Ok, so i purchased a used 00 TA with 120k on it a few weeks back. I've spent the last couple weeks doing general maintenance on it, replacing the clutch, and a few other things.

I got around to changing the oil today, and when i finally got the rounded oil plug out, i found this.... sludge all over the magnet.

I was fearing that it was metal shavings... but when i smeared some of it on my fingers... it was smooth, like... well... the only thing i can compare it to is spark plug anti-seize. in both texture and color... thats what it looks like.

I've got a large magnet in the drained oil now, ill check it a little later for any chunks, or to see if its picked up more of this paste from the drained oil.

It looks like in the pictures that there are shavings in the gunk... but whenever i would touch or wipe at those area's it just smudged. so i think its the dust spiking because of the magnet.


Here are a few pic's of the plug.







And one of the substance smeared on my finger.





I've changed alot of oil over the years, but I havent seen a paste like this come from the oil plug.

Was it from some kind of additive? possibly crap put in there to keep the motor sounding smooth so as the buyer didnt know the engine was fubar?

I prime the next question like that because the motor didnt
have any bad/noticeable knocking when i bought it. It drives, and idles fine still. But it has developed a slight knocking from the bottom end.

Yesterday i was fairly sure that it was a pulley issue, as there was a slight, 3-5 second squeak the other day when i started it.

While changing the oil tonight i wiggled around the pulleys to see if there was any play in them, and the bottom tensioning pulleys had a bit of a wiggle to them.

I'm new to the ls1, so i'm not sure if thats normal... but i dont think that it is.

I have a video of the noise it was making on youtube now.

The video was taken yesterday morning after a cold start, you can first hear the noise im talking about from about :35-40. This part the camera was in front of the airbox, and pushed down slightly in front of the belts. The screatch at :49 - :50 is me sliding the camera under the air dam in the front, in the middle, and just under the belt area.

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




Sorry for such a long post, I just wanted to be pretty clear on what was going on.

I've spent the past four days reading up, as the noise started around monday. I havent driven more than to the mech and back on it this week. He said it sounded like lifters knocking.

I've already checked to make sure the exhaust wasnt loose.. or that it was spark plug related.

The weird thing. I was 300 miles from the recommended oil change on the printed sticker, and about a half quart low(mid way on the dipstick). So i added about a quarter of a quart of full synth M1 5-30 this morning, and the noise was reduced....
Same oil i was told was in the car, but my mech friend told me it didnt feel like synth oil on his fingers. And as you can see by the pictures the oil was pretty dark for 2700 miles on it.

I'll post again after i get the new oil in, and see how it runs.

Am I boned?

 

That would be "sludge". Going to long before changing the oil is the easiest way for it to build up. If you want it gone you could pour some Seafoam in and run it for about 50 miles (no heavy acceleration...just nice easy driving) and then change the oil. If you want it really clean go ahead and change the oil with some cheap oil and filter and then pour that in, go 50 miles, and then change with good quality oil.

 

as long as its just sludge... i'll leave it till the next change and seafoam it.

I've been reading on that one too. I've used it in the gas for my FZR but never before like the faq says to here.

I've also seen several horror stories and people saying that it doesnt work in the oil...

but it works nicely in the gas from my experience.

Guess i change my oil too often in my other vehicles... I've never had sludge on a plug before. =\

Any thoughts on the ticking in the video?

 

The drain plug is magnetic its just some small metal particles and sludge.

 

Beat me to it, also Lucas has good products

 

nothing to worry bout, use seafoam in the motor or a type of motor flush

 

man if theres that much on the freaking plug....

D:

 

I get the same sludge on my first oil change after it sits from November to April (and ran for a couple hundred miles). I never worry about it.

 

Do not confuse the sludge on the magnet as "sludge" from the engine. The first is ferrous metal, the other is oxidized oil and combustion by-products.

The stuff on the magnetic drain plug is little bits of metal that have worn away inside your engine. It is normal wear. You will find the same thing on the magnet inside your tranny pan when you get around to changing your tranny fluid.

You won't know for sure about the health of your engine from the oil changes until you've done a few. Oil can get dirty in 3000, so that's not a problem. Just keep an eye on the magnet for big chunks, and see how it looks with an observed-3000mi oil change. Less than a quart in 3000mi is acceptable.

