old bob

hi, over the past year ive been building a new engine when ive had time motivation and money, all work been done by myself and is a 94 wrx, new 2.5 from AndyF, which ive dropped in new wieseco pistons, cosmetic head gaskets, sti4 heads which i stripped polished and rebuilt, this is where i was silly and didnt check clearances, just rebuilt, i know im a prat!
got the engine in, oil pressure within 15 seconds and started first turn, now idles pretty well considering autronic mapped for ej20, but have a loud rattle noise, accross the engine but it is a tappet sound, now ive not had solid lifters before or forged pistons,

could this noise be pistons bedding in and will eventually go, how loud are new forged piston??
valve clearances or by mistake me mixing something up during build, how much noise would this make??
anything map related (long shot but worth a try)
or just that all kinda new, pistons etc and im using real cheap oil and car only run for around 15 mins max on and off and not been driven

really unsure what to do now, been along journey to get this far and its looking like i maybe taking it back out again,

oh i did a compression test 180 172 165 160 but had only ran for a couple of mins, but mechanic mate said they would be different due to different cylinders bedding in at different rates

any suggestions?

merlin24

iTrader: (1)

Have you got an oil pressure gauge fitted - if so,what's the oil pressure hot/cold ?
Did you remove/refit the oil restrictors in the cylinder heads in order to clean the oil gallerys thoroughly after you polished/worked on the heads ?
It may be the valve clearances causing the noise if you didn't check them,but being STi 4 heads with inner shims - the cams have to come out to re-shim.

Mick

old bob

didnt remove no restrictors as far as im aware, and not got the oil gauges wired in at moment so i couldnt tell you

and yeah cams out, not good!

could it not be pistons then?

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

it could well be and probably is the pistons.. but it could also be a few other things.. it is impossible to tell from a description of a noise and be 100%..

if the noise is evident on application of the throttle and on idle and not on lift off then most likely pistons noise sort of a rattle and should get quieter as engine warms up.. if it is a more metalic tick then likely to be solid lifters.
If it is on lift off then more likely to be a bearing..

Simon

old bob

yeah i understand its hard to explain a noise, its more of a tick but there all of time, sometimes it sounds like its going if you hold the revs up slightly

sounds bit like an old OHV fiesta which obviosly is loose tappets, think i need to get the covers off and have a measure up

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

have you driven it.. if it is just clearances if may quieten as it warms and you are on run in oil which is not brill any I presume?

take it for a gentle drive and if all okay perhaps take it to somewhere to have it listenned to.

Simon

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

obviously if the noise is enough for you to be cringing when driving it then don't lol

old bob

not driven it yet car still not legal, on cheap running in oil, still tempted to pull the covers off and just check the clearances


simon was going to ring you soon to see if my map ( 2ltr ) would be ok to run the 2.5 in or will it be to far out? if not is there a base map you could chuck on it for me, im near crawley

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

autronic being map based it would need a running map imho.

shouldn't be a problem..

drop me an email to discuss.. email in profile

Thanks
Simon

merlin24

iTrader: (1)

Are you sure its not a exhaust gas leak from the up-pipe/turbo base gasket - that will make a loud ticking noise also.

old bob

pretty sure, new gaskets fitted but its something else i could check