WTF? Engine Rattling!?!?-not rod knock

GringoEJS

New Member
Jun 20, 2005
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Kansas City
Hey, in 2 weeks it makes a year since we did our turbo conversion, but don't have the car running right. The car runs, and you can drive it, but there are several issues going on. One of the main alarming issues, is that it is hard to start. Turning the key over for a good 15 seconds it will choke and cough and finally fire up. Once running, there is an obvious rattling sound going on inside the motor, the idle lopes, and if we just rev the motor a little off and on for around a minute, it will then idle smoothly and run fine (well-more on that later).
Anyway, while it is trying to idle, there is that rattling sound, seemingly coming from the lower end. Once the idle finally smooths out, it is gone, and no more problems-will rev fine and drive.
1st of all, the motor was recently rebuilt. Great compression, oil full. Again, it is not rod knock, but seemingly a timing issue, but timing is dead on. I have swapped out AFMs, ECUs, coil packs, and CPS with known good extras I have.
Can anyone put us on the right track before it snows?
Thanks in advance!
 
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Dunckel

Active Member
Jan 16, 2007
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Spokane, WA
Pertaining to the hard starts:
Does the car start fine after you have driven it for a while. Say for example, you drive it for 20 minutes, shut it off for 10, and then try to start it again. Does it start right away? I'm gonna go with a gut feeling and say cold start injector. But I could be WAY off. It's just a guess really.
 

GringoEJS

New Member
Jun 20, 2005
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Kansas City
Code 51, but our A/C belt is off. Oil Pressure is low, but it has always been, even on the n/a motor. Cold start injector may be an issue, since once it warms up, it starts back up easily. Not sure if it has stock pistons, I didn't do the rebuild. However, the noise in the motor before it warms up almost sounds like a low, loud, grinding sound. I just would think piston slap would be more continuous instead of just while it is code. My best guess is that it takes the ECU to like a minute or so on start up to figure out all the settings to get the timing right. Maybe I'll try and get a video somehow...
It could be a misfire, but with everything we have swapped? The thing is, after a minute or two, it then runs predictably.
 

van1684

New Member
Apr 19, 2005
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chicago
i was trying to adjust my tps sensor and then i got a code 51 also. could 51 happens when the idle circuit is out of range. you can use a voltmeter and the tsrm to adjust the tps.
 

GringoEJS

New Member
Jun 20, 2005
20
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Kansas City
I don't think it is piston slap, because I am lucky enough for my daily driver 94 Celica to have that, and it sounds very different.

I recorded a video with the camera. It took a little over 4 minutes for the car to idle perfectly on its own without the rattle. I quit recording at 4+ minutes, but everytime it started afterwards, it ran fine with no rattle. My confusion comes from the 4 minutes of warming up with the rattle and unsure idle. WTF is going on?!?! Looking for the Putfile link now....
 

GringoEJS

New Member
Jun 20, 2005
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Kansas City
Here it is...
http://media.putfile.com/Engine-rattling

It may be best to hit the pause button and let the video download for a few moments so it is not interrupted every 5 seconds.
Oh, and for the record, once the rattle stops, the car runs pretty good. It mainly happens when the car is cold and has had the battery disconnected. We have only put 27 miles on the car in the last year, where before the turbo conversion, it was a daily driver. :-(
 
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Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
16,757
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Fort Worth, TX
sounds like it's simply idling too low for some reason...

timing, ect...

also remember that a tube header will have a LOT more noise than a cast manifold... it may be an exhaust leak that finally sealed as well...
 

staticpat

Supra Chair!
Mar 30, 2005
450
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Birmingham, AL
van1684 said:
i was trying to adjust my tps sensor and then i got a code 51 also. could 51 happens when the idle circuit is out of range. you can use a voltmeter and the tsrm to adjust the tps.

Check this as it will also effect your timing. You need it to idle correctly so you can set your base timing, or it will always be off.
 

dbsupra90

toonar
Apr 1, 2005
2,374
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indiucky
dbsupra90 said:
pull a plug wire one at a time and see if it is a particular cyl. that will help narrow things down.

did you try this?

it does sound pretty bad. are you sure the cam timing is correct? you sure the cps is installed correctly? you can have the cps one tooth off and still be able to get the ign timing in spec.

but you need to isolate where the problem is.
 

Duds

King Awesomo
Jun 24, 2005
97
0
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Check you crank pulley bolt, it should be 200ft-lbs. I used to have a supra that would rattle like that and die until warmed up then it would run fine. Turned out to be so loose I could turn it off by hand.