I know others have advised against it. But I pull the hood off when I pull the engine with the transmission. In my garage it gives my way more room to work. Also with the hood off it gives you more room to pressure wash the engine bay if you want. I've done it both ways. And I prefer to pull it with the hood off. But YMMV.

 

I to agree with one of the above post to pull without all the facts, there many options on rebuilding.
But are other things that can cause many of your problems so I would do the take apart diagnosis, pull plugs compression test, while plugs are out blow out cylinders. Even though you're not the kind of guy to have Carbon in your motor you might and it could have broken a chunk off and wedged a valve or is just banging around. À shattered Cat. Converter makes a Hell of a racket.

 

Sounds like the money shift is a pretty safe bet that it toasted a bearing. But, to pull the motor you have to pull the exhaust anyway so may as well drop the pan and see what is going on. Remove the oil level sensor before dropping the pan or it will break. You can try wiggling the rods to see if one has play, but if none wiggle around still pull each rod cap.

I’ve pulled the motor 3 times and always from the side with hood on, remove trans and flywheel too for best clearance. I do use the happy hooker so no need for a load leveler. Pull the oil sender off the back of the block so you don’t break them on the way out.

 

Wow. I forgot about my mail for a few days, and look what happens. I'll have to respond individually. There's way too much info on the posts to answer all at once.

 

Well, I really, really, really don't want to remove it. I just have a feeling I'll have to. It ran well before. No issues that I noticed. It probably needed valve springs, but it wasn't causing noticeable issues. I got 29 or 30 mpg at 65 mph. Never any signs of any problems. Especially since I have a new Petris opti on it and plug wires. So, I'm hoping the cylinders aren't hurt. I don't know if rings, or ring lands, or pieces of piston break off under high rpm. I don't have a hole in the side of my block, so I'm not worried about wrist pins or broken rods.
My oil looks kinda greyish now. Not water
Not milkshake. Like it's a very, very finely powdered substance had been added and dissolved in the oil. It's the color of bearing material. I have not yet drained the oil because I have had to move the car in and out of the garage.
​​​I just rented a compression tester from AutoZone. I need to get the headers off to be able to get to all of the plug holes, which means removing a bunch of things. I will do that this weekend. As a start.
What do you mean about putting gas in the cylinders. Air? A leakdown test?
I have an endoscope. It's small enough to fit through a plug hole, but I won't be able to check the valves. Can I pull the rods and pistons out through the bottom by rotating the crankshaft out of the way? That would let me see the valves and cylinders all the way to the top. I could check for a wear ridge, too. I'd rather not pull the heads off I can avoid it. Although, I'm thinking of replacing the lifters and pushrods, (and maybe cam). I guess everything would already be out of the way and it would be easy. We'll see.
​​​Is it possible to remove the crank with the engine in the car, if the trans is removed? I wonder if I'd be making it far more difficult that way. I mean, I already have an engine hoist.

 

Thanks for the thought of pressure washing in there. I'll have to think about that.

 

A piece of carbon? It's been raced a lot by two owners before me, autocross and Sebring. Carbon isn't likely, but I'm certainly hoping for something like that.

 

I'm betting on the bearing, too. But if sure like to find something better, that might not involve a damaged crank.
I'm replacing the oil level sensor anyway, because it's been giving false low level lights. I already have the replacement. However, it's good to know that it has to be removed before the pan is dropped, and reinstalled after the pan is back on.
What's the happy hooker?
How do I remove the oil pressure sensor from the rear of the block? I can't see it with the engine in.

 

Do I have to disconnect the motor mounts to lift the engine up far enough to check all of the bearings? If I do, I'm not sure why I wouldn't just lift it out if it's already disconnected from the car. It doesn't look like there's room to remove it with the mounts still attached, though.

 

I know, it's dragging on like a bobsled on gravel. I finally took off the intake and valve covers so I could pull it out. My car has 106,000 miles, but the engine looks brand new. I can't believe the PO didn't say anything when I bought it. I'm sure the owner prior to him would have told him, too. I wonder if one of them blew it up and replaced it with a stock long block or just had it rebuilt. Either way, now I'm not so concerned with spending money on valve springs and lifters. Maybe the timing chain is new also. I'll definitely check it. Here are some pics.

 

Nevermind. I just found out that it's normal for an engine running synthetic oil to be this clean. I still don't know why the PO had the intake off, but I'm sure I'll find out.