The dreaded dilivar head studs?

[JJ 911SC]

Be careful not to over fill it.

How many oil quart did you put in when you put it back together?

10 is the usual quantity to start with.

[porterdog]

On my car I like to pull the DME relay and run the starter until I see oil pressure after doing an oil change. It sometimes takes 20s or so...

[ducatist]

I started out with 8 qts, but it ended up needing about 10...still didn't stop the rattle/knocking that seems to be coming from either the left timing chain cover or the left intake valve cover. I'm thinking maybe the mechanical chain tensioner didn't pump up - allowing the rattle.

The engine idles roughly and seems to be starved for fuel, but the knocking is really troubling as well.

Here's a link to an audio recording I made of the engine during a test start and idle. I hope someone with a keen ear can help me zero in on the culprit.

911 engine sound.mp3

[JJ 911SC]

Holly Caca... I would freak out if I heard that.

Time to ge the stethoscope out ond confirm where the noise come from but sure sound like a chain...

[ducatist]

Originally Posted by JJ 911SC

Holly Caca... I would freak out if I heard that.

Time to ge the stethoscope out ond confirm where the noise come from but sure sound like a chain...

Yeah, it's not really something I'm very pleased to hear either, but I'm trying to keep my eye on the journey rather than the destination (only way to keep my head up with this project the past couple of days).

I'm thinking it's the tensioner on the left side - I can feel the rattle when I place my palm on the time chain cover. I'm hoping it just hasn't filled with oil and pumped up rather than failing altogether (I have the saver collars on it).

[JJ 911SC]

I'm with you Good to have the Saver Collar.

My next logical step would be to take the cover off to see what is going on.

If nothing stand out, I would take the right cover off to do some compare, including "playing" with the tensioners.

Nothing like to have a mirror system to do some faultfinding...

[porterdog]

Jesus.

You need to put that into its own thread- the experts probably aren't reading 4 pages about head studs.

Get some supertec or flat6pac advice before you run it anymore; it sounds absolutely awful.

[ducatist]

I pulled off the timing chain cover on the left side...the tensioner piston was pressed down where the saver collar was against the cylinder. I removed the tensioner and I could press the piston in with my thumb and feel it spring back up. The chain went slack on bottom while getting tight enough to press the tensioning gear firmly (can't make it flex) up against the upper housing. I'm going to take off the other cover and see what the chain is doing over there. The sound the engine made was likely the slack chain slapping around...just need to figure out enough about what's going on to be able to ask an intelligent question.

[ducatist]

It's pretty lonely troubleshooting engine problems down in my garage on a Friday night. I appreciate you guys helping me feel like I'm not completely alone on this project.

[JJ 911SC]

I'm having a drink for you

If you do start a new thread as per porrterdog suggestion, do put a link to it on this thread.

[ducatist]

The O-ring was blown out on the left tensioner...the chain was flopping all over the place - thus the unpleasant noises. The saver collar seems to have done its job, but the way it was impacting against the tensioner's cylinder added to the cacophony...still, it avoided a slipped chain. Now, if I can just locate my box of O-rings...

[Dick Shift]

Plain steel OEM studs are plenty good for a std street engine build. They never break!

Even used plain steel will never brake.

Save your money. Studs like Supertec are over kill.

Practice the cam timing! and or get some help. The closer you get the two sides to the same specks the smother it will run. For performance you 1.6mm advance.

[porterdog]

I'm glad it was something obvious and easily fixed; that noise would have sent me shrieking into the night for sure.

[Ronnie's.930]

Originally Posted by Dick Shift

Plain steel OEM studs are plenty good for a std street engine build. They never break!
Even used plain steel will never brake.
Save your money. Studs like Supertec are over kill.

Practice the cam timing! and or get some help. The closer you get the two sides to the same specks the smother it will run. For performance you 1.6mm advance.

So you actually think he should pull the top end back apart, return the Supertec studs, and install OEM steel ones since, to you, they are a waste of money?!

[GaryR]

Originally Posted by Ronnie's.930

So you actually think he should pull the top end back apart, return the Supertec studs, and install OEM steel ones since, to you, they are a waste of money?!

I think we should all ignore Henry's advice and product because "Dick Shift" says so!

[peppy]

Im glad you figured this out. Im scared to crank mine up now.

wonder what the restocking fee would be on the supertec studs. s

[NEWFIE 69 911E]

Originally Posted by ducatist

The O-ring was blown out on the left tensioner...the chain was flopping all over the place - thus the unpleasant noises. The saver collar seems to have done its job, but the way it was impacting against the tensioner's cylinder added to the cacophony...still, it avoided a slipped chain. Now, if I can just locate my box of O-rings...

Excellent - pleased to hear

Looking forward to a new sound clip!

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by peppy

Im glad you figured this out. Im scared to crank mine up now.

wonder what the restocking fee would be on the supertec studs. s

I'll undercut Henry fee by 20%...

PM me your PayPal address

[ducatist]

I used John Walker's excellent walkthough on tensioner rebuilding to repair my left side and I'm going to curb my engine starting enthusiasm and do a peace of mind rebuild of the right side as well. Thanks to John I didn't "poke my eye". Rebuilding tensioners

I really appreciate all the encouragement from you guys...some of you seem to be as disappointed as I am that I've encountered a few setbacks during, what I'd hoped would be the cranking up and running phase of this project. And though I don't like being disappointed or causing others to be, the commiseration has made it more manageable and helped me feel far less alone in it. I usually like doing things on my own and being self sufficient, but without the generous advice and well wishes from many on this site, I'm sure I wouldn't be as far along as I am and I know my optimism would have abandoned me last week. So, even though I'm the only one who's turned a wrench on this project (often the wrench Ronnie's.930 let me borrow), I'm going to have to dedicate this one to you guys.

I'm starting to lose count of the number of people to whom I owe a beer...show of hands?

[ducatist]

Since I had one lying around, I used it to both compress the oil filled tensioner and to install it on the first try...no cursing involved.