JonathanAboona

iTrader: (5)

Ok here is the latest and greatest on my engine. It is about 10 degrees outside now in Detroit and now when I start the car in the morning, 25% of the time, the engine makes almost a knocking noise for the first few turns and I have a strong odor of unburned gas in the cockpit. After that I still get the rattle I have been getting since the motor was built, although from what I read on the forum, I guess its just how the Ferrera valvetrain kit will sound like.

Now to my real problem at the moment. My coolant resivorar goes empty about once a week and I dont even know where to start looking for a leak. I checked the oil, no bubbles, so I dont think its going there..... any thoughts. Keep in mind the motor was just built but has never seen any boost or nitrous yet. I first noticed this when my car was not getting warm with the heat on so I thought I had a air gap in the hose. I have filled the resivorar 3 times so far and I just checked this morning and its back down to almost empty.

Mike Wazowski

iTrader: (113)

honesty I think you still have air in the system.

As for the sound, does it sound like a diesel engine?

THE TECH

iTrader: (154)

Why not take it back to where the engine was built and let them diagnose??

JonathanAboona

iTrader: (5)

I will keep filling it up i guess.

With regard to the diesel engine comment. At idle it sounds like a consistant chatter close to a diesel sound. As soon as I hit the gas though the sound is gone. However on cold start when I drive the car while its still cold, the noise gets very amplified which is why I usually wait for the car to warm up because otherwise it sounds like a 1984 clunker that is about to explode.

JonathanAboona

iTrader: (5)

it took the engine builder about 8 months to put it together. Needless to say we did not end on good terms because of that.

brooke

iTrader: (4)

My valvetrain makes a bit of noise over a stock motor due to the fact of the cams opening and closing faster... What is your a/f at idle??
brooke

THE TECH

iTrader: (154)

Well that could be the issue right there. Could be a substandard job. You may want to take it to somewhere else more reliable in your area to diagnose.

booger

iTrader: (6)

It could be piston slap . Does it go away after a couple of minutes ? Or get better as it warms up ?

SpoilsofWar

iTrader: (39)

+1. Sounds like piston slap combined with a substandard cylinder bore and hone job. Once the pistons (forged I'm going to assume, since its a built block) heat up and expand, clearances tighten up and its more forgiving.

Are you burning any oil? Any smoking (and if so what color)?

Theres no puddling of coolant when the car is parked? I hate to be captain obvious but if so that means its not leaving the engine, and I would check your oil very closely.

JonathanAboona

iTrader: (5)

The darton sleeves were bored and honed by darton themselves. They were also the ones who put the sleeves in. My engine guy put the longblock together. A respectable guy in my area known for doing work for major automakers and also IHRA engines that last multiple seasons. The reason why him and I had bad blood was because he put me at the bottom of his to do list all the time. I will check the oil again. Is there anything I should be looking for besides bubbles ???? I haven't had any color to the smoke yet and I think I will take off the plastic underguard to see if anything is leaking.

The loud noise goes away after the car warms up but it is always there at idle no matter what. just a very faint consistant rattle.

SpoilsofWar

iTrader: (39)

Check your oil when your engine is warmed up. If you see a brownish or tan frothy mixture, chances are theres coolant contamination.

Interesting that your engine was sleeved. Sort of eliminates a poor bore/hone as the culprit. But for clarification purposes, did darton put the sleeves in the block or did your engine builder? Were the sleeves bored to a certain size after they were installed?

Pull your plugs and post pics of them, that might help us diagnose.

Since its a very faint noise I'm still inclined to say its piston slap, but that doesn't explain your coolant issue.

Shift_Z33

iTrader: (15)

I would bet on piston slap and air in the coolant lines. Either keep filling the resevior or take the radiator cap off and check the level. If you cant see it, add some til it full, then let the car warm up with the cap still off and the air bubbles will force themselves out.

JonathanAboona

iTrader: (5)

Resevior has stabilized but I haven't driven it much. Car is parked awaiting 2 new tires due to feathering.
Radiator was full to the brim with coolant also.

I will pull my plugs as soon as I get a chance and its not 2 below. Even with my garage heater full blast I cant get it up to 40 degrees in there. I checked the oil, with regard to the brownish frothy or tan comment, I mean the oil looked like oil when I dabbed it onto a towel. I smelled it though and it had a bit of a gas smell to it almost like snowblower fuel. I will take a picture of the next one. I have also been meaning to do a oil test sinec my build. Curious to see what metals and other stuff are in there.

To clarify the sleeve process, I sent my pistons to darton and they bored and honed each cylinder to each piston and numbered each accordingly. piston marked with a 1 went with a sleeve marked with a 1 and so on.

I will try to get some audio clips of it on startup and see what you all think. The noises get exponentially greater with colder weather. the coldest I started it up so far was 10 degrees out. It's 2 below today so I am not going to start it till I figure out what is going on.