blackdemon

Hi...i'm new to this forum, and need help.
I recently have run into some problems with my S2K.
Some sort of knocking sound (tock-tock sound) is coming from the top of the engine area. Has anybody ran to similar problems below? It's the weekend and i won't know the problem till Monday!! The 'off-duty' mechanic said it could be a conrod bearing problem or a rocker arm problem.
Right now, i cant still start the engine, although it sounds and feels 'weak' somewhat (definitely not purring as always!)

Some bits and facts of the car:
Average temp here in Brunei - 30-37 deg C
Engine Oil - Honda Oil (recommended for Vtec) 10W-30.
Mileage - 30000km
Mods - HKS Catback, RSR Sports Converter, HKS Headers, ARC Intakes. No internals done yet.

Is it possible for the engine oil to be 'too thin' for this sort of weather?

xviper

Have you subjected the car to a mechanical over-rev lately? If so, you may have broken something in your valve train or jammed up a piston (and it's rod). 30 degrees is not terribly hot. We get that from time to time here. But consistent 37 degrees is very HOT, although I don't think this is your problem.

PWRMKR

you might get what you wish for after the on duty mech takes a look.

blackdemon

I did some 'high-spirited' drive recently, but nothing which even touched the 9K redline....always below that..like 7000-8000...is it possible that the engine oil is too thin here to sustain such high revs? For your info, we don't get 37degC constantly...normally it averages out around 34degC midday.

cdelena

The oil viscosity is just fine for the conditions. Sorry, it is something else.

blackdemon

OK...the mechanic finally inspected my car:

1) Open topside where the valves are - No broken rocker arms or any foreign objects.

2) Open the bottomside (drip pan) - check if there was any metal bits in the waste oil...none. Checked the crankshaft for any irregularities - None. Checked the conrods - solid, no movement. Deduction - Bottomside (Piston/Conrod/Crank) - OK.

Since everything seemed mechanically OK, we deduced it was the oil that i used - it was too thin. Fine, changed it to Shell Helix Plus 15W-50. Guess what - the sound disappeared! (Waitaminute...its not good news yet).

The engine started with a bit of hesitation but the knocking sound was gone. This was during idle conditions. Apparently, the hesitation to start was still there, and upon checking the battery fluid levels - It was low i.e, low battery power - topped it up...and the 'hesitation' dissapeared....

OK...now for the test drive.

Below VTEC engagement, power arrived where i expected it to be...no problem. Tried it at the 5900-6200rpm, yup...VTEC kicked in..Fine. Toying it up to 7000-8000rpm, the knocking sound appeared!! The whole system then seems like it went to retard mode, since upon pressing the accelerator, the power was not there. At that point, the car felt weak and was behaving like 'a-3-cylinder-engine' car. So, we just cruised for a while...and after a while, the knocking sound disappeared and the car regained its power.

Hmmmm......any ideas?

Deduction - retard problems (or it seems to be) after engaging the VTEC.

Tomorrow - Engine scan for complete electronics diagnosis.

Today's learning - Honda Recommended Engine oil too thin for this weather. Possibility that oil did not fully lubricate the topside of engine.

Note: This engine has not gone thru any internal mods nor ECU tuning. RPM and Speed Cut is still there.

cdelena

I would say that there is some damage that was simply temporarily masked by the heavier oil. We have very hot temps in the summers of the southwestern US (highs every day over 35-40C) and the 10W30 oil is just fine. You will eventually find the problem is something else, and it sounds serious.

NYYellows2k

I had a problem some what like yours. My car had no power but it wasnt making any weird noises just bouncing all around. It turned out to be a bad fuel injector. The car would start and run like shit for a minute some times then it would clear up. After a while it was always running bad. I pulled out the injector from the cylinder that wasnt firing moved it to another spot and the car ran good for another day then the same problem happened again but in the cylinder i moved the injector to. Maybe this had nothing to do with your problem but it might help a little. I would try pulling each coil pack out one by one and see if you find a cylinder where you lose no power.

josh

xviper

When they had the valve cover off, did he check the valve clearances? Heavy oil like that can mask valve train noises sometimes. Maybe your valves are just REALLY off.

blackdemon

XViper - Since this car is 'a grey import', i don't have the technical support i need from the dealerships here (they don't import S2Ks in Brunei). So my question is - How often would i need to do valve adjustments? I was reading the valve adjustment thread in the same section and got to thinking if my valves needed adjustment, would it be WAY off that it produces such a considerable noise. We only did a visual check and 'shake-n-rattle' check...haven't inspected the valves one-by-one.

cdelena - I'm still not sure abt the engine oil, but if you read the European forum, there's this thread about this guy who broke his piston-conrod setup (with pictures). Presumably due to engine oil viscosity - he was not over-revving.

NYguy - haven't checked the fuel injectors but the 'weak' state only happens after VTEC is engaged. The VTEC build-up (i.e. 5900 to 8300) is still there, but after throttle is released, that's when the knocking sound appears. I'll probably get them to inspect the injectors anyhow.