1HD-T knock?

[Jbone]

Hey guys,

I have an 1990 HDJ81 that sat outside in the cold (-10 - -15C) for about ten days without moving. When I started it, it idled rough so I gave it a wee bit of gentle throttle to help it, however this was likely before oil pressure came up. when I did this, it heard a dull low pitch knock 2-3 times that I have not heard before which makes me nervous.

The BEB have been done about 50K ago with duraglide bearings. Its running 10W30 oil. After the few times it made the sound, I never heard it again several hundred km, and a few over night cold starts later.

My thoughts is lack of lubrication to bottom end as I increased RPM?

Thoughts/experience appreciated

Cheers

 

[Douglas S]

Oil pressure comes up almost immediately after the engine is started assuming your engine is healthy. The factory gauge, while not exactly accurate, should let you know if the system has pressure.

 

[gerg]

Oil pressure comes up almost immediately after the engine is started.

Ahhh....no. It does not. I'm not sure how you come to this conclusion. But it's definately not true. Cold starts are extremely hard on engines. I would be warming your engine before starting always, or at the very least letting it idle for a few minutes to get it to the top end which is last. The cold is going to cause all the tolerances to open up even more than usual too. Lazy oil combined with greater tolerances and already serous bearing issues seems like you should be serously careful about your starts.

 

[Douglas S]

Ahhh....no. It does not. I'm not sure how you come to this conclusion. But it's definately not true. Cold starts are extremely hard on engines. I would be warming your engine before starting always, or at the very least letting it idle for a few minutes to get it to the top end which is last. The cold is going to cause all the tolerances to open up even more than usual too. Lazy oil combined with greater tolerances and already serous bearing issues seems like you should be serously careful about your starts.

I come to it only by watching my aftermarket oil pressure gauge when I start the engine. It never takes more than a couple seconds.

 

[Douglas S]

I would actually say that I see my highest oil pressure after a cold start which I have always attributed to the oil being thicker and more resistant to flow, resulting in increased pressure.

Happy to be proven wrong, but this has been my experience.

 

[IanB]

Run a lighter weight oil in the winter, I switched from 10w40 Rotella dino to 5w40 Rotella T6 synthetic on the advice of another HDJ81 owner local to me, and noticed much easier cold starts on mine.

 

[gerg]

Your gauge moving and a bearing seeing oil are not the same thing. I agree with you that the cold oil is more resistant to flow. How is it then that it lubes all the bearings so quickly? This guy had rod knock after a cold start and we're discussing whether or not oil takes longer to reach the bearings? Serously? Given these engine destroy bearings on a good day, what the heck is going on here?

 

[Jbone]

This little argument is not helping anything.
Should I be inspecting bearings after this? It runs and starts fine and quiet currently, and the bearings are right in the middle of their expected 100K life

And thanks IanB, I usually run 5w40 in winters as well, I just have not made my change yet.

 

[gerg]

Arguments are actually an excellent way of exploring topics. How you argue is usually the problem. That rotella 5-40 is a really good oil. I'm gonna be switching my 3b over next change, but we're just barely at freezing. Taking the pan off is an extremely dirty but cheap way of checking for rod slop. I hesitate to recommend checking the bearings, but given the recent lunched motor issue with one of these engines perhaps it's not a bad idea. Easier to spend a few hours checking bearings as opposed to sourcing a new engine. I know if I were you id feel like I was walking on eggshells.

 

[Douglas S]

Have oil analysis done when you drop the oil next. That should tell you if you can expect bearing failure.

 

[gerg]

That would be easier indeed

 

[Wildnlost]

I have a 1992 hdj81v imported from Japan... Also I had a knocking noise, almost a tapping sound-quite sharp. Checked valve clearance all ok. Changed BEB and found 2 in poor shape...flaking off the coatings one showing copper. Problem found ? NO sounds the same. Put it up on the hoist to listen to different spots on the engine and cannot pinpint the noise??? worse driving for sure but always there.

Fast forward 6 months, still knocking no change. I hooked on a small trailer to move my son to school and found the real problem. After traveling about 40km I could smell oil not engine but transmission oil? Stopped got out found I had a major leak from the front transmission seal.
When I pulled the transmission I found the cause of my knocking engine. The seal failed because the bushing in the trans oil pump housing that supports the torque converter neck had seized onto the neck. So now the bushing was wearing into the pump housing, it had worn into the housing about 2mm!!!
Although I had never had an automatic trans apart before I tore it down to inspect it. I found other damage and wear because the torque converter was not being supported properly. Upgraded to a Billet torque converter and extreme valve body from Wholesale Automatics. With the help of Wholsale Automatics I also added extra plates to all forwrd clutches.

my knock is now gone. The whole time it was the transmission knocking not the engine. Wholsale Automatics also recommended .005" clearance bushing to torque converter neck. stock clearance is .002". this one simple modification would have avoided the whole problem. 20,000km later still going strong.

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[Tapage]

Nothing useful to add more than sometimes I'm glad I live in the warm Panama ..