Ahnold

First Post!

Hi there! I'm new to this site, but not new to cars or forums, so I did search around first.

I have a 2000 with 60k miles which has recently been exhibiting, what I believe to be, timing chain tensioner noise upon startup. The nosie seems to go away shortly after startup. I've had the car for about 7 months now and when I first got it the noise was not there. I also have noticed that the oil light seems to be staying on longer than it did when first starting the engine, not excessivly long, but noticable. I currently run synthetic 5w-30, which I get basically free from the shop I work at. I know specs call for 10w-30.

I'm assuming that the tensioner noise is due to an internal loss of pressure and that the noise goes away once pressure has been restored.

I'm guessing that one of two things is happening. First, the oil light is staying on longer because of the time needed to re-pressurize the tensioner, and the oil pressure sending unit is located near the tensioner oil passage. From what I've read from searching, the tensioner goes bad frequently. Second, somehow the 5w-30 is causing the problem. I have a hard time believing that it's the oil, but I've seen stranger things.

I realize that an easy test would be to try 10w-30 oil, but I get the 5w-30 for free!
I also don't want to just go buy a tensioner if I don't need one.

Before I try either of these two things, has anyone encountered this and/or have a solution?

Thanks!
Erich

JAPCAB

ok few things.

1) Oil light coming on. This is only caused due to lack of oil pressure, not oil level. The oil light should never be coming on! Check your oil levels and is your car leaking any oil? If they are all fine and the oil light is still coming on i'd assume perhaps the oil press sensor is stuffed if your using the correct oil. Is VTEC still engaging? Sufficient oil pressure is required to engage VTEC.

2) Tensioner. You can replace this part - but do you have the tell tale sign of a bad tensioner; i.e card in the bike spokes noise? If so, replace the tensioner. It is a relatively cheap part, especially when thinking about the damage a runaway cam chain will cause. Until you fix this tensioner i would not rev the car out to 9K so take it easy.

3) With oil, for instance, 5w-30. 5w is the cold operating viscosity of the oil. The second number, in this case the 30, is the viscosity or how thick the oil is at operating temperature. If its happening as soon as you start your car obiviously the engine does not like the lighter weight oil at cold operating temp otherwise the oil light would not be coming on.
-My personal opinion is why would you put oil into the engine of a car which goes against the manufacturers specifications, especially when you are not clear on oil weights and the differences between oils. Oil is relatively cheap anyways - your saving yourself a few bucks which is not worthwhile in the scheme of things compared to frying the motor which will cost you UBER dollars. Put the correct oil in your car.

SpitfireS

Ahnold Posted on Sep 1 2007, 12:10 PM
In what temps are you starting your car?
The difference between a hot summer morning and a chilly fall morning could be causing this difference.
It's normal.

Just by looking at 5W-30 and 10W-30 numbers its impossible to say which of the 2 is thinner at temps above 65F.
Below 65F its most likely that the 5W-30 is thinner but it doesn't have to be.
There is too much range and a lot of types of engine oils.
You need more data to calculate that.
Visc @ 40C, visc @ 100C and the Viscosity index.
With those numbers its possible to calculate what viscosity the oils have at a given temp.
At lower temps (around 35F) the calculating becomes a little inaccurate.
5W-30 is what a lot of people use in the S2000, it's no problem at all and its not causing any problems either.
I'm using a 0W-30 myself without TCT or any other oil pressure problems.
My oil light is usually off (IOW, there is enough pressure) right after start-up.
If your timing chain tensioner is "broken" => get a new one, it's not the oil.
Note that in European manuals a 5W-40 oil is also listed as a Factory Specified Oil Weight.

S2Kyle01

The chain tensinoer is not cheap... i cant find it any cheaper then 150.00 and can only find it at honda dealer... is there another place that i can find it or will a K20 work or anyother honda motor have the same one ? also will it hurt if you still drive the car with it that way as long as you dont get on it and stay like below 4-5k RPMs?

topless!

I have seen cheap oil filters as a cause for oil leakdown in the past. Many have a cheap or nonexistent check valve that allows most of the oil back into the pan. Are you using a factory filter? Just a guess. Good luck.

S2oooNvegas

www.hondaautomotiveparts.com

the tensioner is cheapest there.

and pay for some good quality synthetic. eneos, or amsoil. youll def feel a difference.

need tensioner install help, there are plenty of threads. or PM me and ill tell ya. lates

03 9g

thx for the info on this topic

Ahnold

Japcab:
The oil level and vtec engagement are both fine.

SpitfireS:
Temperature doesn't seem to make a difference. It can happen in the morning when it's colder, or when I leave work after sitting in the heat for hours. The thing thats seems to be constant is that it sits with the engine off for extended periods of time.

Topless!:
I always use a factory oil filter. I also thought about the filter possibly being faulty.

It sounds like oil wight is not the issue, like I suspected, if others are using different weights also. I'm really hoping that someone who has had a bad tensioner can tell me if they also had the oil light stay on.

As of now I'm going to guess that the filter is bleeding off pressure when the car sits. I'll change the filter and post the results.

Thanks for all the replies!