Im sure some of you remember when my head gasket went!?
Well today i put some MM oil in my car because i hear this tap tick sound that i thought was a collapsed lifter. I drove a short while and started to hear this knocking inside the motor. At idle you cant hear it at all, even the tap/ticking went away. But as soon as you press the gas a little its load enough to hear inside with the windows up!
I only added the MM oil and got gas right before this happend, Also power is gone!

So my guess is the bearings?

Anyone else?

I have been planing a 3.4 swap soon but this sucks that it happend now because im not reay yet.

BtW the car still starts VERY quick, not even one crank and its running.....

 

First thought I had reading was the bearings. Might want to check the entire valve train first before deciding it's not something with that, including valve timing. Doesn't sound like it would be that at all, but might want to check.

 

I checked the valves, they are all opening and closing normally. I pulled the vc and looked at them,
Its strange because when you first start the car it makes alot of noise but when the rpms settle its smooth. No noise or anything, but as soon as i press the pedal to move the car i have knocking from under the car and a loss of power.

 

Could the MM have loosened up crud that blocked the oil pickup in the pan? Do you have an oil pressure gauge on it? If not, you could probably find one locally for $15 and just patch it in temporarily, as a test...

 

I doubt it because the amount of time between me putting the mmo in it and it acting up was VERY short. Like a drive through the parking lot, thats how short of a time it took.

But ill try it,cant hurt to check

If it turns out the motor is trash ill be dropping the 3.4 in it right outside my house by the curb. You've heard of shadytree mechanic, now its Ghetto mechanic!

 

hey i went outside just now in the rain and checked a few things, I started the car, opened the hood and reved the engine, turns out the knocking noise i heard was the engine back firing out the TB! I cant get to a store right now for a oil pressure gauge but i did something i didnt do last time i checked the valves, i left the motor running for a few minutes and i noticed very little oil on the rocker arms. So this is whats up now

Back firing through the TB....

Very little oil on the rocker arms....

Starts right up still and collapsed lifter like sound i had is gone....

I just thought of something... Could the cam be wiped? I have had a partially collapsed lifter for awhile now, its the rear most pass side lifter. Could the cam have gotten wiped from this? Would this cause loss of power, back firing, and no more collapsed lifter sound? Please help thanks.

 

It's possible the cam wiped if you had a collapsed lifter and the MMO revived it, but it's highly unlikely. Chances are right now that it's just hanging open... I'd readjust the valves with the engine idling. It's messy (or at least it should be), but it's a sure way to check this.

Definitely check oil pressure first.

 

Its raining pretty bad here and its supposed to untill monday so monday ill check that and post the results. BTW it would be SO AWESOME if thats all it is, im still on unemp so money isnt the best right now.

 

Tech you were right, the MMO pumped the lifter back up and the valve was hanging open! Also most of the rocker arms were loose! I spent an hour on the valves adjusting them when i replaced the head gasket. How the hell did they become loose?

I looked at the lock washer plate thingys that went under each rocker arm bolt and made sure they all looked ok before i put the push rods back in, they all looked fine so how did they become loose?

Also Tom p , i didnt get time to pick up a oil pressure gauge but i started the car with the valve covers off and oil shot all over within like 10 seconds so i guess the pump is ok.

Now im just wondering if the valves will become loose again. Its only been 3 months since i finished the head gasket job. They shouldnt have loosend up like that.

 

If this is anything like azvolfan's recent excursion into the world of "WTF?!", replace the rocker nuts *now*. He did a nice head/cam/header deal on his tbi motor, and it ran like crap... because the used rocker nuts were loosening in a matter of minutes. New rocker nuts would be cheap insurance against something like this.

 

too late now, well for now, I have it all back together. Ill pick up some new nuts later and replace them asap. I drove around the block, no more noise of back firing, When i came back to park it stalled on me, i think its because i had to turn the dist a little to get the pass side vc off and i got the timing messed up a little.

The car did this to me before when i did the head gasket,(the stalling) it kept doing it untill i drove it on the highway for a couple of miles.