Noname 08 OBXT Rebuild Thread

There's a tick in there! I'll grab another tomorrow

There's a tick in there! I'll grab another tomorrow

 

 

 

I can hear it a bit. It doesn't sound any different than mine. I noticed looking at the first start up build it didn't sound like that (page 13 or so). It's weird how many sounds these cars make.

 

 

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I love hearing confirmation that it's unlikely my engine will blow up again soon.

 

It's rotella t6. 1k into this oci and checked about 200 miles ago and was full. What do you mean by air? As in a vacuum leak? Yea the bearing noise is super obviously the alternator. I should probably hit it with some Triflow. I'm hoping it'll be fine for a few more months and then I plan to replace it (pretty sure I saw that was possible).

 

 

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must the bearing noise. ignoring that, everything seems about right.

 

Oil color, feel/texture, smell was ok at last change? no grit? no gas smell ? no green bubbles? uniform color?

 

mine looks like diesel oil and has a slight zinc odor. however its pretty doctored starting out. I send every other change to blackstone and get the extra analysis. i sent in a base sample to use for the baseline. Report is pretty consistent with my driving style. Its not going to catch everything but it's a quick check on the short block.

I haven't sent any in to Blackstone yet but the last oil change looked great honestly. I didn't see any discoloration. My sense of smell is a bit broken but I think the oil is good overall. I might send in this oil change to Blackstone but it might wait until the one after. I haven't really felt like diving back into the oil thing yet. It's a lot to learn.

 

 

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oil?

does drained amount about equal input amount? this is good

does ut smell funny? this is bad

is it gritty? this is bad

is it glittery? this is bad

fill with same kind of oil as last time

drive same distance as before

repeat.

if something changes, figure out why, fix.

oil.

I listen to this, and all sounds about right. these cars make some odd noises. I am for sure it is not the alt. I had the alt going out on my outback and you could smell it and hear it.

 

Turbo sounds good, engine sounds healthy, pullies sound right, Just try not to over think things to much. When I had my WRX I just drove it. I checked things once a week, and poped the hood when I got gas. I would listen for a few mins and then close the hood and drive it.

 

I do not do Blackstone testing, and all the other stuff, and I have access to do that anytime. I figure if things are going to happen its the price we pay to mod these cars.

 

In no way do we even think about going as far to check things out on a stock car. My daily I check the oil, tires, check the filters every season, And Amsoil every 15K w EA filter.

oil?

does drained amount about equal input amount? this is good

does ut smell funny? this is bad

is it gritty? this is bad

is it glittery? this is bad

fill with same kind of oil as last time

drive same distance as before

repeat.

if something changes, figure out why, fix.

oil.

 

 

 

Hahaha I suppose I meant differences between oils before they go in the car. As mentioned here and elsewhere, yes I have a tendency to overthink things.

 

 

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I listen to this, and all sounds about right. these cars make some odd noises. I am for sure it is not the alt. I had the alt going out on my outback and you could smell it and hear it.

 

Turbo sounds good, engine sounds healthy, pullies sound right, Just try not to over think things to much. When I had my WRX I just drove it. I checked things once a week, and poped the hood when I got gas. I would listen for a few mins and then close the hood and drive it.

 

I do not do Blackstone testing, and all the other stuff, and I have access to do that anytime. I figure if things are going to happen its the price we pay to mod these cars.

 

In no way do we even think about going as far to check things out on a stock car. My daily I check the oil, tires, check the filters every season, And Amsoil every 15K w EA filter.

 

 

 

Yea. I certainly wouldn't be so paranoid on another car. It's mainly due to the engine going 900 miles after purchase. I ran the civic into the ground and never checked anything. Dang thing won't quit.

 

I still don't actually know what happened. I have the old block wrapped in a tarp. I'm assuming it threw a bearing. Maybe over the summer I'll get around to inspecting it.

 

 

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So last little bit has been spent on the new e30. It's a mess. It has a non us engine in it, and not a good one. So that's been fun in it's own way. I'm thinking I can have it up and reliable in a few weeks.

 

Which brings me back to the alternator noise. A reman is about $170, and I'm sure comes with all nice new internals. The front bearing is no longer available but the rear is, and I think the noise is from the front. There are also two used ones in the marketplace for $25 and $50.

 

Do I, pull the alt and try to replace the front bearing since everything else is fine? Purchase a very cheap used one. Or just go for a NAPA reman. Hoping to do this after the BMW is running and tuning is done so I don't have a fear of the car sitting. Would also install my oil pressure gauge and make a bracket for my various sensors around the boost solenoid.

So last little bit has been spent on the new e30. It's a mess. It has a non us engine in it, and not a good one. So that's been fun in it's own way. I'm thinking I can have it up and reliable in a few weeks.

 

Which brings me back to the alternator noise. A reman is about $170, and I'm sure comes with all nice new internals. The front bearing is no longer available but the rear is, and I think the noise is from the front. There are also two used ones in the marketplace for $25 and $50.

 

Do I, pull the alt and try to replace the front bearing since everything else is fine? Purchase a very cheap used one. Or just go for a NAPA reman. Hoping to do this after the BMW is running and tuning is done so I don't have a fear of the car sitting. Would also install my oil pressure gauge and make a bracket for my various sensors around the boost solenoid.

I would pull the front bearing, get the specs and purchase a new one. The reman alternators seem to suck, for lack of a better word.

