I would run some more water through it . Good possibility that a piece of carbon came loose and it's now getting hammered in between the piston and the head every revolution.

If you were sucking water through a small vacuum line I doubt that you pulled enough in to hydro lock the motor.

That doesn't sound like a bearing or flywheel noise. Definetly not a bent push rod.

I vote more water. What do you have to loose?

 

Just finished another series of checks. It is not the flywheel. When I listen with the stethescope (sp?), I hear the sound most strongly when the probe touches the oil pan about 2" in from of the drain plug. I have not driven the car so I do not know how it will drive. I think I am going to take it to a mechanic that I consult with often and let him hear it and advise -- if it will drive that far.

The interesting thing about this entire happening is that when I tried to start the car after it initially shut down, the engine would not turn over -- the starter just clicked. Took out the plugs and it still would not turn over until after several tries. Put the plugs back in and it would not turn over. Took the plugs out again and it finally turned over after several tries. Put the plugs back in and it cranked but with the knocking. I am trying to be optimistic, but I do believe a repair is in order. The car has a lot of miles and a new/rebuilt motor would not be a bad idea -- if I decide to keep the car.

 

OK, been confirmed that it is a rod knock and the engine needs rebuilding or replacing. I am in no hurry to do anything so I will keep my eyes open for something and when I see it I will know it. Thanks for all the replies. This has been an informative and interesting discussion.

 

I suspect this is because the piston skirt of the cylinder with the bent con rod was jammed against the crankshaft counterweights.

 

Bet'cha that chunk of skirt is now laying in the sump. The evidence might run out with the oil if the drain plug is removed....

 

Next time,

don't apply "fixes" from the 50's & 60's to contemporary designs. The technology is very different and so are the materials !~

Carbon "cleaning" pistons etc is a FALACY in fuel injected engines. There is little to NO carbon build up in EFI because the AFR is so exact that there is no rich or excess fuel to burn and create carbon to cling to anything. Think this thru... Carbon comes from carburetors that
are over-dosing the engine with gas. That excess gas turns to carbon when burned and when there is too much, it sticks to everything inside like a burning fog. Look at your EFI engine OIL after 2000 miles. Its barely black...probably still a little transparent. Pretty clean in other words. Like the engine inside.

What carbon? That justdon't happen in EFI unless something is very wrong.

I've got a set of pistons that came out of an engine after 140,000 miles. There is some discoloration, a tiny bit of carbon around the ring glands...none on the dome or top where you'd expect to find some. Its just not there. Another 50,000 and its STILL not gonna be there.

Carbon build-up in EFI engines is an old wives tale...told while peeling potatoes or something they did while Pa messed with the Magneto on the car........

A $12 can of seaFoam or Lucas inj cleaner would have been about $2988.00 cheaper

Good luck

 

Ah...no it's not. The "technology" of EFI has nothing to do w/the cleaning process...and neither the "technology" nor the materials of the SBC didn't change a lot from '55 - '91.



No its not a falacy. It's as legitimate there as anywhere. How legitimate? See below*


Meaningful carbon build up issues usually come from oil burning. A rich mixture can actually CLEAN the piston top (as well as the combustion chamber). It's called "wash" and some people actually use "wash" to monitor the A/F ratio....the richer it is, the bigger the clean spots are in the combustion chamber. BTW, who said carbs automatically/always run rich? Carb's run where you set them to run, rich or lean...what the don't do is compensate.



*^This I agree with. In a good running motor (carb'ed or otherwise), you'll get a little carbon on the top of the piston, and combustion chamber and that is it. It's not cumulative; you don't get more and more, as mileage increases. After the first few miles, there is some there, some transfers, and the rest goes out the exhaust. So is it necessary to steam clean a decently running engine (carb'ed or otherwise)? No it's not necessary. If it was important to you to have spotless pistons and combustion chambers all the time, you'd have to do a cleaning treatment several times a week, to achieve that.
So when would you do this? Well, after an "event" that would cause excessive carbon build up, such as after replacing valve seals on and oil-burner for example.


Ahhh... so now you're against water (which works and costs nothing), but you'll recommend an elixir of unknown make up...that will still just as easily hydro-lock an engine?? How does that make sense? In fact, one of the 3 ingredients in Seafoam, is oil....which will create more carbon in the combustion chamber than it will remove.

 

I'll take you up on that bet, Lee. What are you putting on the table?

