ive been driving my car for about 2 or 3 weeks since the 383 rebuild. it only has about 700 miles. when i race or just floor it, at about 5k rmp to shift, the engine sounds like it has vtec. it gets louder. it started doing it after i installed my new pro-built tranny. what could it be?

i went under the car yesterday and i noticed that my headers have an exhaust leak. when i was installing the headers, my brother told my to put some sealant on the copper gaskets. now, my heads and spark plugs are black from the exhaust leaking from the flange. i dont know if thats causing the engine getting louder at high rpm. im also showing 5 degrees of knock retard. it might be the exhaust leak.

it also has an oil leak from either the opti or wp seal.

i would like some advice on what to do. i have p/p heads with stock valves, 224/230 cam, stock timing chain (its a 94 with stock water pump), and an underdrive pulley. should i go back into the engine and get a set of afr heads, bigger cam, better timing chain, harmonic damper, and a electric wp? i dont know what to do. im 18 years old and didnt do my research when i started building the engine. now i have lots of regrets. what would you guys recommend. thanks in advance for all your help.

 

If you've got the money, then your engine could always use more lift and better flow.

If you seal that exhaust leak your knock retard might just go away.

And 90% of the people on this board have a leak somewhere. I have a small oil leak somewhere in the front and a coolant leak which I will hopefully be able to take care of today..

Check your priorities and see what you want to do. If you've got that much money to blow on your car, then there are always parts of your car that you haven't upgraded yet. Your car will eat your money up as fast as you want to give it to her...

 

you think the stock timing chain is strong enough for the engine. right now, its shifting at about 6400 rpm. that might be about 6200 since the tach is off. is it safe?

 

ttt

 

I would upgrade if I were you... with all that money into the engine you don't want anything going wrong even if you don't think you're pushing it that hard...

 

If you only have 700 miles on a "fresh" motor, I wouldn't be takin' it up to 5k rpm anyway..Have u ever heard of "break in miles?"..When I got mine back, i was told to put AT LEAST 2-3k miles on it, before goin WOT..

 

i was told that its ok after 500 miles. i guess i shouldnt be beating any cobras anymore. do you think i damaged or could've damaged something?

what timing chain can i get for it since its a 94?

 

the only way to upgrade the chain is to go to a vented opti....
FYI I have 6k miles on a similar setup with stock timing chain. no problems, except a little cam surge when the TCC is locked. I certinly wouldnt be pulling it apart, unless you virtually unlimited time/money. How bad is your oil leak? if it is super small I would ignore it. as for your exhaust leak I would fix that and see if that fixes you knock retard, just curious, what engine temp was the computer (not the gauge) reading when you noticed you had 5 degrees of retard. If i remember right the computer starts retarding timing about 172 degrees and is 5 degrees retarded somwhere about 200 degrees. If it was idleing for awhile then you checked the retard it could have easily been that hot.... what compression are you running, and how much max spark advance?

 

the oil leak is pretty big. it leaves a little puddle of oil (about a half dollar coin size) everywhere i go. temp was about 175 or so. i only get 5 degrees under wot i think. i think compression is 10.5 or 10.8. ill have to look at the sheet the shop gave me. and spark advance under wot was somewhre around 39.

how long do you think i should wait before getting on it again since i didnt break it in completely?

 

i changed my oil at 50 miles and again around 900 then I started getting on it....

 

why does the engine get louder at higher rpm. it never did it when it was stock or when i first started getting on it?

 

Is it a bearing noise or just exhaust getting louder?

 

i dont know what bearing noise is but it doesnt lose power or anything. it runs strong.

 

a high piched squeek

 

no. its the exhaust or engine getting louder.