New motor tapping at 2000rpm

[Stephen Soulsby]

I just installed a reman 231 in my '84 T-Type. It sounded great at first. a week ago. I have been going as easy on it as I can considering I live in the mountains. In the last wee, it has developed a tap. I have double checked the TC bolts and they're still tight. The engine idles good, but when I rev it to about 1750rpm it starts tapping. It is at it's loudest at about 2000rpm, and after that it get's quieter (or is drowned out by the engine). This is the third reman Buick V6 I have had, and the other two have had the exact same problem. I now have 500 miles on the motor and just changed the oil (Valvoline 10w-30 Durablend). The first reman I had replaced under warranty because the block had a hairline crack that coolant leaked out of. The second one ended up being trashed because the noise got very loud suddenly, and now this third one is really pissing me off! In a fit of frustration I went full-throttle for about three seconds and only made it worse.

What is the major defect that these engines seem to have? The first two engines were ATK, and this one is a Recon. I really am now thinking of cutting my losses and selling the car and I'll never look at a Buick again! This engine does have a warranty on it, but I'd rather walk than pull this engine again.

 

[crazygn]

Man thats not cool , dont give up i know how you feel i rebuilt my motor weeks after i bought it and just put a rebuilt tranny in that does not work and had to pull it again now more problems . do you think its getting oil to the lifters and rockers , have you had the valve covers off yet. Did you prim the oil pump real good.

 

[REDS HOT AIR]

dont they all do that ...

timing chain slap

 

[TurboRegal84]

IMO....your wasting your time buying Recon and Generic engine builder re-built Motors. As mentioned before our cars are nothing like the Chevy Motors, and upon assembly the clearences must be tight, and set perfectly.

2nd.....What Crank are they using in the motors? I know Jasper dosen't (or didn't) use the Turbo Crank, so a good guess would be that Recon dosent as well.

If it is at all possible, get your money back from Recon, or whoever you bought the motor from, and buy a motor from Jack Cotton, he won't point you in the wrong direction, and most important...HE KNOWS WHAT HES DOING!

Just an idea, and I hope everything works out for you!

 

[JasonB]

I work on CNC machines and one of my customers does work for companies like recon and jaspres. If you saw how they put these motors together you wouldnt belive it. Cheapest parts they can get. Basicly they machine all their motors to the same spec and not to what each motor needs, then they slap it together and dont even check the tolerances ( they just know its right). they can build a motor in about an hour after its machined (long block).

 

[Stephen Soulsby]

When it comes to right now, I had no choice. Secondly, I will not pull this motor out one more time! I'm really more thinking about selling it. The only drawback is I wouldn't be able to get even half of what I have invested in it. 70% of the time I have owned it since January of 2001 it has not been running because it awaited an engine. In the meantime I have been paying insurance and a payment on it. The biggest reason I haven't gotten rid of it yet is because this is the only rust-free Regal I have ever had.

I have no idea what crank it is. I have no clue how to identify a rolled fillet crank (I don't even know what it means other than it's what the turbo motors have).

I'd love to just take it back, but I'm out of money. So there's no way I can pay extra for a new motor. Especially on a car I'm ready to take a sledge hammer to! So much of my time and money has went into this car, and I have given it every chance in the world. If I sell it, I'll give the warranty to the new owner and tell him about it. It still runs great, but I will not drive a car I can't depend on.