ive been struck with the infamous tick updated new problems

[mr_ca18det]

I've read the threads of all the ticking lifters and i just finished everything on my rebuild. started it up and have what sound like 1 lifter thats not pumping up i did notice if i block the drivers side valve cover breather ticking is gone??? I see that float has had this prob as well but there was no answer to a fix for it. I'm almost possitive i reused all my lifter from my original engines head. I have 2 spare heads with lifters would it be worth swapping them out. Its hard to tell what one the noise is coming from but sounds louder near cyl3 any ideas? oh and oil pressure when warm is around 14psi and around 35-40 at 3k with 180 degree oil temp

[boost_boy]

You just have to narrow it down to which one is making noise. The best thing to do is identify which side the ticking is coming from, pull-off the camshaft and check each lifter. The bad lifter will be the one that you can pump with two fingers. Your oil pressure sounds fine, so don't sweat that at all.

[mr_ca18det]

so i pulled both cams and found one lifter that i could easily push in replaced if with one that felt good from my other head started it up still ticks. the only other thing i notice is two of the exhaust side lifters make like a gurgling sound when i turn the car off and i can see air bubbles in the oil on cyl 3 where i here the sound from can those be bad even though they cant be pushed in? thanks in advance

[boost_boy]

so i pulled both cams and found one lifter that i could easily push in replaced if with one that felt good from my other head started it up still ticks. the only other thing i notice is two of the exhaust side lifters make like a gurgling sound when i turn the car off and i can see air bubbles in the oil on cyl 3 where i here the sound from can those be bad even though they cant be pushed in? thanks in advance

You must take all lifters and pump them one by one in a container filled with fresh oil. The lifters will either be soft and not pump-up to firmness or remain firm and be ready for use.

[float_6969]

My noisey lifters were due to low oil pressure caused by my engine builder failing to remember to replace the oil galley plugs in the crank. I'm not expecting to have anymore liter problems when I re-assemble the motor.

[mr_ca18det]

Well I had them soaking for 2 days and some don't pump up at all they just shoot oil back out the Inlet hole on the side and I have like 10 that pump up but have maybe 1mm of give to them and the rest I can't even press in which ones should I use plus I still have the ones in my engine currently .

[float_6969]

The ones that don't pump up at all, ditch. The ones that won't press in at all, are like they should be. The ones that will depress a little can be used if you don't have enough of the good ones in your motor now. Also, you can have your lifters rebuilt cheaply HERE

[mr_ca18det]

well i tore it down swapped in 16 lifters that stayed pumped up for like a week they went straight from oil in to the head. started it reset the timing and the tick came back . i took a video of it they only thing that makes it go away is it i pressurized the engine by blocking off the exhuast breather. check my video how is this possible. its only noticable on decel and idle it cant be a bearing.could it be piston slap. i'm out of ideas i may compression test it on monday.

[boost_boy]

Why don't you go and put some miles on that rebuilt engine and stop idling it before you screw-up the break-in process. Don't worry about the pressurizing as that is a sign of an engine with unseated rings and you are experiencing some blow-by for now. If all the lifters you put in are firm, then your lifters aren't your problem. But if one lifter was soft, then it will never pump-up and you will be ticking and missing and will eventually start hating the CA.

[mr_ca18det]

i'll drive it all week and see if it gets better.

[float_6969]

Persistent lifter noise can be sign of low oil pressure. Your pressure readings seem a little weird.

From the FSM, page LC-4;
oil warmed up (not the engine, the oil, this takes some driving around to get it heated up and stabillized)
Idle - more than 11psi
3K - 51-60psi

[mr_ca18det]

i have good oil pressure its usually around 15-17 idle and it get up to 50-70 around 3-5k but i figured i try to seat these rings in. i've heard to beat on it and decel hard helps seat rings so i gave it a slight beating and it didnt end well. I was climbing a hill at around 3-4k hardly in boost and it pretty much felt like i blew a coupler off no power at all no vacuum and coasted to a stop. oil pressure was good oil temp was 180ish and same with coolant temp I checked all the couplers were still connected but there was white smoke coming from the intake and when i took the oil cap off. i checked the oil was at perfect level. i tried to start it back up and the starter wouldnt turn it over it was completely locked up. it cooled down for a good half hour and reluctantly crank over at first then started back up like normal and i drove it home good oil pressure at idle like 17-18 psi i'm like wtf. what could it be should i pull the head off and check the gasket maybe it blew alot of coolant in the cyls and hydrolocked it. Its a cometic i didnt do the retorque yet figured i get some miles on it. last time i checked when and engine seizes from no oil pressure up it doesnt start back up . anyone else have any idea. this is not my first engine i built they all run perfectly even to this day i checked everything when putting it together torqued everything.i'm completely stumped

[boost_boy]

If your oil pressure is reading good, then we'll safely assume your pump is functioning just fine. Now, did you put the main bearing on correctly? With the engine running, please remove the oil filler cap and check to see if there's a sufficient amount of oil running through your head. If the oil is barely noticeable with the engine running, then there is your culprit.

