Timing chain noise...?? (1 Viewer)

[Chained Rock]

OK im stumped as to what has happened to my 96 lx 450. I just finished doing the following: Valve cover gasket, dizzy o-ring, oil pump o-ring, and chank seal. Also re-sealed the powersteering pump. After i put it all back together and fired it up, it has now developed what sounds like a timing chain rattle. Any insight on what i could have done to have caused this???

 

[BILT4ME]

Did you torque the harmonic balancer to 304 LB-FT?

Did you remove the power steering pump GEAR from the pump for any reason?

 

[Chained Rock]

Yes i did re-torque the harmonic balancer. And yes i did remove the gear in order to do the re build on the pump. The sound is really hard to nail down as to where the noise is coming from, but its definitely coming from front of the engine.

 

[Chained Rock]

Is there anyway i could have damaged the gear on the powersteering pump and cause the noise?

 

[cme4lyt]

I’m thinking PS pump. I did an almost exact rebuild and had a noise that I thought was engine related. I soon realized I did not have enough fluid on the PS system and that was the sound I was hearing.

Make sure you cycle the pump and have it to the correct level with fluid.

Good luck !

 

[Tools R Us]

Is there anyway i could have damaged the gear on the powersteering pump and cause the noise?

How did you hold the gear when it was removed and replaced? Even minor gear dings can cause noise.

 

[Chained Rock]

To be honest i didnt take any special pains.... i removed it with a puller and reinstalled with an impact.... proceed to verbally abuse me at this point.... lol. At this stage of the game im in diagnostic mode. Could i pull the pump and start the engine to eliminate it as the culprit?

 

[Chained Rock]

Bump

 

[Tools R Us]

To be honest i didnt take any special pains.... i removed it with a puller and reinstalled with an impact.... proceed to verbally abuse me at this point.... lol. At this stage of the game im in diagnostic mode. Could i pull the pump and start the engine to eliminate it as the culprit?

Remove the pump and inspect the gear, if it has dorked teeth, they can often be cleaned up.

 

[1911garand]

I thought for sure that my timing chain / guides were $hitting the bed. I removed the belts and noise was gone - bad AC belt idler bearing.

Are you checking for engine noises will all the belts removed? (just an idea)

Good luck!

 

[REKCUT]

You can also get a stethoscope and try and see where the noise is coming from. You can use a long screwdriver and place in on power steering pump and to your ear.

 

[Chained Rock]

Ive pulled the belts and the noise is still present. I used a piece of heater hose to "listen" inside at the oil fill cap. The sound does seem to be coming from the timing chain cover area... i find it hard to believe that its a timing chain issue seeing i had no problems before.

 

[TNFJ80]

Does it go away after it warms up? If so it is probably your chain guides. Had this issue on a 97 with 200,000mi. Ticking upon startup when engine was cold. Went away after it got up to temp.

 

[Chained Rock]

No the noise stays consistant, warm or not.

 

[BILT4ME]

PS Pump gear. Especially if the noise remains after removing the belts.

That is the only thing that changed and it's not uncommon to have a minor damage to the teeth that sounds terrible when running.

Pull the PS pump and inspect the teeth. Just a slight mar on the teeth creates a horrendous noise.

Search it on here and you may even find video clips showing you the same sounds.

 

[Chained Rock]

Thanks for all the input guys, the noise was the gear on the powersteering pump.

 

[Chained Rock]

I pulled the pump and re-seated it, still a little louder than it was before the re build but releaved to know that was the source of the noise.

 

[Tools R Us]

Have successfully cleaned up a couple of those gears, use a 1/8" die grinder with a burr, just taking off the high spots. Others have done it with small files or small abrasive stones.

 

[Chained Rock]

Per BUIT4ME's instruction im posting this in my original thread. After sitting on the toilet till my feet went numb, i was able to locate the powersteering group in the 800 pages of the PDF parts book.

 

[Chained Rock]