QUICK background. When I turbo'd the Cav, I swapped my stock head, for the modded head from my spare engine. I blew my stock lower end after awhile. I modified the new short block and mated it back with the modified head it originally came with. WITH the new short block, I installed v-8 spring swapped lifters and the more aggressive JBP turbo cam (along with an M98 oil pump).

Now.. ever since I got that combo running its been quite a bit noisier. I put in storage shortly thereafter and only recently started driving the car again, it has become a concern.

I could point it to the more aggressive valve train, specifically the cam or lifters that I swapped in (however Slowolej built the lifters for me and I trust his work, so unless they are just noisier with the hybrid swap, they should be ok)...or the spare block I had, could have had bad bearings or some type of lower end damage that I was unaware of.

I need some opinions because I really haven't heard lower-end knock in person.. when I blew my stock block originally, it was from a seized wrist pin (lack of lube) and it instantly shattered a rod. There was no on-going issue with it.

Here are a few videos. Sorry for quality, they are from the cell phone, and I tried to get the noise from different areas as well.

The noise increases in speed with RPM, however it gets quieter. It's most noticeable at idle.. possibly because the oil pressure drops a bit at idle. It's quietest on a cold start, nearly non-existent (or at least sounds like a normal LN2), but once the car is hot, it is deff quite a bit louder.

This one is from today.


And a few more from other times.


With revs (although sound quality is bad)



Any and all insight appreciated, specifically those with LN2 experience or experience with this lifter conversion or cam.

Before anyone asks, I checked over valve train and it looked brand new, tight as a whistle, stock rockers are adjusted properly and nothing is un-seated, etc.

I use Mobil 1 synthetic 5w-30.





Edited 2 time(s). Last edited Monday, August 09, 2010 9:12 AM

When i had my 2200 running sbi lifters with the crane gold rockers ,crane turbo cam,sounded like that when rockers werent adjusted right ,also happened one time when the rocker was rubbing on valve cover from video doesnt sound like a rod knock but hard to tell.

Do you have a mechanics stethoscope? if not try a really long screwdriver or anything metal all the way thru and put it against various places on the motor and it will localize the area it is coming from, for exp diff areas on valve cover, diff spots on oil pan, diff areas on side of block if possible etc.. hope this helps, btw a long 1/4 or 3/8 extension works well. just put your ear to it, you'll be able to hear it well.




Your WHAT hurts?

It doesn't sound to me like rod knock, but like I said, I'm not to familiar with it as I've never heard it in person.

My rockers are stock, so self-adjusting, there is no way they are adjusted wrong or hitting the valve cover.

My valve train clearances should be fine, I checked for valve spring bind with a feeler gauge prior to engine assembly completion, because my cam does have a lot of lift, and it had enough clearance.



I should also say I've put at least 700 miles on the car in the last few months, and probably 300 or so before I put it in storage. The noise hasn't appeared to have gotten worse as I would suspect rod knock to, if it was even still running.

Wheelerman wrote:Do you have a mechanics stethoscope? if not try a really long screwdriver or anything metal all the way thru and put it against various places on the motor and it will localize the area it is coming from, for exp diff areas on valve cover, diff spots on oil pan, diff areas on side of block if possible etc.. hope this helps, btw a long 1/4 or 3/8 extension works well. just put your ear to it, you'll be able to hear it well.

I've done this before, didn't really get anywhere with it, lol. My injectors make a lot of noise so they kind of disrupt the sound when you are listening to it up top.


Edited 2 time(s). Last edited Monday, August 09, 2010 6:29 PM

Mite still help on the oil pan if you suspect the rod knock. I use the steth, but I keep losing my earpieces to em, Gotta love matco and their warranty. lol

And yeah I know all bout them inj being loud.....My 63lb make a good bit of noise themselves, lol Hope you get it figured out, and I hope its not a rod knock, Ive heard quite a few and they seem to be more of a "DEEP" knock. Thats the only way I can explain it, all other knocks seem a little bit "shallow" when its something else.

And yeah like you said its hard to hear it with the sound quality on cell fones. Youd think theyd have better recorders on em by now.


Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Monday, August 09, 2010 6:35 PM



Your WHAT hurts?

You could pull a spark plug wire from each clinder and see when noise goes away to narrow down were its coming from.

Pulled the VC.. Each valve seems to be opening/closing freely and getting equal oil flow. No single valve appeared to have less movement indicating a collapsed lifter or a bent push rod. Everything looked perfectly fine. Each rocker was filling up with oil as well, I expected to see more but it appears there is sufficient lubrication.

Here's a vid. Quality is horrible, my cell could NOT capture the movement of the valves very well. It makes it look like they were hesitating or freezing up, they were not, just the video, lol. Background noise was my cooling fan running.








Edited 4 time(s). Last edited Saturday, August 14, 2010 12:01 PM