Exh. Manifold not tight.. possible side-effects?

[0range_240]

Hi all, a couple days ago I started noticing a knocking noise coming from my engine bay whenever I would apply throttle anywhere over 3000rpm... so I pulled the valve cover and inspected the timing chain, and it was tight with both guides intact.. and I checked my lifters and they are not loose or anything...

Then about 15 minutes ago, I removed the heatshield on my exhaust manifold because it was loose, and I noticed that one of that I was missing a nut on the studs that hold on my header! its leaking oil down the side of the motor, and from the looks off the rest engine bay its sprayed quite a bit of gas/oil down the side.. these were the side-effects I was experiencing the last time I drove the car

-loss of low end power-knocking/tapping sound whenever gas was applied above 2-3k-erradic idle, lots of engine shake- mis-firing

All things considered, is it reasonable to assume that was the problem?

[drjohn]

The oil is probably from the valve cover gasket leaking down the side of the cyl. head. The exhaust stud nut missing is normal and will cause a lifter type noise when really cold. My 90 does the same thing. If the manifold is loose enough you will leak ex. put you also pull in oxygen and this can cause the o2 sensor to richen the mixture more than needed. If ex. leak is let go long enough the ex. valve will burn on that cyl. Be careful when loosening or tighening the studs and bolts on the ex. man. they tend to break off in the head and can be difficult to remove.

[0range_240]

no I can actually see where the oil has come out of the exhaust manifold where it meets the head, my car burns oil so..it is like a black greasy substance.. my valve cover does not leak, I know this for a fact.

Missing a nut is normal? how can that be?

Also, I get the lifter noise whether the engine is warmed up or not.. but I checked my lifters and they seem to be fine so

[Hijacker]

it's a normal occurance, but it needs to be fixed.

since you said you're burning oil, now you know why it's seeping out of the manifold gap.

[0range_240]

well I re-tightened down the bolts.. hopefully now it will sound better.. I had the rocker assembly out and on the workbench for a while so when I start the car im gonna let it idle for 15-20 minutes to bleed the lifters.. when I first started the car and I gave it a little gas, it still made that noise, but that might just be because its cold and hasnt been run in a few days... I'll let you guys know if the problem wont go away

Thanks for the help btw =)

[JBoy207]

not to scare u or nething.....but if the manifold was severly loose it could have caused the head to distort.....the exhaust leak could have heated the side of the head......hopefully thats not the case

[kansas240]

Lifters do not need to be bled. once oil pressure is applied ( 5-10 second max) they are as they will be. the ticking is probably a valve that is burnt, if toyu are using that much oil. the valves need to be resealed and reground to fix the problem. not cheap, but can be done over a weekend with the right tools. good luck sourcing the problem. .02

[0range_240]

I have a 90 with a sohc, it has hydraulic lifters that DO in fact need to be bled if left out of oil for too long... it doesnt matter anyways, I took my car to a local garage and the guy looked at the car for 2 minutes and told me I had spun a rod bearing, and offered me a newly rebuilt motor...

I thought a bad rod bearing would be much louder? I can barely hear this noise when im driving in 4th or 5th, just the road noise blocks it out.. and I thought if it was a rod bearing, wouldnt it be knocking all the time? mine doesnt make a knocking sound below 2500 or above 4500... wtf?

Please tell me its not a rod bearing or im so F#cked

btw, he just listened around and used a stethescope thing to determine what the problem was.. I dunno if I trust this guy, the shop he used to work for got in alot of trouble for being cooked..

[kansas240]

do a leakdown test on all the cylinders, and change your oil. run it for a day or so, then cut open the filter and look for copper/brass shavings. If you don't find any, then try puling off one plug wire at a time and see which cylinder is knocking. if the noise never changes, it may not be a rod. can't say for sure without listening, it may be spark knock.

[0range_240]

spark knock?

the plugs in my car are old so please explain, maybe thats it

[0range_240]

I pulled out my plugs and cleaned them when I installed my asp pulley.. it started knocking right after that

[sil80drifter]

Sometimes aftermarket pulleys/flywheels tend to disbalance a stock engine. The thing that many people don't understand is that an engine comes completely balanced from the factory. All moving parts are spun at once and they figure out which needs balancing. Then people put in aftermarket parts, and don't realize that an engine need to be rebalanced after that. If it gets bad enough, after a while an unbalanced part can cause engine damage, in form of rod knock, etc. Even if you JUST balanced your motor, and then got some new pulley, you'll have to re-balance it with the new pulley on. It's not very cheap, but... when you get things like pulleys and flywheels, just get them all at once, and preferably right after you've replaced cams/crank/pistons/rods etc. Then balance the whole thing.

I hope you r.bearing is not fuXored. It'd suck to get a new engine. Then again, used KAs in decent shape can be found from $200-$400.

sil80

[0range_240]

okay, what about the bolts that are in the pulley? there are three small threaded holes, am I supposed to put bolts in them?

they dont lead to anything, maybe they are for balancing??