rb20det knockish sound

[RHDskyline]

So we are dealing with my buddies car. he never had it for long. Its a Cefiro with a rb20det. I will try and keep it short and simple. I will tell you everything i know, whether it is relevant or not.

Bought car, drove back from calgary to lethbridge, no problems. Drove for a week, no problems

He washed engine bay. He covered up all openings and such, and it wasn't pressured water and it wasn't very much.

after he was done, engine started making a tick sound ( don't know if its related to washing engine, doubt it).

he drove it for a bit. one day he drove it across town and back, about 15 minutes and he could hear something bubbling or like burning, so when he got home he popped hood

The turbo was glowing red.

i told him to check and see if the cat was plugged or something. no cat.

he doesn't drive car hard, hardly boosts it.


Took car to my mechanic buddy. He said it wasn't engine knock.

at idle it sounds normal. slowly rev up, nothing, then finally the sound kicks in. mechanic said it wasn't engine knock or else it would kick in instantly.

took valve covers off to check valves. he was unfamiliar with the setup, but we tried to get a feeler gauge between the cam lobe and the spring, but we couldn't even get the smallest feeler gauge in.

Don't know if that helps.


Honestly, to me, what it sounds like, is like a loose flywheel or something. sound thing thats loose and just hitting something else. Doesn't sound like valve ticking or engine knocking.

Jacked car up and from the under the car the sound is louder and more noticeable at idle. if reved up it sounds like its coming from low back of engine or very front of tranny, which is why i think its flywheel


any help on what to check or what it may be?

[nelsonmxmarc]

Well that is really strange.. Never heard of something like this before.

I've seen my downpipe glowing red, but never the actual turbo housing itself. Extreme heat would point me towards a very lean condition? Or.. is it possible he's burnt through all his coolant / the line to the turbo is plugged? Seems like there's something going on there.. The ticking could be the wastegate flap, flapping on the back of the turbo housing due to this extreme heat?.. My car makes a ticking sound, but only because of the downpipe acoustics (Stainless, and the design is a bit odd..).

Very strange.. keep us posted!

[feyd182]

I've also heard bearings make that noise. Usually if you overfull your engine oil, the crank will froth it up causing it to loose all viscosity and burn up main bearings. This also might explain the extreme heat the turbo is seeing due to lack of oil (air doesn't lubricate). Had a truck in the shop with a similar noise and came to find 2 extra litres of oil in the sump, bingo blown rear main seal and toasted bearings. Just a thought.