I need your help guys,

So yesterday the car started knockin like a mother ****er. I checked it out and i did not see anything wrong. Oil is good, changed like 1 month ago. Everything is good, and the only thing i have done to it in months is I gave it some shorty headers, found them in a boneyard for like 12 bucks. I have pipes running too. They go a halfway down the driverside door for now, as i need to wait till the 20th... which is today, to get more money so i can get some pipe and new mufflers. Nothing else has been toutched. Basically stock LG4 nothing in it, cept some nice valve covers, air filter, thats about it. (Cheap things to make it look preety. Anyhow, when i looked at it the knocking was coming from the driver side valve cover. Ok here is the semi-complex story.

I am installing a setero in my GF camaro, and my friend needs to go meet someone at some store (about 4 miles away) so i borrow him my car, so while i do that he goes there, and he calls my GF house and her parent tells him that i whent home already. So he drives to my house, and on the way there runs outa gas (cause he is a cheap bastard and he didn't give it gas) So i drive there, and i fill it up with some gas. Then apparently the car's battery is dead. So we jump start it, and everything works fine (knocking present still) We drive to the gas station and put more gas in the car. Meanwhile i am driving my GF car, and i am gonna return it. So my friend is following me for the 1 mile left to her house from the Gas station, and all of a suddent (about 300 yards before her house) he starts to flash me, because the damn car died (MINE) He coasts it all the way to her driveway and parks it. He told me that he tried to start the car with the ingition and by dropping the clutch, niether worked. (Car is a 5 speed) When the motor is cranked the engine turnes and everything sound good, except it wont start, nothing will start. Lights and battery are good, i dont know whats wrong!!!! Car is an 83 Firebird SE. Thats all i know about the problem. I am thinking it might be a broken rod, or something. It was already 11 at night and i just didn't have the time to look at it. Please tell me this is a simple problem! Or actually tell me anything that will fix it!

THANKS!

(edited to fix a spelling error)

 

Hhmmm...you said it was knocking. You also said that you thought it might have been a broken rod. So describe this knock. Was it spark knock or rod knock? You said the oil is good, but what about pressure? How many miles are on the engine? Did it ever have a rebuild? You gave some good information, but I think the people on the boards might need some more details. So let's just start off with the condition of the engine and stuff. Is there any rod knock when you try to start the engine? I don't know much about carbs (although I need to since I have one), I wonder if there's some problem with the choke. Or maybe the mechanical fuel pump?

Good luck to you.

 

Ok, here is some more info.

Its not a carb problem, the carb is fine, i have worked on my carb alot and i know the types of problems it can give, this aint one of them. It sounds like a rod knock, though i am not sure, becuase i have never heard one, bu the phrase itself "rod knock" seems to fit it well. The Engine has 145,000 miles. Dont think there has been a rebuild. ....... This is gonna sound like a really lame *** question, but (im new a this) ... is the gauage i have in my car oil level or oil pressure? If its oil pressure then its always between 30-60. I cant get to the car untill later today, and it was late last night, and i dont remember if there was a rod knock when i tried to start it. But when it was running, the knock followed the speed of the engine (RPMS) Engine always looked in good shape to me, nothing missing, except all of the emmisions things, prev owner took all of them out. Car always ran good. I have had it for 8 months now. Timing is not the issue either, the car is not even giving short bursts. Not the starter, as i know what they sound like when they are bad. Enigne always ran great, condition was excellent as far as i could tell. My car out ran my friends Trans Am, and my girlfriends Camaro. Always had a much better kick by just toutching the gas then either one of thier cars. Thats about all i know.

 

Back to the basics:
- air (compression & valves)
- spark
- gas

Which one do you not have?

 

Pull a spark plug and check for spark. If you don't have a spark I am pretty sure your problem can be traced back to a faulty ignition module. HEI modules are prone to sudden death. Also take off the air filter. Then work the throttle linkage while watching down the primary throttle barrels. You should get a strong spray of gas from the accelerator pump or else there is no gas in the carb. (Probably fuel pump in this situation) This could also explain the knocking. Mechanical fuel pumps sometimes knock just prior to failing. Mine did, I thought it was rod knock but it was just the pump. Also you might have lost the timing chain. You can check this by taking off the distributer cap, watch the rotor while someone cranks over the car. The rotor should turn, if not the timing chain needs to be replaced.

 

Maybe the engine is running too lean? A properly working set of headers will lean out the mixture some.

 

The oil guage: pressure. The pressure looks good. I noticed that I had 'what i thought was rod knock' at a certain rpm. cant remember what rpm it was. check how much oil you actually have in the engine. sure enough, mine was low. i put in some more and it stopped knocking. still not sure what's keeping the engine for starting