Ticking/knocking noise

Took the car out last night and took the car up to 7000rpm in 3rd gear and at the next junction it stalled?

Restarted it and started driving ok and then noticed a ticking/knocking noise at around 2500-3500 rpm at light load.

No noise at idle or under boost??

Took the rocker cover off and the rockers all seem fine with springs still fitted.

Any help or ideas where to start looking?

Mine made a noise like you describe at the same rpm when the piston ringlands went on number 3. A compression test would resolve. Hope its something else!

Does it change or get louder with revs ????

Leighton just seems to be around the 2500-3500 rev range however it does seem to get louder towards 3500 then the noise stops above 3500???

Just done a compression test and results are:

Crank end - 113, 111, 121, 111 on a cold test

Crank end - 120, 110, 119, 119 on a hot test

All are within 10 psi so does that mean the pistons and rings are ok??

If so where could the problem be, I am going to strip down the plenum to make sure nothing is loose in there first

Could it be chain rattle ? Or a noisey injector ..... i have a similar noise think you may need to try and pinpoint it abit better .... get a spray bottle with abit of water and fairy liquid in and have a spray about around the joints etc ....

I was goin to say sounds less serious like vibration on something. same underload as stationary spike ?

Yes Johnny same noise whilst stationary as well as light load.

Took the plenum off and everything seems ok nothing loose.

Going to put it all back together tomorrow and check the injectors first then will try a process of elimination to try and find it

Make a video of the noise if you can?

Am I the only one thinking those readings are too low? Thought they should be 145psi+
Drop a small amount of oil down each bore then redo the test.

Depends on what pistons and gasket he has in there ???

I guess so

Got 86mm JE pistons (which are loose in the bores until they are hot and expand) and also had the head skimmed and block decked by .4 of a mill altogether and fitted a 1.8 Cosworth gasket so I think that's why it is low?


Will try to get a video of the noise tomorrow and post it up.

They are a bit low but the important thing is they are mostly consistent, gauge could be a bit off too.

I get 160 across all 4 with Greddy pistons and 1.8mm gasket, don't know how much has been taken from block or head though.

My guess is a rod or main bearing. Drop ur oil and look for shavings.

It sounds kinda similar to what happened on my old motor and I eventually spun a bottom end bearing.

hate to say so spike but I agree with above
could be bigend knock between those rpms, they can easily initially be mistaken for topend troubles

GTI-R US wrote:hate to say so spike but I agree with above
could be bigend knock between those rpms, they can easily initially be mistaken for topend troubles

It's funny you say that (well not funny) but from memory at first I mistook it for something along the lines of noisy lifters until the bearing spun

Heres a video of the noise from around the engine bay.

https://vid298.photobucket.com/albums/mm246/spikethetyke/Mobile%20Uploads/trimBB2B9E52-B837-4A07-88E2-51898BE8AB11.mp4

That definitely sounds like the start of a big end bearing on the way out mate  

I would say that's a bit of rod knock too unfortunately.

100% that's a bigend knock
don't start it any more or rev it until you've dropped the sump or youll end up with an un-usable crank if the bearing breaks its locator and starts to spin on the journal.
if your very lucky you may get away with a new set of shells but if the crank is marked even slightly in any way then don't waste your money on putting new shells in as they wont last any time at all
also youll need to check the pump out fully as that may have picked up debris and scored the rotors
so could end up being a full rebuild unfortunately

Oh well shit happens it's a good job my spare block, head and crank are at the machine shop being checked over, looks like rebuild No3 on the way good job I'm good at doing it now haha!!!

After draining the oil here is what looks like parts of the thrust bearing in the sump.

I will strip down the rest of the bottom end to see what's lurking beneath.

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Spark plug spike wrote:After draining the oil here is what looks like parts of the thrust bearing in the sump.

I will strip down the rest of the bottom end to see what's lurking beneath.

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Well these are not remains of the thrust bearings, they are still there and compete, any ideas what these bits are?

No2 (from the flywheel end) rod bearing was loose and when I removed it the bearing had broken into 3 pieces but the journal doesn't seem scored? How do I check it properly without removing the crank?

They could well be bits from a turbo thrust bearing spike, have you changed a turbo in the past?

If there are no visible markings on the crank journal (run your nail across it) and the shell hasn't spun in holder it's a bit of a gamble but you could try another shell on there, tbh it's very difficult to measure for ova laity whilst the cranks in situ and how do you know the oil pump hasn't picked up especially if there's debris in the oil!

It's a long shot but you could just try it and see, I may even have an odd shell I can give you to fit to save you buying a set then see how it goes, if no good and it happens again then you'll need to rip it out