aliufu Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 (edited) Recently bought and installed rb20 from a gtst on a 260z. Everything on the engine is stock including the turbo. It has less than 52,000 miles on it and compression on all 6 cylinders were perfect. After going for my first "real drive" on the highway I started noticing a rattling sound. I just changed the oil after having it in for 2 weeks and it was all black and only had 3L left over. I expected the oil to be black from the carbon buildup from sitting around all these years. Why it burned the rest? Beats me at this point but im most concerned about this sound which I was hoping would disappear after the oil change. Anybody else experience this before?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGGsbxbN6Hs&index=1&list=UUdH8WP3yCgmmuX9vE5lPOEQ Edited September 9, 2014 by aliufu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtnickel Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 (edited) Recently bought and installed rb20 from a gtst on a 260z. Less than 52,000 miles on it and compression on all 6 cylinders were perfect. After going for my first "real drive" on the highway I started noticing a rattling sound. Changed the oil and it was all black and only had 3L in it. Keep in mind that the oil was put in 2 weeks ago and so the black color is to be expected from the carbon buildup. Why it burned the rest? Beats me at this point but im most concerned about this sound which I was hoping would disappear after the oil change. Anybody else experience this before? "My first guess would be blown turbo and then losing a ton of oil out either the intake or exhaust seals. That in turn might cause the rattling sound of the turbo clanking from terrible bearings. Does it spool well and have good power? Black smoke when idling? on the gas? etc. need to know more to help. What have you checked so far." Edit: above was written before the video was posted...i'm not incompetent. Edited September 9, 2014 by mtnickel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliufu Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 (edited) Ok got the video to upload. The car runs perfectly fine! You can hear the turbo spooling and nothing feels off. To answer your question of whether it has good power? I don't know since I never drove an RB before. I own a 09 wrx so if I were to compare the two, the wrx reaches boost a lot faster (Rb takes forever) and pulls a lot harder and my wrx is currently stock. I do suspect something is off with the boost since it doesn't pull as hard as I would expect an RB to but maybe that's just my unrealistic expectations. There are no other issues I've seen with the car other than burning oil and this noise. No black smoke or any visible exhaust fumes. Like I said, I was hoping that it was just low on oil and the 3L that was left is low but not AWFULLY low. But I changed that and the noise remains. Engine temp is perfectly fine and has never gone over 190 even on full throttle and 30 min drives. This is all I've checked so far. I am new to RB engines and am at my wit's end. Here is a video of it about a week prior. The only problem at this point was that injector #6 was on and off but since then that has been resolved. Edited September 9, 2014 by aliufu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98blackbell Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Bearings or detonation. What is the timing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliufu Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 Bearings or detonation. What is the timing? timing is set to stock. Everything about the engine is stock including turbo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat1 Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 That's rod knock. Pull the oil pan off and inspect the rod bearings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipper Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 (edited) ^Same Completely unfamiliar with RB engines. But when my WRX made a sound like that, it was rod knock from a spun bearing. Like a ball peen drum tattoo at around 3000 rpm. You get a chance to inspect that old oil/filter? Oil dipstick out in the sunlight clearly showed metal filings, in my case. Hope it's something else for you. Edited September 9, 2014 by Zipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtnickel Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 My first post was before the video, not fair. haha. Anyways, it certainly sounds like rod knock, but that wouldn't necessarily explain the loss of nearly 3L of oil (i believe stock holds about 6L). The RB should be a very fast spooling engine with the tiny turbo it has on. I still suspect perhaps the turbo was blown...then it leaked out tonnes of oil...then the oil was low which led to oil starvation and killed a bearing. Just a guess. That's really too bad to hear that your (apparently) newish engine may need new bearings. Good luck with getting figured out and working better! Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatrate Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 How much oil pressure does it have?? unplug 1 cylinder at a time, Rev to try and hear noise like you were in the video. Generally, but not always if it's rod knock it will quiet down some or go away Completly when you find the trouble some cylinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliufu Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 Oh geez. Never buy engines from Japan Star. Regardless, thanks for the help guys. I'll do a few more diagnostic tests but I thought rod knock in the back of my mind and was hoping that there were other issues which made this sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliufu Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 Finally found time to do some tests. Screwdriver test pretty much made a definitive diagnosis of rod-knock. Was able to push the screw driver down and it went down slowly, not like a click. Probably a bearing that's beginning to wear away.Thanks again for the feedback! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihiryu Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Ouch, that sucks. I have a RB20 that I rebuilt back to stock with some goodies before sold my chassis for sale.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98blackbell Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 What is the plan now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliufu Posted October 29, 2014 Author Share Posted October 29, 2014 What is the plan now Swap a new one in. Cant afford a reliable rebuild with forged pistons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliufu Posted October 29, 2014 Author Share Posted October 29, 2014 That's rod knock. Pull the oil pan off and inspect the rod bearings. Pat, I messaged you because im looking for an oil pan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihiryu Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 Let me know, I still have mine plus goodies. I'd like to sell it pretty soon TBH, so I'd be willing to work out a killer deal. Has aftermarket turbo, mani, wastegate, reflashed ECU, GTR 444's, front facing manifold, along with LS coil pack conversion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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