MrStevie

I have a d17a1 and I've been hearing a tapping noise coming from the engine compartment for 2 weeks now. I thought it was a loose exhaust manifold shroud, that's what it sounded like when it loosened up last year . Yesterday when i was a mile from home, the check engine light came on and had trouble accelerating. I hooked up the code reader and only got a p0344 (Camshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Intermittent Bank 1 or Single Sensor). Does it sound like the valves are toast or can i get away with replacing the sensor and timing belt? I've never had a belt go out on me and don't know how it sounds.

Here's a video of the sound

http://vid1379.photobucket.com/album...psn1ealocj.mp4

https://www.flickr.com/photos/103220...57650921372200

mikey1

if the timing belt broke the engine would not run at all, its impossible for the engine to run without the timing belt, it might help if you took a video with sound, "tapping" is too general

MrStevie

Thanks! I'll get a video of it tonight when i get home. Is it possible that the belt didn't break but is slipping throwing the timing off?

mikey1

its possible the belt could "jump" a tooth or two, then the timing would be off but the engine might still run, that wouldnt really cause a tapping sound though

MrStevie

I edited my original post with the video. The noise sounds like it's coming from inside the timing belt cover

mikey1

i couldnt see the video but i could hear the sound,

if you think its coming from the timing area i would highly suggest not running the engine any more until that area has been inspected, or you are risking very serious engine damage,

MrStevie

It's been sitting in the garage, i only started her up to snap the quick video. I'm going to be taking it apart this coming week to check things out. Thanks for the help, I'll keep you updated

ezone

I can't hear or see any video, but if this has high mileage the tensioner ear or spring may have broken

MrStevie

Weird, it's working fine for me I added a Flikr link, maybe that one will work

ezone

HOLY CARP

Don't run it until you see what's making all that noise. Sounds a lot like what I said it might be.

Does this have like 200,000 miles or more on the original tensioner.....or a recent aftermarket tensioner pulley?

ezone

On video on the laptop it sounds horrible.....but it's a laptop, and accurate sound reproduction is not among its finer qualities....

It might sound totally different in person.

MrStevie

Nope, it sounds pretty bad in person too... I'm at 180k miles on the original everything. I know I know, i'm an idiot i just kept putting it off and finally getting in there. I have the valve cover and the top half of the timing cover off so far. The timing belt seems pretty loose, so i feel like the tensioner probably went out. How can i tell what type of damage i've done to the motor at this point? I don't have to spend a few hundred to replace the belts and water pump only to find out i blew my motor.

ezone

It still runs, so no real harm done YET....
Just don't bend any valves doing the next bit of work!
If it's really loose grab a light and look to see if the spring is no longer attached to the tensioner pulley.

May have a pic here....

Ok this is a pic with all the covers off. This was apart for a head gasket job.
You can see where the spring hooks on the pulley, and the pin with some orange paint that it was hooked to on the near end. They usually wear a groove through the eye or break off the loop of the spring at the pulley, then the spring is free to drop into the timing belt and thrash about...sometimes chewing up pulleys and belt.




HTH

MrStevie

Thanks for the advice! I'll be digger deeper this week. Could a broken tensioner cause a hesitation in acceleration? Last time i drove it, the car wouldn't accelerate at certain times, almost like it was running out of gas. The only code I pulled is a p0344 (Camshaft Position Sensor).

ezone

Code P0344 CMP sensor signal intermittent interruption, could be related due to inconsistent triggering as the cam is no longer rotating evenly due to slack in the timing belt.

MrStevie

Could that have anything to do with the acceleration issue? The car was having trouble accelerating, i didn't notice it at maybe 10% throttle, but it would start hesitating and felt as if fuel was being cut off if i tried to give it more throttle.

ezone

In my mind it could cause that.

Have you found the cause of the noise yet?

MrStevie

Not yet, i'll pulling the alternator and lower timing cover off tonight. Fingers crossed that it's just the tensioner that went bad

MrStevie

Well I couldn't get the crank pulley bolt out no matter how hard i tried. Not sure where to go from here. Might need to rent a big *** impact wrench.

ezone

You might be able to rent the holding tool from the Zone or similar? Ebay/Amazon?

mikey1

what method did you try?

i do it the exact way ezone pictured, i have a 6 foot cast iron sprinkler pipe i bought from home depot that i slip over an 18 inch breaker bar, works every time, although i have had to stand on it a few time

MrStevie

I bought the crank pulley tool and attached the breaker bar to it and wedged that to the floor. Then I tried using a 1/2" ratchet (pipe attached for leverage) with extensions for the bolt. I might try using the ratchet with the tool and the breaker with extensions for the bolt. I couldn't get all the leverage i needed with all the extensions and i think that was part of the problem. I'm going to try picking up some more jack stands to rest it on

mikey1

definitely use breaker bars, you might snap a ratchet,

also, use a jackstand to support all the extensions out as close as possible to the breaker bar, use 1/2 inch extensions/breaker bar

MrStevie

Already broke 2 craftsman 3/8" ratchets I'll give this a shot, just ordered a 20" extension. I'll use the 1/2" ratchet with a pipe extension with the crank pulley tool and the breaker bar with the extensions on jack stands for the actual bolt. Wish me luck!

ezone

The crank bolt just laughs at your measly 3/8 drive tools!

It can break the gear teeth in a 1/2 drive ratchet too.
Even my MAC 1/2 ratchet got trashed on one engine doing this.

Breaker bar FTW!

MrStevie

just broke an extension, waiting on more 1/2" extensions. this bolt is killing me...

ezone

Cheap tools can become real expensive LOL

MrStevie

Tell me about it, i thought these Craftsman's would hold up. I might need to chase down a Snap-On truck lol

mikey1

are you saying you broke a 1/2" extension?

holy crap.....i would have thought the socket would break first

MrStevie

Yeah, turns out it was the Husky brand extension, not the Craftsman that broke. The socket is Craftsman, holding up pretty good considering... I just ordered some more cheap 1/2" extensions from Amazon, i figure i gotta be loosening that bolt a little by now. If i break those too, it might be time to tow it to a shop and have them finish the job