I bought a used 93 civic with a b16a3 (94-95 del sol vtec) in it. It was dirt cheap so if the motor is bunk I guess I can just pull it and sell the motor for parts. However, I wanna see what's wrong with it and get it to run. It's using a P28 ecu, but I havent' checked if it's chipped or not. I'm not sure what tranny it's using because I don't see a the vin number. It's also using a del sol vtec wiring harness. All the main sensors are connected. I did a valve adjustment, changed the cap/rotor, spark plugs, and it has a new timing belt. I don't think the h20 pump was changed. The motor has about 65k miles on it.

I got the car to start, but it ticks/knocks VERY loud. Sounds almost like a bent valve. I started it before doing a valve adjustment and while doing the valve adjustment, none of the valves were all that loose.

It's also open header because there is a 2-3 inch gap between the header and the straight piping back (no cat). There is also no o2 sensor. It is throwing 3 ecu codes. 21, 22, and 41 which are the VTEC Solenoid Valve, the VTEC Oil Pressure Switch, and the o2 sensor. Car is also idling pretty high, probably around 2000-3000 (no tach, CX model).

I did a compression test and it got these numbers: 210, 205, 210, 205... Compression seems good.

Also, after I start the motor for like 1 minute, and take off the spark plug wires, smoke comes out of the spark plug holes. Seems normal until I take the whole valve cover off and I see a BUNCH of smoke come out. Not THAT much, but doesn't seem normal. There is new oil and it's not leaking anything either...

Can someone help me out? If it helps, I'll record the sound tomorrow in the morning and post the wav file. I really want to drive it at least to the muffler shop to get a cat put on and close the open header. Think I'll be ok just driving it about 5-10 miles? I'm getting an o2 sensor soon, but none of that really explains the loud ticking/knocking.

UPDATE:

I did some research on a bunch of forums and it seems I may have a bad rod bearing? That would create a loud knocking sound even at idle right? I read I can just drain the oil and look for metal pieces in the oil right?

Also, when I pull the head, other than the smoke, I notice the head is pretty clean (meaning, it doesn't seem to have a lot of oil in it)... Could my oil pump be failing? Could I have a plug somewhere? Would that cause the extreme smoke coming from the head when I pull the valve cover? The oil pan shows plenty of oil. However, my dash shows the oil light when the motor is on.

If I had a bad rod bearing, I would still get good compression numbers right? A bent valve would show in the compression numbers, but a bad rod bearing wouldn't I think, making me believe the head is fine.

Can I drive it around with a bad rod bearing? I plan on getting a b20 very soon (2 weeks) anyway. If something does happen, the most that would go is the short block right? It wouldn't damage the head right?

Crappy sound recording of my motor.

Anyone have any clue?

 

Here is what ya do... Pull the motor tear it down and find out whats wrong, dont be a panzie dude. That definitly sounds like something internal.
Its not that hard/expensive to rebuild a B16... Unless you use aftermarket parts (Would be my sugestion since you will have it apart anyway) or something is sereously wrong. Like broken rods or something. I wouldnt be surpized if it had some aftermarket rods that were hitting the bottom of the cyl's, some people are retarded!

 

What it sounds like to me is that you don't have any oil pressure. The oil pump could be out. That would explain the ticking of the valves...... They need oil!!!!!! That is where I would start. I WOULD NOT DRIVE IT AT ALL until you get it fixed. If you don't have oil pressure that would also cause a rod bearing to go out. Good luck.

 

OIL PUMPS DO NOT CREATE OIL PRESSURE! Rod bearings do however. Start by taking off the timing covers and looking at the belt's condition (missing teeth, jumped teeth) and if all looks well just keep going deeper until you either a)find the problem or b)rebuild the motor and Know that you have a competent platform on which to build a stable engine. Just make sure to measure everything as you remove it, and measure everything during the rebuild and have anything out of spec's machined.-Peace

 

sounds like it actually might be a bad rod bearing

 

Rod knock.

 

i agree on the rod bearing. the oil light being on is an indicator of low pressure, the sound as well backs that up, meaning worn rod bearings...i would pull the engine and see if the crank is still good. hopefully it is and you can take it in to a machine shop, clean it up and put new bearings on....

 

yea sucks though, if the oil indicator light had come on than it is too late.....