core and bend up a bunch of fins.
Pulled it all apart and balancer looked fine. No cracks. Put it back together and still had noise. Noise is pretty loud so i believe it to be external and not crank or bearings. Started car without crankshaft pulley or small fan and it didnt seem to make noise. Noise gets worse with throttle and i found small metal shavings on passenger side intercooler bracket. Crankshaft sensor is fine as well. Cant narrow it down. Tried the wood rod trick and worst amount of noise was around oil pump area but not really knocking noise like it sounds like. More like gears just working. Should i pull it just to check. Or any other ideas. No shavings or glimmer in new oil and got good pressure. If it was oil pump id think it would show in oil. Cant figure it out just biting at any ideas.
I tried it without the pulley, fan, and belt with no noise. Then tried it without belt but couldnt get it to start without belt. Its got a new battery as of yesterday and im thinking it didnt have enough charge. Thats the only reason i could figure it wouldnt start without just the belt.
The shavings have to be fresh since i had the passenger side intercooler bracket (the flat one) off and cleaned it before i put it back on.
The shavings have to be fresh since i had the passenger side intercooler bracket (the flat one) off and cleaned it before i put it back on.
are the shavings aluminum. I'm racking my brain trying to think of what could cause shavings to land on the intercooler bracket. Did you replace the water pump pulley bolts with longer ones?
Don't run it without the belt long enough to kill the battery. Keep in mind you have to water circulation when the belt is off. The tentioner pulley has a track record of making a knocking noise and being a ventriloquist doing it. But if that's the case, you won't have a shavings coming off anything.
Don't run it without the belt long enough to kill the battery. Keep in mind you have to water circulation when the belt is off. The tentioner pulley has a track record of making a knocking noise and being a ventriloquist doing it. But if that's the case, you won't have a shavings coming off anything.
I think i found the source of the shavings. There was some threads stripped out where the small fan mounts to the crank pulley.
Checked the crank pulley bolts and the water pump pulley bolts. They're not rubbing or pushing against crankshaft sensor wheel.
Still no luck.
Checked the crank pulley bolts and the water pump pulley bolts. They're not rubbing or pushing against crankshaft sensor wheel.
Still no luck.
