Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

[Docta]

Re: Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

Good luck with that... hopefully third times the charm.

[bigbrian442]

Re: Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

It is Hypertech Max energy tuned. It shifts @ 6000 RPM. Still shouldn't make that noise though.

Your abusing the motor this repair should be on your dime.

[nwilson44]

Re: Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

Biggest load of crap I've heard on this forum. If an engine is built right and the engine is strong from the factory then it should hold up to anything you can do to it on normal roads. The car simply wasnt. If I wouldnt have beaten on it, the car would have taken longer to break. Fact is it wasnt done right and that shows based on this. There is a Grand Prix on youtube spinning to 8000 RPMs on the dyno with boost added to it. Motor should take it. If it was built right. Which we all agree, was not.

[bigbrian442]

Re: Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

No we don't agree. You have abused it beyond what it was designed for. You paid for a stock rebuild not a race engine. Running the RPM up higher then GM suggests should void your warranty.

[Docta]

Re: Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

Coming from someone who just compared a stock F-body to a Stattama built TTGT, the one that revs to 8k, which is also a full blown drag car that run 8.65 in the 1/4, you have absolutely no credibility. There's plenty of people on this forum, not including me, that are walking books on these cars and motors, so please, go on with how your third try rebuild on a 'tuned' car is going to go well. Really. Have fun with being pissed when it breaks again, since I'm assuming you didn't even get to, and won't, finish a break-in for a rebuilt motor.

[WarShrike]

Re: Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

Huahaha that stattama grand prix that hit 8000 rpms has more money in oiling mods and balance work to the rotating assembly than what your engine is worth! You can't spin a stock 3800 to that, even our ecu pitches a fit and can't compute past a certain rpm. This isn't a Honda K series.

It is useless to run a stock head 3800 to 6000 and up. Power drops off well before that and is just wasted motion afterwards. Get to know your engine's abilities and you just might last in the community.

[Ibanezz]

Not taking sides on things but I'll post some well known facts/ideas on the 3.8s. The power band on the engines is on the low end side. Revving that high isn't going to unlock some hidden power. It will however potentially cause valve lift, spun bearings and thrown rods.

There's a reason GM put the stock rev limiter at what, 5700? (Someone correct me if I'm not right, can't remember). Its not because theyre *******s, its because that's what GM thought was the max speed the engine can take.

If you want more power especially on the high end, throw a Turbo on it. But then again, ask anyone whose done that, you'll always be fixing this, swapping out that, etc.

[nascar24jd]

Re: Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

Your abusing the motor this repair should be on your dime.

Brian - Agreed 100%.

No we don't agree. You have abused it beyond what it was designed for. You paid for a stock rebuild not a race engine. Running the RPM up higher then GM suggests should void your warranty.

Agreed.

Biggest load of crap I've heard on this forum. If an engine is built right and the engine is strong from the factory then it should hold up to anything you can do to it on normal roads. The car simply wasnt. If I wouldnt have beaten on it, the car would have taken longer to break. Fact is it wasnt done right and that shows based on this. There is a Grand Prix on youtube spinning to 8000 RPMs on the dyno with boost added to it. Motor should take it. If it was built right. Which we all agree, was not.

Good luck with 8000 RPM... As I said earlier, no need to push 6000 RPM, especially if you need it to last. If you want a high revving race engine, then build one. If you want a normally built engine in a daily driver then don't rev it past 5,500. There is no need for it. If you want advice, keep posting and asking questions. If you want to insist that a stock 3.8 should rev past the red line then your posts are pointless.

[WarShrike]

Re: Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

Also, just an FYI, the stock harmonic balancer is only good to about 6200 rpms. Go above that and you run into the chance of damaging rod/main bearings, and the bad harmonics will rob even more from you. It's recommended to run a better balancer from Powerbond or ATI.

If it's top end issues, it's easily fixed over a weekend of just messing around with it and a lot less of an issue than removing the entire engine.

Check the rockers first, if they're fine then it might be a bad lifter. You'll want to address that soon unless you've already damaged the engine and wiped a camshaft lobe...

[nwilson44]

Re: Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

I was expecting it to be over built from the factory. Wrong assumption. Its my first time with an american car and I thought that 6k was nothing for a motor. All I've had was german cars and they simply just rev and dont ever complain. However they are over built, and just better built. Turns out the shop admitted to using used parts in the motor.... and charged me for new ones. So, what I plan on doing is puting the comp cams N/A cam in it with the valve springs, pacesetter headers, along with my other mods. The comp cam says it works from 1500-5500 RPMs so 5700 should be just fine. I had the limiter high because the ratios in the transmission suck and it drops off significantly after each shift. So if i raised the RPM limit that would allow it to rev higher in a given gear which, in turn, allows the engine to be back in the better part of the power band after the shift. However if the engine isnt strong enough for that then obviously I need to dial it back. Like I said I am not used to the American cars yet. I'll get it dialed in.

[nwilson44]

Re: Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

I guess the easier way of saying it was that I was trying to make a wide ratio tranny resemble more of a close ratio box. I don't know im dumb when it comes to these cars thats why I signed up for the forum that deals with them. (people that know more than I do about it). However something that I will not budge on is shotty exicution and using old parts (while charging me for new ones) and crap like that.


That Grand Prix was pretty sick sounding btw. Makes me want to spend more on it. But I have my other project working. (1995 BMW 540i 6-speed manual with high reving camshafts, and twin turbos. its in the works:)

[nwilson44]

Re: Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

And thanks for the help guys I appreciate it. I am going to get this one taken care of so I can drive it until my daily driver is back on the road. After which i am going to decide to build it or sell it. I really want to play with an LS1.

[nwilson44]

Re: Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

UPDATE*

Went to go pick up the car this morning. They said the lifters, push-rods, and rocker arms were new, as well as a new cam bearing. Makes the same noise, but not as loud. So it went back.

[ssms5411]

Re: Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

I'm surprised they didn't do main bearings, I would hazzle them until they get it right.

[nwilson44]

Re: Very Loud Engine Noise. Help Please!

I am getting a quote to do the engine correctly from a different shop. After they tear it down, I am going to take the faulty parts to the other shop and demand a refund for lack of execution, professionalism, and shotty work. The quote will be for an 11.0:1 motor (staying N/A on pump gas), and mild cam and head job. Thats really all I can do for now. I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks again for all the helpful knowledge.