hi all, i have a 98 sti with a new engine thats done 150 miles and its ticking,

the engine have bored out pistons, acl bearing, my original heads that were skimmed and cleaned, the buckets are ok, but the under bucket shims look like crap like someone used a dremel on them.

full decat and new standard injectors.

i have changed all the gaskets to see if it was a leak but no joy, and i cant seem to find out what it is, i have a specialist looking at it in a week but cant sleep and im worried its terminal,

My question is, is this tappet / valve related or something else,

the car is much louder when cold and when warm its a lot quieter, i have tried many oils and nothing has changed. please help guys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO_5wijLZc4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzTSPK9B2dw

 

im no expert but that sounds more like somthing loose or tappets but i really think you need an expert and i wouldnt run it til its sorted out... im sure some 1 on here will know what it is

 

That's not a ticking, that's a very loud tapping, it does sound top end related, i certainly wouldn't drive it till you've found out what it is.

i had a very similar sound when one of the cam sprockets had come loose

 

could be valve gaps are wrong ???

 

just to let your know this sound was the pistons hitting the head cracked a piston which is pants.. the h/g isnt thick enough but the good news is the guy that built the block has kindly rebuilt it for me free of charge with thicker h/g (fantastic guy)

 

Major boo boo by the builder then - hope he has got the rest of the engine build right

Mick

 

jay, you shoulda let Mick - yes, he above - build it for thee....

 

it was me i got the block built and had my heads skimmed and used 1.6mm h/g.. think the guy that skimmed the heads took off too much cos shouldnt have gone wrong..

you can see a stamp from the (050) stamped on the bored out pistons that have hit the head and its imprinted on the head,

as for the guy that built the block, he is a legend, altho this isnt his fault he has rebuilt it free of charge cos he doesnt want bad feedback,.

if any one is looking for a builder i can highly recommend this guy at wilks engines in shipley. he is great and always at the end of the phone, even at 10pm lol

you can see a stamp from the (050) stamped on the bored out pistons that have hit the head

 

How do Mick
I think its valve related mate as the engine doesn't seem to respond on the throttle like it ought too tbho,seems a bit sluggish and lumpy.
Are you sure you have the timing right,is it a hydraulic type bucket or solid lifters?

 

cheers for the advice bud read above mate

 

What an amazing bloke. Fair play to him and all that...

And yeah, 1.6mm HGs are the correct ones for MY93-98 phase 1 and 1.5 cars.

 

He did a great Job too new block bored by .5 with new serviceable crank an acl bearings for 795. My local garage checked it over before I put it together and said he did an amazing job.

I'm going to make a new thread saying how good he is later.

 

Great news you got it sorted,i was just thinking how do people get on if a head has been skimmed before without knowing are they marked?

 

The heads now have a imprint on them from where the heads have hit it.

But I thought putting a thicker hg on would have been ok how wrong was I.

 

cc the head volume before assembly and compare to original volumes, and also check piston height above (or below) deck. Engine builder should of done this imo !

 

Cheers for that Ive never pulled one apart and didn't know the tolerances were so tight.

 

Standard head height is 127.50mm, so you can tell how much has been skimmed from the flame surface and as mentioned above - combustion chambers should be volumed and piston compression height + deck height should be included in the static C.R. calcs.

To the OP - glad its all sorted


Mick

 

cheers bud

 

the guy that i got the new block from told me earlier that he is going to replace ALL 4 pistons rather then the one bad one. OMG i cant have asked for a better builder

*highly recommend him*

 

my car is now working, sound great

 

Great news

 

oh yer drives so good, like its brand new

 

Good for you mate - nice one!

 

I said this earlier, but skimming the heads will not cause piston to head contact, the Phase 1 pistons protrude from the block, hence needing 1.6mm gaskets, to ensure the head is far enough away from the pistons and giving the correct C/Ratio. Phase 1.5 cars use 1.2mm gaskets as they have differnt pistons. The only way the pistons coud hit the head is if the block face was skimmed or the wrong gaskets were used.

 

thanks for your imput mate, i took it apart and i can tell you that the pistons were in fact hitting the head..

good news as mentioned above is i got it sorted and all is fine