96 tercel engine possibly going out?

[dfaroah]

Awhile ago my 96 tercel started ticking then it started ticking real loud, and then I noticed I got shavings in my oil when I changed it, the ticking comes loudest from my exhaust port with my stethescope and gets louder when the engine warms up all the way, I cant pinpoint whether the sound is coming from the head or block because it's so loud it sometimes just seems to come from everywhere, any ideas? I'm not that familiar with this engine and am curious as to what common issues the 5efe motors have as well since I just recently got the car.

[96paseo]

The 5E doesn't have any issues with valvetrain but I think that tapping noise you have is related to it. Pull the valve cover and have a look at all the cam lobes, lifter, shims etc. If all looks good with the valvetrain, your issue will likely be oil pump, bottom end or piston/con rod related. Did your engine run low on oil at some point?

[dfaroah]

I haven't let it run low since I bought it but it has a small oil leak that seems to be coming from the crankshaft seal or something so it probably has gone pretty low from the previous owner.

[96paseo]

Originally Posted by dfaroah

I haven't let it run low since I bought it but it has a small oil leak that seems to be coming from the crankshaft seal or something so it probably has gone pretty low from the previous owner.

Its a good possibility. Oil consumption is the main enemy of the 5E and other E engines. Post back after you check out the valvetrain and let us know what happened.

[dfaroah]

So, rod and crankshaft bearings all checked out as did the oil pump, found more shavings and a few magnetic chunks in the oil pan, swapped out the head, put 10w40 oil in instead of 5w30, when the engine runs the exhaust smokes like a mother and the idle sounds like someone is tapping their feet on the gas pedal to music, I'm thinking it may be timing is off a few grooves on the belt.... oorrrr the intake cam is geared in wrong now, after complete dissasembly I realized it wasnt a groove in the cam gear but in fact two gears, I might have rotated them by mistake so I might not be able to trust the marks on the cam gear for alignment, any specific way to tell if its the cam, timing, or both?

[96paseo]

Originally Posted by dfaroah

So, rod and crankshaft bearings all checked out as did the oil pump, found more shavings and a few magnetic chunks in the oil pan, swapped out the head, put 10w40 oil in instead of 5w30, when the engine runs the exhaust smokes like a mother and the idle sounds like someone is tapping their feet on the gas pedal to music, I'm thinking it may be timing is off a few grooves on the belt.... oorrrr the intake cam is geared in wrong now, after complete dissasembly I realized it wasnt a groove in the cam gear but in fact two gears, I might have rotated them by mistake so I might not be able to trust the marks on the cam gear for alignment, any specific way to tell if its the cam, timing, or both?

There are circular stamping marks on the cam gears that need to be lined up. A service bolt should also be installed into the exhaust cam gear prior to disassembly. You can use one of your timing cover bolts for this. Example pic is below. Also see thread link at bottom of post to get the timing marks lined up.



Service bolt installed on exhaust camshaft. This is an example pic from the 3S-FE but its the same procedure on the 5E.



Use some liquid paper and mark the gears once you get the timing right. You will find one cam gear has two circle marks and the other has one. You line up the single circle in the middle of the two circles and its good. Why did you swap the head? Was there damage to the valvetrain? Link to the thread is below.
1996 Paseo DIY Oil seals ,valve cover gasket and more...

[dfaroah]

well swapping the head did fix the noise, I suspect the problem was in one of the valves although I dont have the valve compressor to pull it apart and check, I got it all worked out now except I still have smoky exhaust although sometimes for no apparent reason it starts to have normal exhaust, after running engine for awhile smoke comes from within radiator cap, fluids are all filled properly on everything though, check engine light is on, gonna go rent a tester in a bit, and my compression is 100psi 100psi 90psi 100psi,, don't know if that's good or bad, never done compression before

[dfaroah]

apparently it's illegal to rent a tester in california, total bs, instead I just pulled the battery to reset the code and then watch and see if it pops up again and hopefully be able to identify the cause, and upon closer examination the "smoky" coolant is actually steam although Ive never seen it steam in this kind of weather before

[96paseo]

Steam coming off the radiator is probably just leftover coolant from when you filled it up. A little spill will steam for a while since coolant doesn't like to evaporate quickly. Those compression numbers are pretty low. How many cranks did you do for the test? 160 would be a better low number. 180-200 would be good. Did you use the thread-in type compression tester or the hand pressure type?

[dfaroah]

I ran the starter motor to crank it about 5 seconds total per cylinder, basically until the pressure quit going up on the gauge. and I used a screw in tester, power wise the engine feels just fine though when I drove it earlier for about 10 miles in the city

[96paseo]

Since thats the highest pressure you could get, I suspect your rings are worn out. That would also explain why your getting visible smoke out the tail pipe. The engine can continue to run this way but no way to tell if/when your gonna have driveability issues.