 

changed my oil the other day and wiped off "sludge" off of my oil screw as well, I seafoamed my car probably 7k ago when i had a different exhaust on it, probably wouldn't hurt to do it, check out chacotacos write up on it, you'll be fine.

 

Is anyone concerned about how his motor sounds?? It doesn't sound healthy to me. Piston Slap or a Rod...something is not right. The oil is a sign of neglect from the previous owner and the noise would worry me...I would be pulling that thing out and checking internals.

 

i just changed mine today, try putting a filtermag on your oil filter and then rip that bitch open after your oil change.... after today im a true believer, picture your oil pan bolt X5 highly recommended.

 

Its got me worried too.

I changed out the oil and its gotten better about the sound.

I also went to change out the diff fluids, and found that the main gear is thrashed, all the teeth that i can see in the pumpkin through the rotations look fine. But,.... the big gear on the left, pinion gear? I've never broken down one before. Anyways its got a crack, or... well, the center of the gear is sheared in a circle around the center. Its all there and in place, but the middle of it is broken so that its like a dohnut.

The rear end was only making a very slight whining... but after a rough bump in the road, it started making a clunk in reverse. This was like two/three days ago.





I would appreciate more comments on the motor sound.

Also worth noting is that the noise remains consistent no matter what temperature the motor is.
More details on the pattern of the noise are in the youtube comments.

I'll try and get the valve covers off in the next couple days to check pushrods, and whatever else i can.

My worst fear is a spun rod bearing.

As it is now I'm probably gonna have to leave it sitting until i can sell my bike, or my project car.

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm really hoping its just lifter noise, or a pushrod, as i plan on replacing all that and the intake with the rebuilt heads i bought last week.

 

To be honest that does sound like a spun rod bearing in the video. It's real blunt and has the right rotational "knock" for one. I just bought a 97' eclipse GS-T with the exact noise, removed the pan yesterday and there was hardly any bearing left.

 

Ok, so i took a couple more video's of the car running, and some pic's of the diff damage.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnFlmEUBK8g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kubj5Aqp-Rs
In the second vid i make mention of the oil pressure. It usually goes to 50+ on start, and says up at 60 while cruising for the first 7-10 minutes, then falls back into the norm operating area's. 35+-ish at idle and 6th gear cruising. It goes up pretty well with increases in rpms. I think i saw somewhere on here that 7-10 psi per 1000 increase in rpm was normal. It does that, topping out at 60 in WOT and rev's.

It was like that before the oil change.

Heres a couple pic's of the diff for grins and giggles.

 

Any thoughts?

 

That's actually about normal and on par for a car with that kind of mileage. As long as there is no big chunks of metal on the drain plug, drive it.

 

My car sounds exactly like yours does. I also thought it was a rod bearing but its sounded like that for 8-9K miles. I run the **** out of it and it hasn't blown up yet. Mine has about 82000 miles. My drain plug also looked just like yours.

 

IT looks like the oil pressure looks too good to be a rod knok. What is the oil pressure at opperating temp? IF it gets much much lower I would guess a bearing issue.

To rule out a bad lifter, just pull the intake and valve covers and look for a rocker that is not adjusted or tight or has more play then the otheres.

Give the push rods a spin and look closely for wobble as a bent pushrod could cause blay in the valve terrain and can make a similar noise. Or you could take them out and roll them on a paice of class plate to check for bends.

Look at the top of the lifters to see if any are collapst.



Gl, Josh.

 

The oil pressure after about 10 mins of operation will drop to just over 35 psi for idle, and low rpm cruising.

I'm gonna pull the valve covers this weekend and make sure there are no bad pushrods or springs, and will probably go ahead and take the intake/ etc to check the rockers. Since I've gotta sell my bike to get a new rear end, I'll have plenty of time to check the upper engine internals.

I'm debating just getting the rear end fixed and picking up the ls6 intake, cam and the lifters i've been thinking of. The mech quoted me 900 to replace the gears in the pumpkin and rebuild the diff.

I'm thinking of doing that, or just buying a drop in 9" and replacing the rear end myself.

I'll have a few weeks to decide though....

Thanks again for the replies, keep em coming!