"Engine clatter"

Post by **DrIfT_FoReVeR** » Fri May 28, 2004 12:21 pm

ill try it tomorrow...err, later today..it might have just been a psychological thing. when i changed the oil, it sounded a lot quieter...is that normal? i dunno, i always notice that when i put in more oil/get an oil change. the quiet sound makes it feel like it doesnt have power, but when i put petal to metal, i could feel the normal power. ill still tap around and shake some stuff up tomorrow...well later today...lol i need to get to sleep.

Post by **DrIfT_FoReVeR** » Fri May 28, 2004 12:21 pm

NISTECH? anyone?

Post by **NISTECH** » Fri May 28, 2004 12:21 pm

yea it can be normal if you were low on oil before the oil change or the oil was seriously degraded during its use.

Post by **DrIfT_FoReVeR** » Fri May 28, 2004 12:21 pm

yeah, when i emptied the old oil, there was maybe a quart and a half...but i didnt run it for maybe 5 days and the oil leaked out onto my driveway

but now there is a little less leaking than before, so i know it was the oil pressure switch, and the valve cover gasket, inner and outer, is coming in next week, so ill be replacing that probably next weekend. im taking my car...well towing it...on an RV trip with my girl to go see some family, so maybe someone out there can help me find my oil leak as well. i dunno...anyway, thanks for all the help! i really appreciate it! is there anywhere else that i can look to find this leak? i dont think its just the valve cover gasket.

Post by **NISTECH** » Fri May 28, 2004 12:21 pm

frotn crank seal is very popular on the 240 to leak. I really think you should look there. look up from underneah the car right behind the main pulley and see if it looks real clean in the middle and oily grime all around the clean area. The clean area would be due to the fresh hot oil running down and keeping the cover clean and shinny in that one spot.

Post by **DrIfT_FoReVeR** » Fri May 28, 2004 12:21 pm

ok, ill check out the front crank seal...im pretty sure its leaking from there, too, but there is also leaks all around my valve cover, and i know the gasket is shot to s***. i can see a little bit of fresh oil in some "sweet spots" around my valve cover, so that's definately gotta be replaced, but i'll definately check out the front crank seal...im sure thats another place it's leaking from...

any idea on how much a front crank seal will cost me, and is there anywhere i can look to find out what tools i need and how to install it?

BTW, isnt the front crank seal go over the crankshaft tube that the underdrive pulley is connected to, and would it be a good idea to get an aftermarket underdrive pulley to slap on there while the old heavy one is off? or does the UD pulley need to come off? am i even in the right ballpark with these parts??? lol im kinda new to cars, ive learned all that i know in this little time that its been since i joined these forums...anyway, thanks for all the help, ONCE AGAIN! lol...never hurts to be grateful...

Post by **NISTECH** » Fri May 28, 2004 12:21 pm

The underdrive pullies usually replace the main crank pulley. With the age and miles on your car it wouldnt be a bad idea since the main crank pully where it contacts the front crank seal could be worn and have a groove in it that would allow the oil to bypass when the car is running. An old trick of the trade is to push the new seal in slightly further on cars that have higher miles to make the contact a little further in then the groove to obtain a better seal. But if you gonna put a new underdrive puly in there you wont have to worry about it. The front seal is less then 10 bucks and is not that hard to replace. you remove all your drive belts, get a large breaker bar and a chain wrench to hold the pulley while you loosen the bolt holding it to the crank.

TIP:get your breaker bar set up on your crank bolt and position it so it is resting on the ground to the drivers side of the car. go in and bump your ignition switch to the start position do not let the car run though if it fires up shut it off immediatly. This will break the crank bolt loose with out any real effort.

If the pulley doesnt just slide off at this point[which they usually dont] use a suitable pulley remover to pull it off. you can typically loan one from auto zone.

TIP2: use 2 long prybars behind the pulley to walk it off. place them both evenly positioned on either side behind the pulley between the cover and the pulley. this will work with no real prying force if you do it correctly. gently push both pry bars toward the engine one at a time back and forth and the pulley will just slide off. [ this will not work if there is heavy rust around that area] before you do this thread the bolt into the crank one turn,this will help catch the pulley so it doesnt fall and hit the ground when it comes off the crank.

