Hey guys, I'm trying to find a noise coming from my 5 speed 02 Z24 with the ld9 in it. It is making a very quiet ticking sound at idle. If i very lightly accelerate with the throttle around 5-10% and hold the rpm's around 2800 it'll be louder. I was doing some research and it seems the cylinder 3 rod bearing is very common to fail in these engines when ran low on oil. I got the car for a hundred bucks and noticed it was 2 qts low on oil so i topped it off. The noise persisted afterwards. I just changed the oil today after running motor flush through it today and put some rislone treatment in it. I noticed in the oil there were very small flakes of metal in it, however this is normal when changing oil to my knowledge as long as it's not an excessive amount. I saved the filter after i changed it so i can cut it open and see what is in it. I bought a stethoscope and hooked it up but no luck hearing anything or isolating the noise. thanks for reading and i look forward to the help guys.

Also forgot to mention it's throwing a p0300 random misfire code, i'm not sure if this is related or not, the sound does not seem to be a misfire either.

Could be a number of things but the most common thing on these engines is the lower end.... Ive also seen valve springs break..... if you bought the car so cheap and if and only if you are wanting to build it pull the engine find another good 2.4 and 2.3 oil pump swap it would probably be your best bet


Erik Packard

Update: Noise is still there after about 500 miles, does not seem to have gotten any worse. I looked up sounds of bad rod bearings and it does not sound like this. It is a very prominent ticking. I pulled out the stethoscope tonight and it sounds like its coming from the transmission area. The ticking changes on conditions:

Clutch Disengaged: Almost silent, have to blip the throttle at about 2500 rpm at 15% or so to hear it

Clutch Engaged In Gear: very very prominent around 2800 rpm, goes away when holding throttle steady and disengaging clutch

If it was a rod bearing would it be loud regardless of a load on the engine? Also the guy I bought it from had a new clutch put in about a year ago, I was wondering if it could be a misaligned clutch or throwout bearing? I also feel a vibration in the clutch pedal when it is fully disengaged.

Also when I'm going about 35-40 mph and put it in first and go from closed throttle to WOT the car jerks violently for a couple seconds, could that be a sign of a failing clutch? Would a failing clutch cause a ticking noise?

Clutches are usually diagnosised in higher gears like 4th or 5 at wot. You will see the rpms shoot up and not accelerate. My ld9 ticks above 2500 rpms too. It's a 5 speed 2000 z24. I tried replacing all the timing parts and it's a little quieter but still there. Someone suggested in my post it could be a cam follower but I have yet to find any for an LD9 only ecos.




On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.

Also my p0300 was solved by new plugs, plug adapter, 2 coil packs and coil pack adapter. Coil packs are in the idi cover by the way. Don't forge the coil pack adapter.




On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.

funnily enough i had the stupid idi cover apart and changed the coil housing and it didnt help, i tested the coils with a multimeter and they tested good. i'll probably change everything in a couple weeks. and is your ticking really loud or kinda quiet? it sounds like lifter tick on steroids almost, not at all like a rod bearing knocking.

and i meant to say in fifth gear going from closed to WOT it shakes violently

You cannot test the coils in these cars without special tools. If it shutters probably have a bad coil pack. I had this issue for 2 years. Every time I replaced the plugs and black adapters and it ran good for a 3-5,000 miles then it would start shuttering under light load. Then it got really bad a month or so ago then I found out about the coil packs and housing. I thought the idi cover was all one piece. I never knew you could take it apart. My car has been fine since then but now I need a new o2 sensor. I would fix the p0300 before you worry about noises.




On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.

i tested the resistance on the primary and secondary on each coil and it seemed ok, but from some research it may still be bad, ill definitely change them out and see what happens

Bad or worn throw out bearing maybe ?

Vacum leak

vacuum leak would make sense, im idling really high, around 1400-1500 rpm, but would that really cause a ticking sound and a misfire condition? and the clutch was changed about a year ago, and i dont know if they changed the throwout bearing or not. is there a way to test it without opening the tranny?

and when i first start the car the rpms go up to about 3000 for several seconds

Im a complete noob here, but when i had my Ld9 i had a higher rpm around 1200-1500. turns out the front hose on the throttle body had developed a crack and also my throttle body was soooooooooo disgusting. carb cleaned the crap outta it and replaced the hose it fixed the issue. as for the tick, ive only ever had one tick and it was my timing chain but you said it was from the other side so i have no clue

A cracked intake manifold could cause a ticking noise and so could a leaking or cracked exhaust manifold. Not sure about the misfire. Misfire might be a cracked/arcing coil housing.

when i get up ill spray some carb cleaner around the intake and see if i find a leak somewhere

"Its a Cavalier Thing, You Wouldnt Understand"
lets make us some stickers and Tees! im sorry but there are sooo many "thing: like this that are common... Good luck, im not sure what to look into. Im not a 2.4 fan at all so ide tell you to do something bad to it.


Fireboy153
Brady Fire Co. - Station 150
Long Live The Sunflower! (yea its not so "cool")

For the misfire I'd start with removing the IDI cover and examining the plug boot protectors and coil housing for cracks, burned spots, etc..
You should do the 2200 OHV SFI Ignition conversion. I got my ICM, Coil packs, plug wires and wiring harness from the J/Y for less than $40 and the wires from the 98+ 2200 OHV SFI cavalier ignition system are the exact same number of wires and the exact same colors as the 97+ 2.4 Ignition system. All you have to do is cut your old ICM wire harness off and solder the wire harness from the 2200 ICM together with the wires on your car harness, heat shrink tube them, tape them and viola ! Then you just have to find a place in the engine bay to mount your new 2200 ICM/Coil packs.