Just started up my 5 speed swap project -> Have a few issues i could use some help on

[SlideWise]

Well i bought this car off of a good friend and fellow zilvia.net goer. It was an auto car and the auto went bad so my buddy pulled the auto tranny planning to do the 5 speed swap and then the car sat for about 6 months. I bought the car about 3 weeks ago and just finished up the 5 speed swap tonight.

When i fired the car up it had a knocking noise in the top end (even though i pulled the valve cover and poured oil all over both cams and the entire head before starting it) which it never had before but it quieted down as it warmed up but did not completely go away. It sounds like a marble is bouncing around randomly under the front portion of the valve cover (in front of the front plug about where the timing chain is). The noise almost goes away or is not audible if the engine increases in rpm but when im off the throttle it comes back. Its not constant either which is confusing and it is most noticeable at an idle.

My second issue is the digital dash and heads up display. When i first turn the car on the heads up display and the digital dash work for about 15-20 seconds then turn off randomly. None of the other electronics are experiencing this issue as the rest of the dash works fine. The speedo will even read the speed of the car until those first 15-20 seconds have passed. Then it wont come back on until i turn the key all the way off then back on again. Of course it goes right back off after the 15+ second and im right back where i started.

Any advise on either issue is greatly appreciated!!

Edit: It is a 91 240 coupe with a ka24de with 201k miles in it.
Here is a video of exactly what it is doing. First i start it up and you really dont hear much then after it starts warming up from idling you start to hear it. Its most noticeable in the end of the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBkTKVw00DI

[roboticnissan]

Hud always have problems. That's something you have to.deal.with. as far as the marble noise.....did you do an oil change? If you havnt, do one and be easy on the motor till the next oil change and see if it.goes away.

[SlideWise]

Yes. I drained the old oil (castol gtx syntec) and while replacing the valve cover gasket poured two new courts of castrol gtx synthetic oil over both cams, the timing chain and gears and all over the head.

Brand new casrol gtx synthetic and mobil 1 filter.

[JuMPiiN]

Is it a tick? Bc my KA made a loud ticking noice from the timing chain it wasn't bad it sounded like a set of aggressive cams to be honest but slightly louder.

[stinky_180]

No year of said vehicle? No information on engine?

Sounds to me like the noise is from a bad timing chain guide.

Digital clusters always have problems. May be a bad capacitor in the unit.

[SlideWise]

Originally Posted by stinky_180

No year of said vehicle? No information on engine?

Sounds to me like the noise is from a bad timing chain guide.

Digital clusters always have problems. May be a bad capacitor in the unit.

It is a 91 240 coupe with a ka24de with 201k miles in it.

Would it still run ok with a bad timing chain guide? I drove it around the block and it seams to have plenty of low rpm power. I did not take it much over 2k rpm since the sporadic noise has me a little worried. How much of a pita is it to relace the timing chain, guides, and tensioner with the motor in the car?

[stinky_180]

KA24DE, remove the timing chain guides or simply replace the entire timing chain. Search, this has been discussed.

[Kemps]

Yes, sounds like any other KA ticking noise.....timing chain guides

[theboy]

Originally Posted by Kemps

Yes, sounds like any other KA ticking noise.....timing chain guides

not true, sohc makes the same ticking noise and its because of air trapped in the rocker arms(which you cant adjust).

But to help out in your issue its probably timing chain guides. dohc dont have rocker arms and 99% of the time the timing chain guides start to go after 120k miles. To swap them out your going to have to pull the motor since you have to get the entire front cover off. And to do that you have to drop the oil pan cause the pickup is bolted to the front cover. And at that point you mite as well get an ENTIRE top end gasket kit and swap them ALL out since you have 201k on it.

[SlideWise]

Here is a video i took of what it is doing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBkTKVw00DI

It almost sounds like the chain is hitting the metal guide under the valve cover.

[SlideWise]

Also could running it in its current condition cause serous damage?

