[c1471]

Hello,

I've got the dreaded n47d20a engine had a problem with the timing chain just after getting it, took the precaution got it changed and basically had the whole engine stripped down and put back together which meant I managed to get a good look at the internals which at the time looked incredibly good considering the 100k miles on it.

Fast forward about a week after the rebuild and I noticed an oil leak, nothing seemed too major topped it up took it to the garage and they fixed what they thought it was, so carried on driving, couple of days later oil light comes on lucky enough I had only just started moving so was able to pull over quite quickly so hopefully spared major damage, kinda felt as it does when you run out of fuel, get recovered and turns out the leak was the sump so all of this could of been prevented.

Now on to the main part, checked the oil filter and there are some shavings in there but then I was about due an oil change after the run in period of the rebuild so that could possibly contribute to some of it, obviously im not really surprised to find any in there after losing all oil/ oil pressure, so I've pretty much accepted at this point that worst case scenario is gonna be a new engine, id rather avoid that considering i've already shelled out stupid money for the timing chain but i've accepted if thats going to be the case, going to see what i could possibly do to salvage it as it doesn't seem like anything has been injested into the engine so potentially just bearing damage? i've attached a video of it running, it doesn't initally make the sound only once its warmed up slightly but it is deafening once warm. Please let me know what you think it could possibly be, thanks.

[bishbosh]

Sorry to hear of your engine woes!

Could it be the aux belt or one of the pulleys? They can squeak but usually the sound isn't as shrill as the one in the video. Can test by taking the belt off and running the engine (it won't get damaged BTW)

What did you have done as part of the rebuild? Did you have the crank bearings changed?

If you stopped as soon as the oil light came on then you shouldn't have damaged the engine. Is there evidence of oil on the underbody protection? If it all leaked out of the sump then it should look a right mess!

[Chappers 71]

As bishbosh said, it would be obvious had you lost that much oil from the sump gasket, there would have been a large puddle of oil under the car.
My sump gaskets been leaking for the last few months. As for the oil warning light was it amber or red?

Alternator bearing? Use a long screwdriver against the casing to have a listen, you may be able to pinpoint where the noise is coming from.

[c1471]

Originally Posted by bishbosh

Sorry to hear of your engine woes!

Could it be the aux belt or one of the pulleys? They can squeak but usually the sound isn't as shrill as the one in the video. Can test by taking the belt off and running the engine (it won't get damaged BTW)

What did you have done as part of the rebuild? Did you have the crank bearings changed?

If you stopped as soon as the oil light came on then you shouldn't have damaged the engine. Is there evidence of oil on the underbody protection? If it all leaked out of the sump then it should look a right mess!

I'll give it a go taking the belt off and see if it still does it, the main reason I think it internal is because surely I'd have to be really unlucky to have a pulley go at the same time as the oil loss? nothing major was changed in the rebuild only reason it had to happen was because I pinched the head gasket doing the chain so had to replace it, which obviously meant whole top end had to come off had it skimmed, new gaskets etc, whole timing chain top to bottom, also it sounds 'normal' at startup/cold this only comes about once the cars been run for awhile, I know theres apparently some play in the turbo, probably even worse now its been starved of oil, would this kind of sound come from a dead turbo? doesn't sound quick enough to be turbo id presume but I'm just shooting in the dark trying to get a rough idea what to look at when I take the engine out

Originally Posted by Chappers 71

As bishbosh said, it would be obvious had you lost that much oil from the sump gasket, there would have been a large puddle of oil under the car.
My sump gaskets been leaking for the last few months. As for the oil warning light was it amber or red?

Alternator bearing?

I don't believe it was the gasket I think there was actually a crack in the sump they said, it was an odd one because it had 2 occasions where it was big puddles which I obviously topped up after as I was still trying to find out what the leak was from then the rest was unnoticeable, it all happened very quickly, no warning lights where on before, not even a low oil one.

I'm pretty sure the light was an amber one, this was a month or two ago as the cars been sat at the garage so trying to remember best I can, it came on at the top of the motorway slipway and I had come to a stop by the end of it so stopped as soon as I could

Thanks

[bishbosh]

If it makes the squeal at idle it won't be the turbo. Doesn't sound like the turbo anyway. There's no metal on metal sound.

Did you try it yet with the aux belt removed?

The TVD (crank pulley) can fail anytime and without warning. It happened to my car at about 185,000 miles. The belt tensioner can squeal and so can the alternator pulley.

[c1471]

Originally Posted by bishbosh

If it makes the squeal at idle it won't be the turbo. Doesn't sound like the turbo anyway. There's no metal on metal sound.

Did you try it yet with the aux belt removed?

The TVD (crank pulley) can fail anytime and without warning. It happened to my car at about 185,000 miles. The belt tensioner can squeal and so can the alternator pulley.

Seems like the squeal is at idle only and starts to go when you give it some revs, I've uploaded a better video just waiting for it to process but the car cut out at the end of it which makes me think things are starting to get tight and stalling it so don't want to risk running it.

Started preparing it to be removed unplugged the radiator hoses and there is a lot of tiny little metal particles, so maybe its the water pump causing the noise and shavings, could a dead water pump put shavings in both? doesn't help with why it keeps cutting out though, i'll post the video once its done

Thanks for your help so far though

Edit:

Longer video from startup

[c1471]

Pictures:

View post on imgur.com

The engine is out of the car and slowly starting to be stripped down, alternator and all other pulleys seem to be fine and not the cause of the squeak.

Took the cam cover off and doesn't seem like there's any damage from what I can tell and also doesn't seem to be any shavings in the residual oil still sat there, so decided to take a look at the sump, removed it and well.. you can see from the pictures there is a lot of shavings in there, they all seem to be a copper/brass colour which is bearings right? ordered an engine stand so i can properly support the engine and take a better look at the bottom end so that should be here in a few days until then just looking for clarification on the shavings, also where the big collection of shavings is in the picture is right below the only conrod that isn't covered by the oil pump so it looks like its just dropped straight down and collected there, i'll update when i've got more

[bishbosh]

Thanks for the video! At first it sounds quite normal, maybe a bit of injector tap. The squeak however was evident once revved and returned to idle, it didn't sound too good. Was there also a bit of turbo whine?

I'll follow this with interest, for the photos there will be fewer if any particles in the top end because they'll have been picked up by the oil filter, larger particles being caught by the oil pick up, so it should be relatively clean in the top end. Whatever it is, something has failed to produce those particles and that won't be the water pump, I'm guessing a bearing shell of some sort.

Was the oil pump replaced when the engine was rebuilt?