yikes, engine noise/lights, where do i start? help!

[delicioso!]

Hi folks,

we've had the l400 now for close to 3 years now. got it with 108K from mardy and now at 166K. it's got a kleen oil bypass filter as well and running amsoil synthetic.

so, i started noticing a very light rattle about 2 weeks ago, concerned me a little, thought it was from an exhaust. and with very busy lives with 3 little one's, just didn't get the time to look further. so last night, the fam went to a restaurant very close to home and my wife noticed the battery and engine(oil?) light come on and with more of a rattle/vibration, yikes. ( i was following in the toyota). prior to this, i have noticed the rattle was a little louder. can't tell where it's coming from.

anyway, checked the oil and it's down and had to add about a litre. (i was probably a little behind as i have long drain intervals with the bypass filter and typically add a little bit here and there or after i change the bypass filter).

anyway, the engine will always start, no leaks anywhere on the ground, and will run smooth...but shortly after it'll start to rattle/clanky noise and this noise has slowly gotten louder.

i'll admit that i'm behind on the fuel filter change, will be doing this soon.

gotta say, had trouble sleeping last night as this is the major family hauler as we can't fit 2 car seats and a baby seat in the toyota..

drove home from the restaurant and the engine seemed to sound normal, but battery and engine/oil light are still on and also an "A/T" light is on as well. what is that?

i've searched through this forum about engine noises/clunks but couldn't find anything close to the symptoms i have??

i'll also take an oil sample out and see how it looks (but that'll take time). gosh, i'd hate to have the bottom end go!!!

any help/advice hugely appreciated!

( crank pulley vibration rattle delamination shaking )

[delicioso!]

here's what's showing right now..

[Diver]

Well the good (hopefully!) news is those three lights on together mean your alternator isn't charging. The one next to the battery light isn't oil, it's water in the fuel filter. Doesn't mean you have that when all of those three are on however! Strange Mitsubishi quirk.
Check the alternator itself, but as you have noise also check the crank pulley. It may have come delaminated (it's made up of an inner and outer section bonded together with rubber in between).

[delicioso!]

well Diver, looks like crank pulley is kaput! checked it this morning and noticed the 2 belts to the alty weren't square and that the fan blade's actually rubbing. safe to assume then that the light rattling was the pulley (bearing??) starting to delaminate and progressively got looser and looser and slipped out as my wife was turning into the restaurant causing the louder vibration as the fan belt started making contact? i'm seeing light scuffs on the fan blade from that and it may have gone back in place, luckily, on the quick drive back to the house (5 min) where the engine actually sounded normal before shut off.

sssso, is it safe to assume that this is the main problem and i didn't toast the motor? and maybe the belt's weren't spinning properly causing a weak charge on the alty (thus the funny 3 light combo...?).

so, what parts am i looking at buying and can i do this in the driveway? guessing i gotta get at it from the bottom? special tools needed?

pics to come...

[MardyDelica]

hi, change new crankshaft pulley this is common now when the car reach more than 100 kms .
as in japan they don't run 120 kms. they run slow.
but here in Canada we run more than 80kms per hour in the highway. so it create stress on the rubber pulley.
change it and your good on this only original as its last longer.
don't used the car it will create big problem to you.
you can damage the timing chain cover or damage your engine or oveheat.
as per alternator if need help I do have 125 ampere alternator brand new not rebuild made in japan
better than original one.
if you need help pls call me will glad to help
cheers

[delicioso!]

thanks again Mardy!

thought i'd post these related threads too after my searches..same issue.

http://www.delica.ca/forum/deli-hell-15616-15.html

http://www.delica.ca/forum/l400-crank-i ... ml#p101615

http://www.delica.ca/forum/bigger-probl ... 12345.html

[delicioso!]

and just to recap, i'm looking at:

new crank pulley
new alternator belts (x2) or might as well get all 3
potentially a new alternator adjusting rod (?)

work is done from the top of the motor, remove rad shroud, and careful not to damage the small coolant hose next to the upper rad hose going to the reservoir. and coolant's gotta be drained?

torque crank pulley to 160 ftlbs.

assssssuming, i didn't do any more damage to the front/timing cover..

[Diver]

I'd go with new crank pulley, bolt and belts. Very unlikely that you'll need an alternator, as you said it wouldn't have been driven by the belts properly thereby causing your light show so it's 99% sure to be fine.
Psilosin did a thread when he had the same problem here:

http://www.delica.ca/forum/bigger-probl ... 45-30.html

I put a photo and a few tips on page 3 that will hopefully help. Most importantly about not turning the engine backwards!
Psilosin also put a photo and maybe a link to the special tool he bought which was quite inexpensive, it must be on a different thread though. Have a search for 'crank pulley' or 'harmonic balancer'. It's there somewhere...

As Mardy says, the engine shouldn't be run until fixed, that noise you're hearing is actual physical contact between the pulley and something it shouldn't be touching. It's been known for them to wear a hole in the front timing case!
Other than that fingers crossed you got away with a cheap and easy fix

[delicioso!]

big thanks Diver! thanks for the link, added them too so hopefully these threads pop up on someone else's search!

i'm just crossing my fingers i didn't crap out the front timing case! don't want to count my blessings just yet.... but i'm hoping the somewhat normal sounding but short drive home last night was a good sign...

[Diver]

The massive pool of oil underneath would be the giveaway! If that's the first you've heard of the noise, probably fine

I see you found that other thread while I was typing. Nice one!

Also, it's not a bad idea to whip the radiator out, it's quick and easy and gives much more room to work while avoiding the possibility of damaging it. You can give it a good flushing too

Gold standard would also be to change the crank seal btw and make sure any paint is removed from the pulley where it contacts the seal. That should keep things leak-free in the future.

[delicioso!]

some pics.







nothing too bad on the fan?

[delicioso!]

The massive pool of oil underneath would be the giveaway! If that's the first you've heard of the noise, probably fine

I see you found that other thread while I was typing. Nice one!

nope, i quickly cut and pasted your link somewhere in between..

. . . guessing if I should throw in the new AC compressor i got from japan while there?

[Diver]

Doesn't look bad from what I can see, bit of scuffing. Also means it wasn't shaving your timing case as long as it was shaving your fan!

[delicioso!]

whew! sent ya a PM!

[Diver]

The massive pool of oil underneath would be the giveaway! If that's the first you've heard of the noise, probably fine

I see you found that other thread while I was typing. Nice one!

nope, i quickly cut and pasted your link somewhere in between..

. . . guessing if I should throw in the new AC compressor i got from japan while there?

Yes!