[Zenki_516]

I had the exact same noise since the day I bought my 96 and that only had 96,xxx when I got it. Easy fix is to pull the front timing chain cover off and remove the two upper timing chain guides and clean the tensioner. I did this and I don't have a noise anymore. Also in case your wondering, removing the two upper guides IS okay, but you cannot remove the lower.

[theboy]

you can pull the upper guide and be fine. I boosting mine past 25 psi with no issues to it what so ever, idk about leaving the tensioner off tho. and to answer your question it wont hurt it for a while, but in the end it will self destruct and throw he timing chain and chunks of the tension everywhere but where they are supposed to be.

[Zenki_516]

Originally Posted by theboy

you can pull the upper guide and be fine. I boosting mine past 25 psi with no issues to it what so ever, idk about leaving the tensioner off tho. and to answer your question it wont hurt it for a while, but in the end it will self destruct and throw he timing chain and chunks of the tension everywhere but where they are supposed to be.

Why would leaving the tensioner off even be considered an option? It can be cleaned without removal and unless its broken and your replacing it why bother removing it?

[rob22]

i have the same problem on my s14.
you can remove the metal piece on top of the timing chain since nissan recalled it and rendered it useless.
i took mine off and still made the same noise.

its annoying as fuck.!

its the 2 black guides on the side of the chain.
look at them for signs of rubbing.

[Brentbohn]

man that is a wierd noise, doesnt seem to be consistant with rpm, i would look for a broken guide, if you think about it in pin ball terms they look like the paddles and I can imagine if one was broke half off and loose then it would cause an erratic sound like that .

[SlideWise]

So if you were me what would you do and where would you start? I dont want to put too much money into a ka with 201k miles on it but at the same time i dont know that this necessitates swapping in a new motor... This is just such a weird problem im not sure which direction to take.

Its even weirder to me that it did not do it during start up but after idling for awhile and warming up it starts making the noise.

Originally Posted by Brentbohn

man that is a wierd noise, doesnt seem to be consistant with rpm, i would look for a broken guide, if you think about it in pin ball terms they look like the paddles and I can imagine if one was broke half off and loose then it would cause an erratic sound like that .

if a guide was broken would it not throw the timing off bad enough to cause catastrophic failure?

[Kemps]

Originally Posted by theboy

not true, sohc makes the same ticking noise and its because of air trapped in the rocker arms(which you cant adjust).

.

I am referring to a dohc, since that's what he has...

[JuMPiiN]

I drove my 93 KA with 180K on it for a littler over a year with that chatter and tick. Finally I took it out and sold it for 300 bucks. But it still ran fine when pulled and still runs fine in my friends car. Makes the same noise though. But was said above eventually it will give but who knows when, will most likely be a ling distance in the future.

[SlideWise]

I removed the valve cover again and pulled the top chain guide off. After i turned the engine by hand while a friend watched we noticed a fair amount of slack in the upper timing chain. How much slack is normal and how much is too much?

[SlideWise]

Originally Posted by SlideWise

I removed the valve cover again and pulled the top chain guide off. After i turned the engine by hand while a friend watched we noticed a fair amount of slack in the upper timing chain. How much slack is normal and how much is too much?

Anyone know how play much is acceptable in the upper chain??^ Im still trying to figure out if i should just replace the upper tensioner and guides (maybe ditch the upper guides as some say) or just bite the bullet and do the entire timing chain system?

Also since the upper chain seams to have some play im fairly sure new chains, tensioners, guides, and gears are in order. At least for peace of mind if nothing else since im sure its all OE with 201k miles. How reliable are the timing setups in the ka24de and what kind of failure is most common and at what point should i be concerned for my motor? I can get a Cloyes timing kit from o'riellys for about $180. Any one have any experience with Cloyes timing kits on a ka?

Another thing i was interested in knowing is it possible to do all the timing chains guides tensioner and gears without pulling the head off the car like the fsm calls for?