Dareng

Hey everyone,

I have a '00 EK sedan with a stock D16Y8 and 258k on it.

Bit of background, i was running 5w30 synthetic oil (Mobil1) since 170k because the engine started to knock when it was cold so I made the switch. Seemed to to fix it...so i thought... but all of a sudden it started to happen again.

So last oil changed, I ran a flush through the engine and switched back to crude based oil (Castrol GTX, 10w40) and put in Lucas oil stabilizer. Thinking that the Lucas stabilizer is like sticky molasses to stick to everything and lubricate it properly. But now its like my Honda hamster found his long lost jackhammer.

Now granted thicker oil, takes longer to seep into the moving parts, especially when its cold, but when I put the Lucas stuff in the engine i thought that it would make it stick to the galleys and all the wonderful moving parts in the engine but now I'm not sure what to do.

I'm thinking of changing the oil again, running another flush to clean out the Lucas stuff out of the engine and perhaps switch to a 5w20.

If anyone has any suggestions on what I can do...it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Polkaroo Killa

Maybe you just need a valve adjustment.

MPR

Sounds like your engine has some major issues that just changing the oil won't fix.

Is it valve train noise or bottom-end noise?

Dareng

Had a valve adjustment not to long ago. Just to give you an idea of what I'm looking at. Posted a video...

VID00000-20100128-1617.flv video by dgoodchild1987 - Photobucket

MPR

Unfortunately I can't view videos at work, nor can I watch them at home (dial-up).

Is it burning oil? Excessive blue or white smoke out the exhaust? Is it mostly at certain rpm's or constant?

This has nothing to do with your issue, but according to your sig you are running 91 in it? It's a d-series. Unless it is significantly modified (increased compression/cams etc...), running 91 does absolutely nothing for it. Your spending more on gas then you have to. It may actually run better on 87.

MPR

Ok, so the vid actually loaded and played.

imho, it sounds like valve train noise. Who did the valve lash adjustment?

Dareng

I have run 87 in it before but I get a weird pinging noise when the engine has a lot of load on it so with 91, i don't get that noise.

Its only when the engine is out of the cold start that the knocking noise stops, thus leading me to think that this is an oil issue. I'm just not sure how to fix it. Thinner oil perhaps...?

Dareng

All of the engine work has been done by Defocn/ART and I have been nothing but pleased with the work that was and has been done. Maybe another another valve adjustment is in order but would the noise be more prominent when cold?

Polkaroo Killa

^ I would recommend you get one.

Dareng

Stupid question...with the age of the engine would it be better to run with a thicker oil or a thinner one?

MPR

Run full synthetic and run a thicker oil. Synthetic, no matter what the weight, will provide superior protection over conventional oil and flow much better durring cold starts no matter what the temperature.

Yeah Defcon is a decent shop. How long ago (how many km's ago) was the adjustment done?

jamie1985

the pinging noise is detonation...avoid at all costs. With regards to your knocking problem, is your engine dropping/consuming any oil? If not, you probably need another valve adjustment...and run thicker oil in an older car, but thinner oil in the winter...if you run thicker oil in your high mileage engine during the winter, the oil will have a hard time flowing around valves causing knocking. IMO you should run 5W30 in your car in the winter and 10W30 in the summer OR 10W30 in the winter (depending on the knocking) and thicker oil than 10W30 in the summer.

Dareng

Right now im running 10w40 with lucas oil stabilizer so now its probably thick as asphalt

The oil has only been in the engine for 1000k, should i change it now?. I kind of want to to avoid any damage. Thoughts?

Dareng

Is 5w20 synthetic to thin to run in my engine?

gavin.p89

FYI based on your intake u have a y7, not that it matters, but i levice the oil is to think try running 5w30 synthentic and use lucas synthentic stablizers. I had a similar noise I did the valve lash and the oil change as stated above. Best of luck

Dareng

Apologies, when typing the engine type in my first post, finger slipped and hit the wrong key
Thanks to everyone for your help. If anyone has any more suggestions, they are certainly welcome.

chris_v2

Everybody has their opinion on oil.

Running a synthetic IMO is not a smart idea and is a waste of money in your situation.

I would personally run a 5w30 with an addictive such as lucas, to help with the noise.

If this car was at my shop, I'd unplug each injector one at a time, if the noise doesn't change pitch or all together stop, I'd pull the valve cover and look for the cause.

JDMej1

good idea, he should just take it to you

kwikb16a2

Does the knock go away when its warmed up? If so its probably piston slap (google it) my car ran almost 200 000km with piston slap and no problems whatsoever!

MPR

Zeeman is right. Everyone has their own opinion on which oil to use.

I'm merely speaking from my past experience. Years ago I had a vehicle with a lot of valve train noise, even after a fresh oil change with conventional oil. The moment I put in full synthetic, the noise pretty much disappeared all together and the engine ran noticeably smoother. I do not have a bias opinion. At the time, I was simply trying it to see if it would work better. It did. I've used full synthetic and all my vehicles since with nothing but positive results.

If your engine is burning oil excessively, then yes, using synthetic is a waste of money, because you're only going to burn it quicker...lol. However, if it's not, you can use synthetic and it will flow better on cold starts at any temperature.

I suggest you actually take it to zeeman's shop for a proper diagnosis, because it sounds like you've tried several types of oil with additives without much luck. It could a be a simple fix or something more serious.