SlyTed

Hi guys, hoping someone has experienced this sound before that my g20 started making.

The sound is a ticking that is coming from right under the front side of the VC (sounds like possibly right in front of the second plug).
The ticking started a few days ago at about 3000 RPMs in 1st, 2nd and 3rd, then it tailed off at a little above 4000 - But nothing in 4th or 5th.
So i started looking and I noticed that I'd have to replace the VC gasket - Which BTW, is a 2 day wait, unless you want to pay more than $35 at the dealer.

Yesterday though, the rattle gets a little more pronounced, and it now happens in all of the RPM range and every gear. Even at idle.

The FSM suggests either the Hydraulic lash adjuster or the Camshaft (journal clearance or camshaft runout) when the sound is from this location
2000 g20 FSM

So anyways, I'm hoping you all could help. I'm probably going to have to get to the shop if it's more extensive than replacing the camshafts - I had a guy that could help with more in depth repairs/upgrades, but he's kinda AWOL now - but the more knowledge going into a shop, the better.

Here's the Video:

SlyTed

Any ideas anyone....

Help PLEEZE!

_M7_

the timing chain tensor was my first idea when I heard it...couse I think this is you daily ride dont? or have you change your oil recently?
Im saying this couse I have to fix a D21 and it sound very similar, but as the owner havent stop it yet so I changet its motor oil trying to take care it by 2 week more

BLiSsTeX

bent valves? maybe the throttle body butterfly screw got sucked into the head. my guesses

_M7_

sorry about my english but now I saw the entire video...your problems are valve lifter I thought it was timing chain but the noise its there when you aceelerate it
...U have a lot of work to do, but again chek your motor oil

SlyTed

The oil is pretty regular- admittedly I do it at almost 5k (with German Syntec/Motul mix) and not at 3.

I'll look for a bent valve when I take off the cover tomorrow, but I know it's up top. Some one suggested a rocker arm got loose could be along those lines (hopefully).

_M7_

good luck man try to chek all when you disassemble it

SlyTed

Okay, so yesterday morning I took the VC off, and cleaned that up a bit.

I was happy (and a lil bit relieved) to see that everything was seated in place. I tried pushing on the lifters and the adjusters, and those things won't budge.

The first thing that struck me ***, was how dirty the oil and residue are. Now like I said, I hit up the Oil about every 5k, but do ya think that this is from the POS Previous Owner (2 of them, with the car also getting DD from the car lot's owner) going for like what appears to be 20-30k with out a change?
*** that sh*t wouldn't surprise me, given the condition of the other things that I have had to fix that could have been avoided with routine maintenance.

(sorry for the rant. just kinda attached to the g, and it pisses me off a lil)

So anyway, where I got to before some serious storms rolled in and put another pause in the operation, was the clean-up of the cover, and minimal inspection of the cylinder head.
As I said, everything is seated, but I did notice just a little scoring on the cam. You cannot really see it, but you can barely tell with a fingernail (marked in the pic).

But other than doing a visual check on the lash adjuster, I think that doing the other checks that the FSM call for (checking the cam runout and height, cam journal clearance and spring tension rates) might be beyond what I can do.


Here are some pics:

Of the durty insides




The VC after a bit of cleanin:





I don't *** guys, I might just have to put the cover back on and have her towed to a shop. Or maybe I should just pick up good cond. lifters, adjusters, and the cams...?

_M7_

so were the lifet at the end? let me give U an advise again, disasambly the header and try to clean-fix it all, on your country parts are cheaper and easy to finde than in my country so make it right once and you will never worry again...after that another good thing could be clean the carter and puts some Castrol Magnatec, so far the best motor oil, then after 5000Km put som regular GTX ...if you need the SR20DE manual let me know man

BLiSsTeX

or you can buy a new motor and save urself the troubles.. i have a jdm de for sale, lmk

_M7_

Just in USA? couse I need an SR20, let me know

jp314

You can re-use the old vc gasket if it's in good condition.
If it does end up leaking, it's not too hard to replace.

How many miles are on the engine in your G20?
Are you sure all the rocker arm guides and shims are in place - none missing?
Where are the oil tubes?
If the previous owner removed the oil tubes, that might explain the wear on the cams, and discoloration.
Should have cam oil tubes like this:

^my daily just after JWT S4 were installed, 120k miles at the time. Currently 208k+.

SlyTed

Yeah, the VC was leaking all around. Just lead me to believe it was shot.

I have 186k right now.

My SR20 is a Roller Rocker type. Those tubes aren't present on mine. The RR is just a little different:

(From a RR motor- not mine)


(From the g20 FSM)

But I checked the cam and spacing on the rocker arms the whole rotation cycle by manually turning the crank and visually checking. There was good contact throughout, and no gaps, spaces, or looseness anywhere.

NelsonPeeTen

Check your spark plugs. Any oil on them? If so, you might have bent valves. Sounds too noisy to be lifters, but it's definitely a possibility.

If you're confident in disassembly/reassembly of the cam and rockers (and ONLY if), do so and bleed your lifters. To do that, you need to keep them upright while completely submerged in a cup of oil and use something like a paperclip or tiny allen wrench to insert into the hole on top. You then pump up and down with your clip/wrench until no air bubbles come out. At that point, it will be completely full of oil and free of oxygen. Keep it upright and reassemble carefully.