RPMulli

I hear ya. One of these days I will pick up one of those. I am more concerned about this clanking noise coming from the crank pulley.. Strange...

tbanasiak

I would remove certain main wrie terminals like grounds, clean and reinstall. Also the positive cable from battery at both ends, clean and reinstall. Key ignition switch might be suspect too. I have a 66 mustang and years ago the lights etc would do what you have, well it turned out to be the headlight on/off switch was over heating so it was cycling bright/dim as it cooled and heated up. Probably not your issue but thought I'd share.

RPMulli

Yeah, I think I will order a new ignition switch next week.

I did remove, clean and replace the cables for the battery and engine. Any thoughts on the clanking noise?

tbanasiak

I will do some reading and thinking on that and let ya know. Wonder if you gave Jake Raby at flat6 a call or shoot him an email he might be able to help too. He is after all the guru!

logray

Regarding the noise. I would start with the "simple stuff" and move to the "worse cases".

Perhaps try rotating the engine by hand, can you hear it make the same noise?

Remove the flywheel pulley and see if there is something stuck behind it or any wear marks on the back side.

Very very briefly run the engine without the flywheel pulley, does it still make the noise?

Does it matter if the engine is cold or hot?

You're certain it's not coming from the oil pump console just beneath the crankshaft?

Then we move on to the less happy stuff...

4-6 chain "slapping" or hitting something (perhaps 4-6 tensoiner is busted?) What are your cam deviation readings?

Could it be a spun rod or main bearing? SpeedrII had a method to test for a bad rod bearing with engine in car, it's in another recent thread, I'll dig it up later if you can't find it.

Perhaps the thrust shims have given way, is there excess lateral play in the crankshaft? (not as easy to test unless you remove the transmission).

Other than that my guess is something might be hitting something inside the bearing carrier.

I hope the problem is in the "simple list".

Macster

If you're sure the noise is not coming from the pulley because it is loose, or cracked/split, or has something rubbing against it, if you're sure the noise is coming from inside the engine, and if you're sure that something at the other end of the engine is not making the noise (say a flywheel or some kind of clutch problem even if it is just a noisy clutch disc on the input shaft spiines, even a noisy transmission input shaft) the only idea I can offer at this time you should think about turning the problem and the diagnosis over to a pro unless you want to continue to tackle this yourself.

The noise will almost certainly not go away on its own and whatever is going on will almost certainly get worse.

Sincerely,

Macster.

RPMulli

I assume you are talking about the crank pulley not the flywheel? The noise is more noticeable when the when is warm. I will remove the pulley this weekend or early next week and inspect the area as well as the oil pump console.

What leads you to believe that it would be 4-6 tensioner versus the other two? If you could dig up that method to test for a spun bearing that would be excellent. Ill post updates as soon as I can. Thanks!

RPMulli

I'm not positive that it isn't the other end of the engine. I will inspect in the next week days and post an update.

logray

Yes sorry I meant crank pulley (front of engine). Maybe/hopefully it's something as simple as you dropped a bolt while doing the alternator R&R.

The long 4-6 chain from the IMS tube right below the crankshaft is on the same side as the crank pulley, therefore the reason why I might suspect that as a possibility. Perhaps if the chain has too much slack, or other chain/sprocket issue the noise would be apparent there.

Here is the post regarding checking rod bearing play:

https://rennlist.com/forums/9299331-post4.html

RPMulli

Sounds possible... I will remove the 4-6 tensioner soon and post my results... what are the wear limits on the tensioner? make sure it isn't collapsed?

logray

Pulling the 4-6 tensioner is not simple, you have to remove the air conditioner compressor, also the engine should be locked at TDC. If it were me I would start with the easier stuff first. For example removing the crank pulley is not very complicated.

tbanasiak

+1 for what Logray and Macster already said! Hope you get it sorted out.

Macster

Just so it is clear I was not advocating removing the crank pulley only suggesting it might be the source of the noise if it was loose, cracked or ?.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Macster

The engine has two IMS to exhaust camchain drives. One for each cylinder head.

The drives are located at opposite ends of the engine. I haven't checked but I believe for Bank #2, cylinders 4-6, the IMS to exhaust camchain drive is located at the serpentine/accessory drive end of the engine and thus the guides/tensioner that controls this chain is there too. The #1 Bank, cylinders 1-3, have its IMS to exhaust cam chain drive located at the other end of the engine, and of course on the other side.

For a spun bearing if you found no metal bits in filter housing oil or the filter element and an oil analysis turned up no bearing metal in the oil, the odds are very high the engine does not have a spun bearing.

A 'test' is to measure the oil pressure. A spun bearing will represent a big (internal) oil leak and oil pressure will almost certainly be down from nominal.

How much down I do not know. I have never tested a healthy engine's oil pressure and have no baseline.

You have to be careful you don't go too far afield in trying to isolate/diagnose this noise.

The first rule of working on your car is do no harm, not to yourself, to anyone else, but also do no harm to the car.

Sincerely,

Macster.

logray

Correct.