Once the pulley is off use a smooth edged prefferable long screww driver to pop the seal out. make sure you dont scar the front cover with the screw driver when prying. You want to just catch the hard lip of the seal. then you reinstall in the reverse order.

TIP3: before installing the crank seal coat the outer edge that contacts the cover with a very thin coat of RTV. This has 2 benifits.1 it will help seal against any imperfections in the front cover. 2 it acts as a lubricant to help ease the seal into place.

TIP4: If you are replaceing the pulley push the seal in only unitll it is flush against the cover. If you are going to reuse the old pulley push the seal in till it falls about 1/2 to 1 mm in from the egde of the front cover. This will help it seal against the pulley better.

Post by **DrIfT_FoReVeR** » Fri May 28, 2004 12:21 pm

awesome...my only prob is that new UD pulleys are like hella expensive...too bad, i guess i'll replace it later. BTW i just looked at the front seal area and its exactly as you described it, plus i saw a nice and black bead of oil running down the block, right underneath the pulley. beauty...now i need to replace all that...damn...

should i take my whole front bumper assembly off to do this project, or are things pretty easy to access from underneath?

Post by **NISTECH** » Fri May 28, 2004 12:21 pm

nah just pull the radiator and fan out it takes like 10mins and it will make removing the pulley alot easier.

Post by **sil80drifter** » Fri May 28, 2004 12:21 pm

Lol, thats like half the work for changing the timing chain... I'll be doing it this weekend, so yeah removing radiator and fan makes it MUCH easier.

sil80

Post by **slc240sxse** » Fri May 28, 2004 12:21 pm

Replacing the front main seal is not that hard of a job. I did mine recently at my home. Hardest part was removing the main bolt in the main pulley. I used an impact wrench for this. Once that comes out, be sure that you do not scar the area around the seal when removing it. There are quite a few threads on this site for replacing that seal. I will tell you this much tho, once you get it done, you'll thank yourself for doing it, all that oil leaking stops! Here is a link for replacing your pullys, could be helpful:http://www.nissaninfiniticlub....+main

Also, don't piss around and cut corners, get all your standard (non hi perf) parts from you Nissan dealer. I've been burned too many times by sh*tty parts from AutoZone and Checker!

Post by **sil80drifter** » Fri May 28, 2004 12:21 pm

Here's my story: Did the chain swap, guides were still fine, but I replaced the passenger's side one anyway, tensioner was fine too, replaced anyway, and left the chain, because it never really needs replacement, especially not after 40k miles. Replaced the oil pump with a 280ZX oil pump. Result: Oil pressure is now normal, no "start-up rattle" or audible rocker/valve tick. So the oil pump helped.

The "rattling" that was present between 2k and 3k rpms under LOW THROTTLE ONLY, turned out to be.... PING! Can you believe this?! I've been pinging for a good week! I did an injector replacement recently, put in 460cc instead of the old 270cc, because I'm going turbo soon, and tuned them with the SAFC. Well technically, 40% of 460cc is ~270cc, so I initially just put -40% all across the board, BUT! As I've been trying to figure out the nature fo the rattle, and it's disappearing under WOT (at any rpms when it would usually be present otherwise), and thought about how even 460cc injectors can't flow too much at idle and low rpms, since other cars have them and they don't seem to have idle problems (i.e.: the RX-7 they are from originally), I figured that I should try to rich-en the low throttle map. I did, and went with around -12% between 1000 and 3000 rpms... and the pign is gone.

I cannot believe how long the engine took this abuse, considering I've driven it to work for a couple of hundred miles with this condition present. I think my scenario is prety specific, and the rattle I had is not timing chain/rocker arm/valve related, but I just thought I'd share, so others can maybe learn from my experience. I did fix the start-up rattle though, for which the new oil pump was great help.

sil80

Website · Post by **s13sr20chris** » Fri May 28, 2004 12:21 pm

good call bro.

"Engine clatter"

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