NOW BEING UPDATED AS I GO>>>>>Transplant engine now knocking, help please

[marc_p]

Another problem seems to have appeared, not sure if it is related

 

My AFR at idle seems to be lean seems to jump around from normal levels of mid 14's to off scale, this seems to be only when at running temperature

While driving the AFR is fine, not sure if this could just be to do with the Oil burn due to the suspected Turbo Seals

 

Is it a wide band or a narrow band gauge?

[David P]

If there's a leak, air could be getting into the exhaust and cause the Lambda sensor to trim back the fuel.

[Brazil]

What a disaster buddy, I suggest you take the car to Lee at SRD and let him figure out what's wrong with it and make a decision in what to do next once you find out what's the matter.

[thetrashcanman]

What a disaster buddy, I suggest you take the car to Lee at SRD and let him figure out what's wrong with it and make a decision in what to do next once you find out what's the matter.

 

I think part of the problem is he's in Devon mate, which means its a good 200-300 miles to SRD I think, not sure if he'd want to drive the car there at the moment with said problems, and I doubt it could be trailered there without a horrendous cost being incurred

[LOGIE]

surely an engine is an engine, I don't think you would need to take it to a supra specialist, Do some homework on REPUTABLE mechanics around your area and get the car to them via trailer. A good mechanic will diagnose the fault and should be able to give you a ball park figure but prob wont commit to it. Best of luck at least you got your transplant engine in..im having different troubles. Best of luck.

[Chris Wilson]

Exactly LOGIE. It's just a pretty basic engine, any decent mechanic who builds engines for a living could probably make very educated suggestions as to where the noise may be coming from, or why the wide band Lambda is "jumping about". Those Lamda meters that have several figures of resolution *WILL* jump about, you need to set it to read like this, for example LAMBDA is : 1.XX

 

Whilst it's a pretty basic engine it IS six cylinders and 24 valves, with twin turbos, so maintenance will always be that of a £50K car, even when it's worth £50. No way around that.

[skippyboyo1]

Bloody hell brings back bad memory's of my old Astra when I had a transplant, it was never the same and I'd never do it again.

 

That's being said and I'm trying to be up beat for you it might just be something simple and you have been over thinking it after all you will have teething problems.

 

It's not the end of the world though, worse case sell the engine as it is and put the na back in, I'm sure if the engine is not knocking at the time of sale you shouldn't loose money on the actual lump then just nail the na!

 

There you go no need to sell the car at all

 

I do have my fingers crossed for you though

[Swampy442]

Whilst it's a pretty basic engine it IS six cylinders and 24 valves, with twin turbos, so maintenance will always be that of a £50K car, even when it's worth £50. No way around that.

 

Well said Chris, and thats why we find so many crank pulley failures etc, on cars with 2 grands worth of wheels fitted.

[DodgyRog]

Is it a wide band or a narrow band gauge?

 

AEM Wideband, going to take the sensor out and clean it see if that helps, then go from there

 

If there's a leak, air could be getting into the exhaust and cause the Lambda sensor to trim back the fuel.

 

Will have a check around and see if I can find anything obvious, is there anywhere particular to look

 

What a disaster buddy, I suggest you take the car to Lee at SRD and let him figure out what's wrong with it and make a decision in what to do next once you find out what's the matter.

 

Yeah this is the plan, just getting the money together, unfortunately it's bad timing, as I have only been getting odd days work for the last few weeks, so having to hold back until work picks up again

 

I think part of the problem is he's in Devon mate, which means its a good 200-300 miles to SRD I think

 

Yeah the distances are not helpful, but I have decided I want someone that really knows the ins and outs of the engine to go over it

 

I could find someone local I am sure, but I want to get the whole thing checked over, as my confidence in this transplant has been totally destroyed, I have a lot of issues with it and just want someone that really knows these engines to look over it

 

The above is also the reason I want to save up some extra cash, rather than rushing it in and then struggling to cover the cost of the surprises to come

[DodgyRog]

Exactly LOGIE. It's just a pretty basic engine, any decent mechanic who builds engines for a living could probably make very educated suggestions as to where the noise may be coming from, or why the wide band Lambda is "jumping about". Those Lamda meters that have several figures of resolution *WILL* jump about, you need to set it to read like this, for example LAMBDA is : 1.XX

 

Whilst it's a pretty basic engine it IS six cylinders and 24 valves, with twin turbos, so maintenance will always be that of a £50K car, even when it's worth £50. No way around that.

 

Yeap totally agree Chris, but I would prefer to take it to someone that knows the 2JZ inside out, that way with any luck all these issues and the extra surpises I am expecting Lee to find can be looked into and hopefully sorted all at once

 

As for maintenance costs, totally agree again, but unfortunately my Finances have taken a big hit and my Income has dived recently, so now need to be patient and save, rather than my normal way of just pay for it as soon as it needs doing

 

surely an engine is an engine, I don't think you would need to take it to a supra specialist, Do some homework on REPUTABLE mechanics around your area and get the car to them via trailer. A good mechanic will diagnose the fault and should be able to give you a ball park figure but prob wont commit to it. Best of luck at least you got your transplant engine in..im having different troubles. Best of luck.

