[elitemafia]

Not sure what is going on here, I went over everything and don't see anything wrong. It seems to make plenty of power but over 7k rpm's it just sounds... off. I can hear lift kick in at 6k but after 7k rpm it almost sounds like it's just winding. Computer isn't detecting any misfire... I'm not really sure what I could've done wrong...

best i can describe it as a buzzing sound. I don't see any oil leaking from around the gasket. I made a video but not sure if it really comes across. its most noticable after like 7500rpm
i used a fel pro gasket kit. I will say I had some issues installing teh spark plug gaskets, i only ended up replacing one of them because I broke the first one I tried to install, so I figured I'd just leave the other 3 since they seemed fine anyways. I obviously discarded the broken gasket and used another new one. I used the black RTV on the 2 little divets near the timing chain cover like it says to do.

http://imgur.com/sAt7BJ6

 

[Indy2]

May not be something that you did during gasket change but a coincidence. Lift bolts could be really worn or broken and not holding the valve rocker shaft securely. Did you inspect them while the cover was off?

 

[RWatters]

The only thing I hear is either an aftermarket exhaust or possibly an exhaust leak? If you replaced the valve cover gasket and aren't spewing fluids everywhere then it didn't cause anything.

It's common for the spark plug seals to be a pain to get out. I ended up having to break mine into pieces to get them out.

 

[75aces]

I burned mine out.

 

[elitemafia]

May not be something that you did during gasket change but a coincidence. Lift bolts could be really worn or broken and not holding the valve rocker shaft securely. Did you inspect them while the cover was off?

No way it's a coincidence. I drove the car right before I did the gasket.

Car has an after market cat and resonator, though it's just a cheap drop in oem replacement. Most of the noise you're hearing is probably the aftermarket short ram intake... Only thing I wonder is maybe the pcv valve is bad and before it was just leaking out the gasket so it didn't matter..

 

[elitemafia]

There's also a bit of a squeaking noise at idle that I can hear, sounds like its coming from the right side of the motor, which is near where I replaced the spark plug seal. Could it just be one of those metal tabs there? gonna have to take the VC off I think and look at them. I don't know how it could be anything too serious given the car runs and drives the same. Are those tabs even necessary? they seem kind of fragile.

only other thing I can see is there is a slight crack on the left most cylinder's coil, but it's only cracked right where the bolt sits and the car doesn't seem to be misfiring...

 

[elitemafia]

http://imgur.com/R0D4ENR

really obvious noise here, not sure what this would even be.

 

[elitemafia]

I took everthing off, don't see anything too abnormal. Don't know what I could've done to cause this. Really lost here, there is definitely something wrong though.

 

[elitemafia]

I saw a slight mark on one of the CAm lobes but surely this is just a coincidence? I don't see how I could've caused this. I didn't touch anything in there....

 

[elitemafia]

It's 100% breaking up at the top end. Either that or my clutch is slipping, not really sure. One thing I have noticed is that squeaking noise goes away when I push in the clutch pedal.... Also this is after some pretty hard driving and it was fine up until this point....
to be honest I'm not 100% sure but I think I may have pushed in the clutch after it broke up, which may be why it shot up to the limiter. Really unsure.

http://imgur.com/BWCsnJ6

 

[elitemafia]

Okay so, I'm fairly sure the buzzing noise I'm hearing is the clutch or part of the slave cylinder. I can see part of the slave cylinder rattling like crazy at idle, and I imagine it's just buzzing away at high revs. That said, IDK why it's breaking up at higher rpm's... Kind of think I might have gotten some bad gas.

 

[75aces]

Could be, but that's the clutch fork.

 

[elitemafia]

also important to note- most times i rev it to redline its fine, just like, sometimes its breaking up around 7500-7800rpm, just like a small hesitation, though the one i recorded was pretty bad. I am not sure how I don't have any codes for this though? only code i have is a P0446 which i'm fairly sure is for the VSV that is normally sitting on the airbox, as it clicks very loudly and very rapidly.

Can anyone confirm waht part this is? in this diagram it's labelled as 25860a but so is the other VSV that's not really necessary afaik (the one that attaches to the pre-filter part of the airbox with a really small hose) It's the VSV that sits on the back of the airbox towards the firewall, and has a little green thing with a cap near it. I am not 100% sure this is causing my p0446 but it is clicking so fast and vibrating a lot for some reason, no way that's normal, right? I can find similar aftermarket parts on rockauto:

More Information for STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS CP746

More Information for WVE 2M1406

on my hood it is labeled PWM Vacuum switching valve

and here it is chillin zip tied to my cruise control box:

for now im just gonna cap that line off on my intake and see if anything changes...

 

[elitemafia]

replaced VSV, haven't got a check engine light since I cleared it, we'll see if that fixes the EVAP code issue. Still having issue at high rpm. I kind of wonder if its somehow falling off the lift cam because it feels like its over-revving or something. I can clearly hear lift kick in at 6200rpm and the car feels fast, just randomly it will stop pulling at like 7800rpm and just sort of hang there for a second. Any ideas guys? I'm lost here. Would that be a loss of oil pressure or something?
My car is an 03 matrix XRS so IDK if it has the newer design lift bolts or not... but I never had issues before I changed this gasket so IDK. My oil level seems normal.

 

[75aces]

You need to pull the vc and inspect the lift bolts. That is the only way to rule them out.

Also sounds like your hitting fuel cut-off.

 

[elitemafia]

Just checked my oil with the motor hot and somehow it's like just below the low line. Not good

 

[elitemafia]

have a bit of a leak where the RTV goes near the timing chain gasket.... gonna have to redo this again. Also ordered more spark plug gaskets so I can get all 4 installed... can only get this with the gasket so I might as well just replace the gasket again I guess /shrug

 

[Indy2]

IMO replace those lift bolts while you have the vc off. They are only a few bucks a piece. Would also recommend pulling both camshaft control valves to inspecting/cleaning the oil passage screens to rule that out as well.

 

[elitemafia]

IMO replace those lift bolts while you have the vc off. They are only a few bucks a piece. Would also recommend pulling both camshaft control valves to inspecting/cleaning the oil passage screens to rule that out as well.

My current plan is to replace the lift bolts, replace the VC gasket with an OEM one and replace the 4 spark plug tube seals with OEM ones as well...

 

[elitemafia]

So I redid the VC gasket with all OEM including the spark plug tube seals, replaced the lift bolts, changed the oil and put it all back together. started the car, everything seems fine. Drove around for a bit, everything is fine. I decide to try and hit lift and well, things did NOT go well. Right after I hit lift it started losing power and then started making a horrendous clacking noise. Almost like an extremely loud lifter tick or something like that. IDK what happened. I pulled the VC again and see absolutely nothing wrong so I figured I'd try just putting the old lift bolts in and see what happens, but its the same. I don't get it. I mean clearly I must have broken something but WHAT.... ugh. Gonna tow it to my mechanic tomorrow and based on what he says I may be parting this thing out or something, IDK.