Slight Ticking Noise in engine bay area

bmob

bmob

Member
#1
#1
Alright. I just had this motor built fresh new from a reputable machine shop. It has 600 miles on the build, and has always ran good. Today, after crusing a little bit, it started to make this ticking sound that almost sounded like an exhaust leak. I couldn't feel a leak anywhere though. The oil pressure is fine, the oil is full, it fires up, it idles with no ticking. When you put a load on it around 2,300rpm it starts to make a noise.

Also, it has the same 93 octane gas I had put in it before winter (just got it running again) but I stabilized it with K100.

I have no idea what to do? I am running out of money as this build keeps having more and more issues. Any thoughts as to what to do?? Should I take it to a reputable mechanic?
 
bmob

bmob

Member
#3
#3
checked the header gaskets, no leaks.

The car begins to overheat if I let it idle for too long. The fan is on (super high power electric fan w/ shroud, royal purple ice in the coolant as well). Before this noise, the car wouldn't even make it to 180 degrees... now it wants to just climb and climb and climb (it hit 190 when I shut it off, and continued to climb to 195 almost 200 but I circulated the cool coolant through the block to bring it back down).

I am stressed to the max with this now, and I am ready to throw it on craigslist after I just dumped a little over $12,000 into the motor, let alone the new paint, exhaust, tranny, etc etc etc.
 
Noterminator

Noterminator

Formally SuprSloBlkNotch89
#4
#4
Possibly your lifters? And maybe a bad thermostat as well. It's hard saying without actually hearing it. Do you see any smoke? Engine bay feel like its heating up fast or hotter than it should be? Any smells under hood? All radiator hoses tight, and leak free? Like I said its tough to make a call without hearing it and being there to check things over.
 
bmob

bmob

Member
#5
#5
No radiator hose leaks (though, on top of the thermostat housing where there is a large bolt that screws in has a minute trickle at times, but when I lightly tightened it, it stopped). No weird smells that I know of. The overheating is a key symptom of what is happening I believe. Could bad gas (its almost a year old, though I put k100 fuel treatment in it before winter last year) cause the engine to overheat and make noises under load? I thought that If that was the case it would be bad/make noise under any circumstances? Also, idling now causes it to overheat.

Frustration is taking over, and if I can't figure it out this weekend, she is going to go to the shop :thumbsdown:
 
bmob

bmob

Member
#8
#8
Unless the timing changed mid ride, its not the timing. The timing was set by the machine shop when the engine was on the dyno.

It is a 408 stroker from a 351w with 10.5:1 compression. 750cfm q series drag style double pumper carb, edelbrock rpm air gap intake, 225cfm AFR Aluminum Heads, I don't know the hydraulic cam specs.

It was riding good, then it made the slightest noise. Then slightly more, and more and then the temp started to rise to 180, then 185, then when it hit 190 we shut her down (then the temp went to 195 in the block but as soon as it did I turned the motor over to get the hot coolant into the radiator and the cool rad coolant into the motor).

It also felt like the car was lacking power when the noise was happening, and the car would vibrate/shake pretty good when it made the noise while under some load.

I am draining the fuel later today and putting fresh 93 octane mixed with a little 110. I will film if the noise does NOT go away and post the video for diagnostic purposes. The motor has about 600 miles on it.
 
MaximumRisk

MaximumRisk

NYC Regional Coordinator
#14
#14
10.5:1 compression and bad old/bad gas is not a good combination. You might have blown a head gasket, but start with the simple stuff first, check your timing, pull your plugs and see how they look, also do a compression test and see what you get.
 
bmob

bmob

Member
#15
#15
Put fresh gas in. No change. Put a long screw driver up to different areas of the intake mani, and one area sounded pretty loud (like every 3-4 seconds it would hit the screwdriver twice then be normal. I am taking it to my Ford tomorrow or monday. My friend works there and he knows one of the old mechanics who works on all the performance cars 40+ years experience.

On a small note, when removing the pilot bearing, i made about a 1mm nick, maybe less, into the lip of the crank opening. That miniscule amount couldn't have thrown that whole thing off balance? I mean it was barley more than a scratch.

I have a bad feeling either a rod is in trouble or the main bearing is. Will know more later and will post results of shop time.
 
adkmach1

adkmach1

Well-Known Member
#16
#16
I would be talking to your engine builder, it's only got 600 miles on. If he's any kind of builder he would want to take a look at it. His reputation is on the line. That's just my 2 cents worth.
 
stanginthe11s

stanginthe11s

Well-Known Member
#17
#17
start with the basics, CHECK TIMING . the timing can absolutely change mid drive, happens more than you think. bolts loosen, bolt may be tight but dist isnt, adv. weights get stuck, dist. gears wear out, cam gears wear out if wrong gear is used, etc. I can go all day with little things that can cause problems and come up out of nowhere. The biggest thing to remember is if you check the easy stuff first you'll either fix it or help pinpoint the problem sooner and cheaper.
 
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bmob

bmob

Member
#18
#18
I took the car to my friends shop, and its a blown head gasket between cylinders 5 and 6. I had the engine work done a year ago at the machine shop. I will give him a call and see what he thinks, and if I can get them to do the work. I have a gut feeling though that the cause of it is my fault somehow (either from too rich/lean a tune mixture, or overheating, as it reached close to 210 degrees once). Any thoughts before I give the machine shop a call?
 
MaximumRisk

MaximumRisk

NYC Regional Coordinator
#19
#19
Glad you found the problem. I think it was caused by either very bad gasoline (no good with high compression motors) or timing too high for pump gas. Maybe the distributor was loose and timing changed?
 
bmob

bmob

Member
#20
#20
I know this is revival of an old dead thread, but I feel to need to give the final diagnosis and solution in case anyone else out there is or has a similar issue.

After taking out the motor and stripping her down, the head between cylinders 4 and 3 were galled and damaged due to the head gasket blowing out. The head had to be repaired, along with all new rings and bearings.

The cause of the gasket failure was because of my water pump. The water pump was a reverse direction pump (which is what is needed), but the pump veins were cast for a forward spinning pump, so it partially blocked water flow to the rear cylinders. The coolant temp sensor was in the front of the block, so it never showed it overheating in the rear cylinders.
 
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