[mr_ca18det]

If i run if with a valve cover off there is alot of oil splashing around same thing if i take the cap off it will easily spalsh enough oil out to cover the turbo and manifold. I,drained the oil again no big pieces some normal break in metal nothing crazy. I did plastiguage the cam caps but didnt do the mains unfortunatley the crank was cut and bearing were the corect size rods and mains. Should i just tear it down to be safe. I am running an oil cooler is like a 10 row nothing massive. I set the trip its got like 80 miles since the rebuild so one would think it woudnt have lasted that long but weird s*** happens if it is and bearings were put it correctly for sure

[mr_ca18det]

Well i compression tested it 150 across all 4 and leakdown was all less than 18 percent. Pulled the head and found the cross hatching is missing from the cylinder walls and all my pistons are loose and when you move them back and forth against the walls they kind of make that noise i've been tracing all along. My guess it they probably didnt bore it with enough clearance and once i finally got the thing heated up by putting some strain on the engine they expanded and locked right up. So now to see what there gonna say when i bring my block back in. I gave them the sheet with the recc. clearances i'm guessing they must not have read it. i informed them they were forged pistons but s*** happens i guess.

[float_6969]

Yea, if they didn't follow the clearances, that could cause a lot of problems. The CP's especially expand A LOT when they heat up. My motor is REALLY noisey until things get warmed up. One (of many) reasons I don't take it on short trips, and I let it warm up for a few minutes before I start driving it.

[boost_boy]

Man, you are getting a serious work-out with your motor. I'm sorry you're having all these problems, but if the cross harches on your cylinder walls were missing, your engine is not only out of balance, but your cylinders were possibly out of round. The machine shop that's doing the work should exercise extreme caution by following the specs or you will be tearing this thing down again.

[mr_ca18det]

I know its sucks but I've used this machine shop many times and know the owners personally and it may have just been an honest mistake which happens. But once its all said and done I should have a semi fast coupe.

[blownhemi]

Man, you are getting a serious work-out with your motor. I'm sorry you're having all these problems, but if the cross harches on your cylinder walls were missing, your engine is not only out of balance, but your cylinders were possibly out of round. The machine shop that's doing the work should exercise extreme caution by following the specs or you will be tearing this thing down again.

Why is that a sign of cylinder out-of-roundness, or unbalanced rotating assembly? If the hone pattern is missing, doesn't that mean the engine is broken in? (hopefully, at least... in any case, the break-in window is gone)

Yea, if they didn't follow the clearances, that could cause a lot of problems. The CP's especially expand A LOT when they heat up. My motor is REALLY noisey until things get warmed up. One (of many) reasons I don't take it on short trips, and I let it warm up for a few minutes before I start driving it.

Mind doesn't shut up even when it's warmed up. The sound it makes is very close to what my 1.5 diesel DD makes normally. Heard another CA built with with CPs recently at a meet, same thing. Don't know his clearances, but mine were correct, on the loose side of the range, though. God, that sound's really unsettling.

[mr_ca18det]

I can deal with some noise but due to that fact mine seized the pistons weren't happy with the clearance

[float_6969]

Even with the engine broken in, there should be cross hatching still visible on the cylinder walls. You want some of that surface to still be there to retain oil for lubricating the piston skirts. If the cross-hatching is worn off, then either the motor is badly worn, or there was a tolerance problem when the engine was bored out, OR they didn't use the correct honing stones/procedure for the rings you're using. EG-Chrome faced rings don't have the same boring/honing procedure that moly-faced rings do, and it's different again if it's a gas-nitrided ring.

[boost_boy]

To "blownhemi": Just like float said, those cylinders should retain their cross hatches under normal wear criteria. The fact that his engine is freshly rebuilt and he states the cylinders were missing the cross hatches indicates exactly what float said and or what I said or even worst. But in any case, it is not good and his engine needs further servicing by more qualified personnel.

[blownhemi]

Just noticed you're running a HX35... same plan here. What manifold are you using? Which HX35 variant? Turbine housing size?

float and boost_boy: Thanks for the education!

[mr_ca18det]

mine is a 7 blade 60lb a min flow hx35 and i made a log manifold and i went with the bep .70 ar t3 v-band housing my log manifold didnt leak or anything but didnt really get to boost the engine at all to get an estimate on spoolup. And just for clarity i only made it cause the ebay top mount manifolds wont clear the master cyl on a lhd car cant vouch for rhd. But the hx35 is a long turbo so its a tight fit either way but making a manifold wasnt that hard at all cost was around 80 dollars in materials and flanges and a couple hours later a turbo that fit nicely. The only other mods that needed to be made was a bigger drain back to the pan and some powersteering line adjusting. And a custom downpipe but not a huge deal. And i just remembered i have pics of it in my build thread and the fitment its nothing fancy but it does the job. its on page 2 on the main page

[mr_ca18det]

Well I killed the number 5 main bearing I had the caps 12354 Dono how I could have possibly done that but on a good note my pistonp are fine no damage. The cross hatch is missing but will be re honed and new rings installed. This only happens when I work on my own cars I can build subaru engines all day at work but the time I try and do something to my cars everything goes to s*** . But oh well rebuilding the rebuild soon I'll keep updating.

[float_6969]

OUCH! That's not a fun mistake. Did the crank survive? If so, you're really not in too bad of shape. G/L w/the rebuild!

[mr_ca18det]

crank has some slight scratches will need a cut but not horrible oh well never make that mistake again.