Okay,

Some might remember me starting a thread a few days ago about forged motors making more noise when cold. Well, I fired up the Camaro today to take it to work. The noise that I thought was my power steering pump going bad, was now much louder. I poked my head under the car to listen and to my surprise, it sounded like it was coming from the rotating assembly. Is what I'm hearing rod knock? Does this sound like I need to tear the engine apart and see what might be causing this?

Here is a quick vid. I couldn't find my new camera so the quality is crappy. Towards the end you can hear the clacking noise much better. I think when I get home this afternoon, I'll cap my exhaust so I can get a better clip of it. Thanks everyone for any info you might have.

http://www.youtube.com/v/dFStIuEpoeo

The fluid you see pooled in the video is power steering fluid. The noise almost sounds like I spun a bearing. Anybody have any ideas?

This is what my car sounds like when you first start it. Reminds me of a diesel idling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plxNKkw7_Aw

Thanks again.

- Patrick

 

maybe a bad lifter?

 

wow i don't wanna poo on your parade but it kinda does sound like a rod knock. theres an old mechanics trick you can do that my dad tought me take a very long screw driver or wrench anything that is metal cause if you put your ear to one end and the other end on the head or bock or whatever you want to hear will be amplified (this sounds stupid i know but this is what i did when i spun a bearing) if you put it on the head and its noticable but you cant hear it as good while the scew driver or wrench is on the block' then its probably a rocker, but if it's loudest when you put it on the block and speeds up when you rev your engine i'd say it's a spun bearing...if it is a spun bearing DON'T RUN THE CAR when that thing has ground down enough metal on the rod or rod cap it's gonna kick the rod which usually kills the block with a big *** hole out the side. if you don't run it you might be able to turn the crank and get it polished and just replace the rods and pistons, rings etc.
if it's spun do what i did and build a 383

 

does it keep getting louder and louder the more you run it?

 

umm i thought you said it was a camaro the vid shows a T/A?

 

Sorry...the first vid is of my car. The second vid is one I found on youtube that kind of sounds like my car when I first turn it on. The diesel sounding idle (second vid) I thought was just because it had forged internals because it would quite down after the motor warmed up. I'm starting to think this new noise (first vid - of my car) is either a spun bearing or maybe a bad lifter. It really sounds like its coming from the crank area....so I'm leaning towards bearing. Damn....

 

I wish I knew more about this motor. It was built years ago by a speed shop in Houston that is no longer in business. I got the car from a friend of mine. Supposedly its got all upgraded internals (forged crank/pistons/etc...). Damn...I just need to pull the motor and see what I got. Are there anyways to tell if the internals are in fact forged/built?

Thanks again.

 

yea it should be pretty apparent when you pull it apart.

 

You'll be able to tell real quick if it's forged or not. Pull the pan and take a look see and let us know what you find. You'll also be able to see if it is in fact rod knock, just see if any of the rods shift back and forth against the crank when you try and wiggle them back and forth.

 

Found out the problem was my power steering pump bearing. Took the belt off and before I tore into it, I fired up the car and listened. The clacking went away. Picking up a new Power Steering pump from Autozone tonight and hopefully have it all back together tonight.

Thank goodness it wasn't the motor!!!

- Patrick

 

POWER STEERING PUMP WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFF lol dam man that has to be the worst "i dont know whats wrong with my motor" scenario with the best outcome in LS1tech history. Thank god its not your motor that woulda sucked big time! Glad to hear Pat, now you can drive it to those shows you wanted to go to

 

Very useful diagnostic technique for engine ticking, going to try this on a friend's noisy LS1, I hope to he is as fortunate as you in not having to take apart the motor, thanks.

 

Yeah....it was a big relief. In the process I have also fixed my belt alignment issue as well. So far everything has been going great! I'm assuming with my belt jumping ribs it was putting strain on the outside edge of the power steering pump pulley. That caused the failure.

Patrick

 

ttt. quick question to the OP. did the steering feel tight with the knock as if it was harder to turn? also how does it feel with the new pump?

 

Steering before the new pump was not as easy as it is now. It also whined a lot. I think that was more due to the fluid getting really hot from the placement of the turbo.

 

That works good with a piece of pipe too, even some small pvc pipe.

 

thanks.. this is just what i was searching for. i've been having to fill my resivor every day from the X now. i have no whine but my pulley is wobeling and it has a little underrsteer and tighter wheel feel then another Z i drove