'96 2.3L 4-banger

So I've recently been having a lot of noise coming from what I believe is my crankshaft. Like a metal-rubbing-on-metal type sound. I have sprayed some lube around the inside of the crank pulley and behind the pulley and it will go quiet for a little while, then come back. Is there anything else I can do to remedy this? It kinda sounds like a bad bearing but I don't think there is a bearing there. Am I correct?

EDIT: It still makes the noise when running it with the belt pulled off, so I know nothing else is contributing to it.

 

bad crank bearing. hopefuly you didnt spin one. either way, your looking at a lower end rebuild.


get your engine crane out.

 

Pull the harmonic balancer off that may show you signs of metal shavings or wear on seals,

Has the timing belt and teenioner been replaced???

I would remove the timing belt cover and inspect the tensioner before removing engine.

When you lube behind the pulley you are lubing the timinng cover seal and crankshaft but I do not believe you are lubing the main bearing as you have the timing belt aprocket in the way before getting to the main seal.

Check your harmonic balancer also as the rubber on the balancer may be bad and 2 parts are rubbing together.



You can also listen on the oil pan with a long screwdriver to your ear to see if noise is coming from crankshaft or some where else. Just be careeful of moving parts.

 

I have had the timing belt & tensioner replaced about 40k miles ago. The belt actually broke while driving, but since its a non-interference engine, the mechanic said all was fine.

It might be worth mentioning that the noise goes away when I just lube the center of the pulley as well, not just behind it. I can't see the center of it simply because its so close to the radiator, but it feels like there is a nut in there holding the pulley on. If I lube around the nut, the sound goes away.

I should also point out that I have been dealing with this issue for about 2 years now. (Started long after the timing belt change). I drive it nearly every day. It still runs perfect and doesn't seem to be getting any worse. Its just annoying. I'll lube it and the sound goes away for 2-3 weeks and then comes back.

I've found that this type of lube works best and lasts longest:

 

I am not sure if your engine has a two piece balancer or not. The balancer is held onto the crankshaft by a lagre bolt and washer that turns into crankshaft. I would double check the bolt for tightness.

 

Made a video of it... maybe this will help

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v3...urrent=060.mp4

 

Does the harmonic balancer have a wobble to it as it runs???

Can you post a video of the balncer as the engine is running?? Drive it on ramps and shoot video from underneath engien.

Kinda sounds like balancer is rubbing on timing belt cover.

You may need to remove balancer and inspect.