I'd just throw on a used one. How many 25 dollar alternators do you think you're going to have to buy over the life of the car, new motor and all? Probably not enough to justify buying a reman, and they're stupid easy to change right?

Yea that's fair. It's not like I hear of them failing often. And yea it's super easy to replace. Need to pull it anyway to put the oil pressure sensor in place where I want it.

 

Maybe I'll just buy both

 

 

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Well I had to take a step back for a bit. Work on other things vehicle wise and life wise.

 

Got an e30, did an engine refresh, suspension swap, and raced it last weekend at rally cross. Been a ton of fun. If you wanna follow those shenanigans, @suicidalracingteam on basically every platform.

 

 

 

But the outback needs some love! Weather has been nice and decided to take advantage of the big sun roof. While doing so heard a bunch of squealing coming from the brakes whether I'm on or off them. Thinking it's a sticking piston.

 

I already have lgt front brakes to swap on, is it an issue to just do the fronts since I don't have, or have the money, to convert the rears? Planning to do calipers, pads, rotors, and oe soft lines along with finally getting good brake fluid in there.

 

I hope everyone is doing well through the craziness. I know there are people all over the country on here and utah has been lucky with minimal issues but not everywhere has.

 

 

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He lives! E30 looks like fun.

He lives! E30 looks like fun.

 

 

It's a curse! I hate it.

 

The manual steering makes the outback steering feel vague. It was about half an inch off the ground and now that I raised it I want to lower the outback. The crisper shifting in the outback makes me want a short throw in the e30.

 

I might get coil overs for the outback now. I mean eventually. And lower it a few inches.

 

We also bought a $75 98 maxima for lemons/champ car. And are going to rebuild my buddies scion xb. Into a rwd with an mr2 engine.

 

This is apparently my life now.

 

 

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I mean, the first step is acknowledging that you have a problem.

 

 

 

....buy a 15+ STI rack

I mean, the first step is acknowledging that you have a problem.

 

 

 

....buy a 15+ STI rack

 

 

I have a vdc outback and so they are known to cause problems. Plan is to get the perrin lock down kit and an lgt rack.

 

And then go back to power steering in the e30. It's not bad but for rally use apparently it gets tiring.

 

 

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Well it's warm out now and I've put 10k on the new block. So if course it's time for problems.

 

First is getting a lot of knock on the low end. Working with Dave to sort that out but got under the car and pulled off a heat shield that had some rattle.

 

On the way to my buddies place to use his garage space to inspect everything. I had the temp gauge start climbing as I was going up the canyon. It was about 100 when I entered it but still concerning. Didn't see any leaks anywhere and coolant is full but I've been doing a manual bleed for about fifteen minutes and I'm still getting small bubbles out of it. They seem to be coming out of the small coolant overflow hose.

 

Also

It might be hard to tell but it looks like there is shiny bits in the coolant?

 

I ran it for a while and going to hope the bleed resolves the issue. It's hot out sure, but I've also towed up a nearly as steep canyon in like 70 degree weather and it was fine.

 

 

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I'd get a cooling system pressure tester to rule out a leak somewhere. Otherwise you're going to keep worrying about headgaskets

 

You might also try picking up the front passenger corner of the car when you burp the cooling system, though it shouldn't really be necessary at the turbo reservoir.

I have a vdc outback and so they are known to cause problems. Plan is to get the perrin lock down kit and an lgt rack.

 

And then go back to power steering in the e30. It's not bad but for rally use apparently it gets tiring.

 

 

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the sti part can replace the dampener, and its better than the kludge lockdown.

 

on fb, look up pro3 racing or try this, http://www.pro3-racing.com/ . Lots of go fast parts exist for the e30 that are actually useable for racing.

I'd love to get out and do some track racing in either car. At some point I'll do an hpde.

 

I'm starting to think about lowering the outback, likely next year, and the sticky makes it seem like there's issues with the steering dampers. I should be able to use the outback one for now and I'll leave it be most likely until I figure out if I'm going to lower it.

 

 

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Yea I'm thinking I will pressure test it. Just to be sure. Especially since I'm at 10k on the build and I didn't put on the heads. If it does have a leak I need to know sooner than later.

 

Decided to pull the intercooler to check the knock sensor was still in position. It was but the trans dipstick was not seated and I think smacking the turbo. So hopefully that resolves my knocking.

 

 

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Well I guess I'm still chasing some knock. Dave thinks it's false knock.

 

So far I've pulled off the passenger header heat shield, crimped the up pipe heat shield (big channel locks, oval, flatten one part, fold it over. It's real stable now), replaced the knock sensor with one with 106k on it from a forester with a fine engine (parts car) and it's still pulling 5 degrees of timing in the same range. I just loaded my newest revision and did some pulls and I'm still seeing similar stuff on my FLKC. I've sent it off to Dave but I wanted to ask.

 

What are other common knock sources? I've banged around trying to find loose things. I'm debating on just pulling every single heat shield on the car. Trans dipstick is firmly in place. Nothing is loose. Everything feels good. Knock sensor installed per FSM. I haven't changed anything since the rebuild under the hood.

 

Could a sticking caliper, a wearing alternator, whine from the PS pump or something like that be the cause? I unfortunately don't have the funds to just start willy nilly replacing stuff and I'd like to replace the transmission that just blew in the e30 if I had extra lying around.

Are the engine grounds in good shape ?

 

I guess you've checked the dog bone mount ?

 

air filter box is tight ?

 

Just trying to come up with ideas...