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Gtr Engine Stuffed?

nitros13

By nitros13,
in Engines & Forced Induction

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nitros13 Contributor

nitros13

Posted
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Hey guys,

I have recently bought a 33 gtr.

The background to the car is as follows:

The motor was built last year, there is about 19k on the clock.

It has JE forged pistons, race bearings forged rods and heaps of other stuff (I'll post up specs when I get home and look at the paperwork)

Anyway, the engine had a knocking noise at about 3k rpm and up to about 4.5k. I was told the engine had this before and after the rebuild. It appears to come from the head.

After driving through the hills I was heading p to a corner and upon increasing rpm the engine sort of felt a little tiny bit rougher than normal.. So I decided to stop and check it out. Revved it a little and the noise was the same. Thought I would baby it home because at this point I didn't want to cause damage. Over the next few Kim's the knocking got progressively worse and was starting to appear lower in the rev range until it was happening on idle. I stopped right away and got it trailered home.

I suspect it is bottom end. The noise is not quite as bad on startup. It also doesn't make the noise it you turn the motor over with the starter.

Any ideas? Have other people experienced this? I would suggest the motor would still be under warranty.

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kitto Mentor

kitto

Posted
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Can you upload a video of the knocking?

Is it a very audible deep note knock sound?

It certainly does sound like a shagged rod bearing.

*EDIT* - 'Does'

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nitros13 Contributor

nitros13

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Yes I can get a vid of the knock. It's a real sort of metal on metal knock.

I didn't get it professionally inspected. I know I should have now. To be honest I never heard the noise while we were taking it for a test drive. Probably because we just went for a short boost and then I said I'll take it. I only noticed the noise on the way home. Then however the noise was only made between 3-4.5k rpm and just off throttle. Like if you hold it there and where there isn't much load... I.e: on flat road.

Now it does it at idle.. :,(

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DVS JEZ Grand Master

DVS JEZ

Posted
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Unfortunately the owner lied to u. The.noise at 3000rpm is a big end bearing issue, do not drive the car anymore, the engine will have to be pulled out, sump taken off, crank out and inspected, rods inspected, new bearings put in and te clearances checked, depending how long the knock has been there, hopefully the crank and rods are still ok.

U would have finished it off doing a run in the hills, RB series motors have issue's with oil starvation, and hills are the worst for it if the engine isnt setup with baffling, enlarged oil returns, extra oil in the sump etc.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

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SiR_RB Grand Master

SiR_RB

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My mate had the same problem after he bought his gtr,

Stated to knock at higher revs only and sounded like it was coming from the head

Slowly started to get worse and knocked at idle like you described

Ended up been number 5 and 6 rod bearings, he was lucky no damage was done to the crank/rods

Goodluck!

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GTScotT Grand Master

GTScotT

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Sucks to hear mate, make sure you get a good mechanic on your side or expenses can blow out unimaginably.

Am also confident its a rod bearing. Did you buy at a dealer or private?

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DVS JEZ Grand Master

DVS JEZ

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Ok so it appears that the consensus is the bottom end.

Thats very annoying considering the motor has only just been rebuilt. (I have the receipt)

It even has a tomei baffle sump in it..

Ohh. Well then ring the engine builder and ask them if they can check it out. How

Many km's have been put on it?

Few possibilities if its a really fresh motor, things like dirty assembly, incorrect clearances, didnt clean out crank and block correctly etc etc.

Or of course driver abuse

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The Dan Grand Master

The Dan

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The motor was built last year, there is about 19k on the clock.

Ohh. Well then ring the engine builder and ask them if they can check it out. How

Many km's have been put on it?

Few possibilities if its a really fresh motor, things like dirty assembly, incorrect clearances, didnt clean out crank and block correctly etc etc.

Or of course driver abuse

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nitros13 Contributor

nitros13

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I just called the previous owner and he said they seemed a tad dodgy.

I am going to take it to another builder and get their opinion first. Then I'll take the other guys to the cleaners if need be.

Such a poor effort on the part of the builder though. I am very disappointed. Either way the motor is going to have to come put of the car.

Can anyone recommend someone I can take it to?

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portaz Mentor

portaz

Posted
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Where are u located? Actually Gtr engine removal isn't that bad, my mate and I did his in 4 hours and then another 4 hours to strip the engine and clean the work shop, there's a few little tricks but it's not really that bad at all

Scott

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nitros13 Contributor

nitros13

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I'm in Adelaide.

I would take it out myself but i am a time poor kind of guy. I own a reasonably time consuming business. I used to take out motors and gearboxes all the time.

4 hours is pretty good though. What are these tricks?

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Sinista32 Grand Master

Sinista32

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Engine rebuilds normally come with 12 months or 20,000kms warranty. You will have to check the receipt for the Terms and Conditions on the engine rebuild. I don't beleive you have any legal recourse with the previous owner. "Buyer beware". Car yards are a different matter, obviously.

If it does fall within the warranty period the engine builder has first right of repairing the issue. You will need to speak with them and if no luck write a factual letter, being polite, but a letter of demand none the less. If that fails to motivate the engine builder/shop to come to the party organise a fair trading (S.A is something like Office of Buisness Consumer OBC or something similar) certified engineer to be on hand when the engine is removed. You will need to engage them to write a report, with pics and root cause of failure. Cost $600 to $1000. Based on the report - it's off to concilliation/arbitration hearing with the Shop.

An award will be made.

If the shop refuses to pay and is a memeber of MTA then MTA will pay you :) and deal with the shop.

The issue with shops paying is that they can ask to pay a small amount on a regular basis and generally the arbitrator will say yes.

No one really wins. Thats the whole point of the arbitration process.

Cheers

$19k is a lot to be stung.

I'm not sure how long you have owend nor how you have treated your GTR since owning it.

But dude, owners know if there car isn't right.

Engine builders - fark me - it's extremely hard to find a good one. Good ones will stand by their work and come to the party to identify the fault.

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nitros13 Contributor

nitros13

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I do  believe that the motor does fall within the warranty period, what you have stated above seems like a decent avenue for getting some equity back into the situation. The fact that I am a lawyer (by profession) will also help.

I have owned the car for two weeks and have driven it about 5 times. I didnt drive it as much as i would have liked as a have a 7 series BMW to putt around in.

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dkbcleaner Proficient

dkbcleaner

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Hi Nick I feel for you on this and I really hope you get it sorted out in your favour. All the best! Keep us updated please! It will be really interesting how this all turns out

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Rolls Grand Master

Rolls

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Hey, usually warranty is not transferable, if possible see if you can get the person who had the work done go and bat for you with the engine builder

Good luck!

It isn't transferable, and even if it was small companies will weasel there way out of it and you'll have to take them to court to get anything out of them.

Bite the bullet and take it out and get a reputable workshop to look at it, imo there aren't many and I've heard far more bad stories than good stories with rebuilds, I don't really trust anyone these days though a second hand GTR motor is just as risky as most rebuilds.

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