MORE 2.3L problems....

[bmonee5]

so i recently had new rings, 1 new piston, new valve guides, new main bearings, and all new gaskets put on my 1983 2.3L engine. So now about 900 miles after this minor rebuild i've started noticing a knock. It sounds like its coming from the lower end but i'm not 100 percent sure. People have told me it could be a valve that is out of adjustment which would be best case scenerio but wouldnt the valve tap at all rpm ranges? Right now it only seems to knock through certain rpm ranges of all 4 gears, and when i start it up and the choke is on you can hear it rattling. Anyone have any clue what this could be and is this going to require pulling my engine AGAIN?

 

[tomw]

Collapsed piston skirt? Wrist pin? Where do you think the noise is coming from?

A collapsed piston skirt will knock when cold, and sometimes get better when warmed up.

A connecting rod will knock at idle, and may get the noise buried at the rpms go up.

A dullish knock is more of a main bearing noise.

A lifter or cam follower knock is more like a rap, and the noise would get buried at higher rpms unless all the lifters were bleeding down.

What did you do to the crankshaft? Did you mic it for round journals? Are you sure that it was not ground undersized before? Did the old bearing inserts look worn out - down to the copper or with 'smears' of dark or steel color in the middle of the 'babbit' surface?

Lots of things to consider.
tom

 

[bmonee5]

hmmmm i'm hoping its a lifter or cam follower....it does get buried at higher rpm's. It doesn't knock at idle just when the choke is on. I can't tell if its coming from the bottom or top end of the engine but i'm gonna look into it more with my dad and we will figure it out. The guy who looked the engine over said it would not be the bottom end cause he did it all and checked it twice so all i can do is hope he's right!