 

I am sure there are some decent mechanics in the area, but I want to get it properly looked over, I know I have found several issues already, so I am expecting Lee to find more

 

Bloody hell brings back bad memory's of my old Astra when I had a transplant, it was never the same and I'd never do it again.

 

That's being said and I'm trying to be up beat for you it might just be something simple and you have been over thinking it after all you will have teething problems.

 

It's not the end of the world though, worse case sell the engine as it is and put the na back in, I'm sure if the engine is not knocking at the time of sale you shouldn't loose money on the actual lump then just nail the na!

 

There you go no need to sell the car at all

 

I do have my fingers crossed for you though

 

Jen has already told me I am not allowed to sell it lol, I might have to sit it up for a while that is all.

 

I have to change the Turbo's already, (bought some and they are with Lee), I have the money sorted for that, but want to try and get a good amount of extra money set a side, so if Lee finds anything I might have a chance of getting it all sorted in one visit to SRD

 

Well said Chris, and thats why we find so many crank pulley failures etc, on cars with 2 grands worth of wheels fitted.

 

My Crank Pulley is fine, I always make sure mine has the Tippex line on it

 

If the knocking was caused by the anything to do with the Crank Pulley, then it was due to the Bolt not being tightened, obviously that is not really something anyone can just check or should need to after around 2000 miles of a Transplant

[listy]

What about Craig? Mr NA-t is only in Cardiff, and you could stop here for a cuppa on the way

[DodgyRog]

In case some people have skimmed through the thread, the knocking has stopped, I have no idea why

 

but the things I have done are

 

 

Removed Aux Belt

 

Checked all Pulleys are free etc

 

Checked Crank Pulley Bolt, I have not been able to get enough force to Torque it correctly, so will get SRD to check this again

 

Removed the Engine Cover, checked the Plugs are tight

 

Timing Belt looks fine

 

Done an Oil and Filter change with a Wynns Flush

 

Filtered all the old oil through some tights, no signs of anything other than some Carbon flakes (size of fine Sand grains)

 

Cut open the Old Oil Filter, with no signs of anything other than Carbon Grains as above

[DodgyRog]

What about Craig? Mr NA-t is only in Cardiff, and you could stop here for a cuppa on the way

 

Craig did offer to help, which was really good of him and something I won't rule out if necessary

 

I do have my replacement Turbo's at SRD anyway, so plan to go up for that, which is why I am still thinking it would b easier to do it all in one go

[DaveR]

Wow your car fixes itself! Glad it seems to be resolved matey. Fingers crossed.

[DodgyRog]

Wow your car fixes itself! Glad it seems to be resolved matey. Fingers crossed.

 

In some ways it is worse not knowing what caused the Knocking, don't get me wrong I will be a very happy man if I never hear it again though, it just might take a while to be relaxed while driving it

[Pig]

Well that was a long read!

 

Why are you planning on going on a long trip to see if the knock returns?

 

I would drive round locally normally, if still fine then drive a bit harder. Then when there is still no knock drive the car hard and see if it returns.

 

No knock after you have pushed the limits means you should stop worrying. It's a 20 year old car so will always be a ticking time bomb for something to go. Try not to worry about it but enjoy it instead!

[Graham1984]

Sad thread to read through, good luck getting it sorted Rog

[DodgyRog]

Well that was a long read!

 

Why are you planning on going on a long trip to see if the knock returns?

 

I would drive round locally normally, if still fine then drive a bit harder. Then when there is still no knock drive the car hard and see if it returns.

 

No knock after you have pushed the limits means you should stop worrying. It's a 20 year old car so will always be a ticking time bomb for something to go. Try not to worry about it but enjoy it instead!

 

Sorry for the long read:innocent:

 

Not planning to go on a long drive to see if the knock comes back

 

I am doing exactly as you have said, I have done a few local short drives now with a light bit of Boost here and there and nothing so far

 

Also went to a show and it did get a bit of harder driving, which is when I have noticed the AFR issue

 

I am a bit more relaxed about it now, just will take a while to not be listening for it to come back

 

At this stage I am hoping it was either the Crank Pulley Bolt and I tightened it just enough to stop it knocking

 

Or possibly it was the Bolt on the Aux Tensioner because when I removed the Belt, I did what I am sure must of us do and pushed it the wrong way first time and the bolt definitely moved slightly

[Konrad]

It was probably exhaust camshaft gear bolt not torqued properly, I remember reading about it some time ago.

[Pig]

AFR issue

 

 

I wouldn't panic on the AFR issue. My AFR's have always been all over the place. Just make sure they are ok on boost. IMO of course.

 

Just remove the AFR gauge and you will ha e nothing to worry about!!! Most TT's don't have them and I bet if they did they would suffer with the same issues.

[skippyboyo1]

Well...... Did it come back?

[DodgyRog]

Still no sign of the knocking

 

Hoping to put the Oil Pressure and Temp Gauges in at the weekend, so that will give me something to look at

 

Plan at the moment is to get the Gauges in and go to the Anniversary Meet on 25th/26th August, once the meet is done I will be looking at getting it up to SRD

 

Still need to sort out Jen's birthday Audi TT Roadster as well

[skippyboyo1]

Whooooo good news mate!!!

[DodgyRog]

Yeah definitely, I have not done much mileage in it since, but I have done a few hard pulls etc now

 

If nothing else I will have 2 nice Blitz Carbon Gauges to look at lol