I'm going to bet the piston skirt isn't broken. I'm guessing the bottom of the piston just touched the counterweights enough to scrape the piston skirt. If the piston skirt was broken off, you wouldn't hear all that clatter!

I'm also going to guess this is probably a rebuildable engine, if broken rings didn't gouge the cylinder wall. I sure wouldn't recommend driving this car!!

 

And it's said with such passion!

 

So why haven't you run a compression test yet? That will tell ya if any pistons r sitting low

 

Man at the repair shop checked it out for me. Don't know numbers, but the diagnosis was as I stated earlier. I may do a test myself so I will know the numbers. The video that I posted does not give a true indication of what this things really sounds like. The knocking is much worse than what is clearly heard.

And, I went under the car while it was running. Knocking is very strong and loud at the oil pan just in front of the drain plug.

 

I hear ya and that Sucks

 

Please have your "mechanic" explain to us how your cleaning procedure could have caused a bent pushrod, or caused this noise so obvious in the oil pan area. Can you see any aluminum sparkles on your dip stick? You really need to drain your oil and look for aluminum in your oil. This has been suggested several times. Is there some reason you can't do this?

Running this engine may cause it to throw a rod!

 

I agree with you, Mark, on this one point, but I can't understand your logic on the rest of your post (#41). What has he got to loose? The entire engine, that's what!

 

If done right, running more water through it will not hurt anything and may dislodge the piece of carbon (if that's what is causing the problem). If the problem isn't carbon, the damage is already done.

Only other option to know for sure is to pull the motor apart.

Water is cheap.

 

Been busy working yesterday and today and have not had time to work with the car. Will check the oil further as suggested. But, the oil on the dipstick looks OK, just a bit darker than before all this started. Will check further as soon as I get time to do so. The pushrods are OK. It is connecting rod that is suspect.

 

Also, the mechanic never said that what I was doing should have caused the suspected damage. He does not see how that could have caused the issue either. His explanation/diagnosis after hearing the engine run was bent/damaged connecting rod. He was baseing this on the actual sound and experience with other engines with this same sound. The only way to determine what is really going on seems to be to go into the engine. With my coming work schedule, etc., this will not likely be possible for a week or so. But as soon as I can get back to this I will do so. I drove it to the shop which is about 7 miles each way and the car ran OK. Acceleration was not as good as usual and the temp was a little hotter than usual -- especially coming back home.

 

Jeezeeeeeeeeeeeeesus !

That "sound" is as obvious as a wart on your nose !

That IS a bad ROD, (bearing or bent rod) and YES, hydro-locking an engine WILL do that, everytime ! All it takes is the starter to TRY to rotate the crankshaft with a cyl full of water....and when its close to TDC its only a couple oz of water BUT that's too much to allow the piston to come up any more...so something bends or breaks to give that room needed for the crankshaft to complete its rotation. If/when another cyl fires....its game over.

Been there, done that. Trust me, I KNOW. I hydro-locked one and in MY case it was the piston that gave up. Broken to pieces.

Your recording is a ROD rapping its *** off. My guess would be small end, either the wrist pin hole or possibly a cracked piston....whatever, if you INSIST on driving that car ANY MORE...you will get to see for yourself when that bent or damaged rod breaks away and punches a HOLE thru the side of your block and destroys the entire engine !~

Right now you need a rod and a piston...some bearings and MAYBE the crank turned. Keep screwing around and you will need an engine...complete.

I'm NOT trying to be mean or hostile, but someone needed to say this to you in a way that leaves no room for misunderstanding......You have a REAL SERIOUS problem and it MUST be fixed before you can drive that car. Period. Just because you do not want it to be a bad rod, does not mean it will be anything else.; it IS what it IS. You have to accept that.

Good luck, and STOP driving that car to unqualified mechanics. Stop driving it ANYWHERE ! till it gets fixed.

Again, good luck

 

Maybe. Not saying he should do it, but I drove a V8 (AMC) Jeep for a whole summer w/a bad rod bearing. Never punched a hole through the block.

If it were my car, I'd drop the pan and look...before making absolute claims as to what it is.

 

Yessir....
draining the oil and looking for "silver paint" or metal specs. Strain it thru a white cloth...like a thin cloth napkin or a PAINT filter to catch the metal (if any) would be the next logical step.

After listening to that recording he posted....its a bunch more than a lifter tick...hard rapping. Ouch.