Bottom end knock

[JaggR53]

Hey, Love the game! it's deffinatly a step up from CMS and the like.

However I've just reached level 5 and fully rebuilt the bottom end of the Endro #2 car's motor. After completing it I ran my first race with it, only to have a report of bottom end knock appear (among other things though those I pawned off on the computer). Are event's like these random or acually due to improper tourqueing methods/spec, is the game that specific? I ask because I beleve I followed the directions to the best of my abilities and genuenly don't know what could have failed.

Side note for the Devs.... for these coud we (if there's not somthing in place already) get a way to find a specific part(s) that failed in one of these events? Or is the point to go through the whole bottom end once again to repair the fault?

[EssBee]

Heya. As far as I can tell there is a degree of randomness to events but at the same time the game seems to do a pretty good job of moddeling potential failures and issues.

I've just reached level 5 but have only sent the rental car and the Sprint #1 to the track so far so have only had one report of an issue as the cars have always been pretty well maintained. (I pushed my luck with the rental car once, leaky oil seal which ended up with oil pressure issues, not surprisingly). I'm just in the process of rebuilding the entire Enduro #2 car from the gronud up as it had a massive mix and match of good and beyond stupidly worn parts on it. Figured I'd start from a completely clean sheet with it so I can follow it's wear patterns easier as I race it. With the longer races comes more chance for issues and faliures so i might start to see more of these kind of events happeneing now.

As for your bottom end knock, it could be any one of a multitude of things really. Diagnosing the problem is literally just a process of elimination. In reality, the only info a driver might ever be able to give is 'there is bottom end knock', as that's as close as they might be able to get to knowing what the problem is. They're just the driver, they just drive. You're the technician, you look after the car.
Your best bet is to take a look at the car info on the tablet. Check the items for all levels, not just level 5. Is there anything there that is showing serious signs of wear? If there is, could this item potentially make a noise that could be interpreted as 'bottom end knock' by the driver?
Now this is where you have to keep a bit of an open mind. Just because he says it's bottom end knock, it doesn't automatically mean that it is dead set accurate that it is indeed engine related.
Your engine mounts attach to your engine block. If one of these is loose or worn it could perhaps cause a knocking noise through your engine block which could possibly be interpreted as bottom end knock, as the vibration of movment of the engine in the chassis could be causing an kncking noise as it bangs against the block.
Whether things like this are modelled in the game or not I'm not entirely sure as, like I say, I've only ever encountered one small mechanical issue so far as I keep my cars pretty well maintained. But thing's like that are thngs you should bear in mind.

Start with the reported symptom, then think of every possible thing that you can that could make that noise or something like it, and slowly weed them all out until you find the issue.

Start with all the simple things that are easy to get to, like checking engine mounts, transmission bolts for tightness to the engine, crankshaft nut for tightness etc etc. II could even be something like oil levels being too low causing low oil pressure between the parts causing them to knock. It doesn't get much simpler than pulling out a dipstick to double check the oil level to elminate that as a potential cause. Start from the outside and work your way in. The last thing you want to do is have to remove and stip your engine unnecessarily.

If, however, it does turn out to be something to do wih your engine internals and you do have to pull your engine apart again, I have knocked up a guide that covers the entire engine rebuild process from the bottom up. Feel free to cast an eye over it if you so wish. It might just highlight something you missed.

If you still get stuck with this one then give me a shout and I'll try and help you out.

[JaggR53]

Hey Steph,

Tthanks for the long and detailed reply. I've done what you have with my Enduro #2 car and more or less rebuilt the entire thing from the ground up. The whole engine is sparkeling new other than the one failed event.

While your eplination does make sence to me and would have me lookine elsewhere. The report also ays that the engine is inoperable. My working knowlege of motors says potential bad conrod or the like to check first. As bottom-end knock+non-running engine might equal rod through block. Though I'm not sure entirely.

[EssBee]

Heya. Almost caught ya. Middle of the night here in the UK but nature called and woke me up.. realised I'd dozed off and left my pc on. Oops!

Anyway, I've just completed my first 12hour race with my nice shiny 100% fully rebuilt car, which my driver managed to pretty much trash. I'd have wanted to fire him (if it was even possible to do) if he hadn't won the race!
After watching all the random events that popped up during that race I now see what you mean about some of them being, like, seriously random! My driver trashed his brand new tyres 52 minutes into the race. how is that even possible on tyres that are supposed to last over another 11 hours?!
But yeah, I now have a slightly clearer picture of the kinda notifications you get.

I'd pretty much tend to agree with you now that the bottom end knock reported is probably engine related, even more so now you've mentioned that the engine is inoperable. That last bit throws a whole new light on the situation.
Certainly sounds crank or rod related now.. Big end's was always in the back of my mind from your first post, but I was hoping it might be something simpler.

One thing I did think of after I sent my first reply, when you were assembling the main's and crank, did you put those two little Thrust Bearings into place either side of the Main Bearing in the Block between cylinders #3 and #4? They could be fairly easy to over look and could potentiallly cause your crank to move back and forth a little in the block. Just a little something that sprung to mind.

But yeah, certainly inclinded to agree that, unfortunately, it does sound a bit like a rod issue. Loose rod nut or cap, or worn or missing rod /cap bearing maybe.

I wass hoping it might be something real quick and easy to fix but in fairness, is anything ever that simple?! ;D


Here's a link to that guide I knocked up. Not sure if it will help or not but it's alway handy to have a little extra something to refer to. I flick back to it every time I do any engine work now. Makes life so much easier having all that info to hand.
It now looks like i have the entire car mapped out now with evey nut and bolt, size, and torque value that I could find in-game. When I have a spare week I might knock up a guide on how to build an entire car...... maybe! ;D
Anyway, here's the link.
Let me know how you get on. Be interesting to find out what the outcome is.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1631544923

[JaggR53]

Hey,

Good news! Looks like our suspisions were right. The crank or berings or caps was the issue. I tried the rods first though the game didn't like that change. All is good motor whise now.

Though now the report says the car's pulling sooo time to rebuild the suspension. Wish the driver would say to what side as that would help eliminate a whole side of the vehicle to potentially worry about. Guess I'll have to go through each corner not that it's a bad thing. I do thing that a real race car would get rebuilt if one of these issues were to pop up just to save time and later failures down the road.

Having fun with it though!

[EssBee]

Heya. Yep, was pretty confident it was a rod or crank issue as soon as you said it was inoperable.
Glad you got it sorted though.

Funny enough my driver managed to get the car pulling too after his 12 hour race. That was a 100% rebuilt car too, top to bottom, and he killed it in one race. I'd have strung him up if he hadn't won!
Hardly surprising he killed it though, he punted three other cars during that race and kept hitting kerbs at high speed and running off track too. I knew the suspension would be shot before he even mentioned it was pulling.This is the same idiot that killed his tyres 52 minutes into a 12 hour race! Lucky the rest of the field all had engine problems or he'd have probably come last.
I haven't got round to checking out the car yet as I've been working on a chassis guide to go with that engine guide I did, but as soon as that's done (almost threre) I'll strip his car down and see what he's done.
He missed a gear on downshfting too and over revved the engine so no doubt the rings and rods took a battering too.
Judging by his last performance it looks like I might need to give him another 100% rebuilt car otherwise he'll never make the finish line in the next race! ;D