My Engine Needs Help - What To Do

[hyperkid]

Well folks add me to the engine failure poll.

A month ago my baby was running perfectly. I got a fresh oil change from grease monkey. They switched me over to Pennzoil Platinum synthetic and I used some good oil treatment. Then the knocking started. Subtle at first and then louder. Actually the knocking went away with some throttle at first. I had a mechanic check it out and was told that between the oil and the treatment the engine was cleaned and all the junk clogged some oil pump filter and restricted oil flow and then a rod bearing went out. He said he found shavings in the oil pan and filter. She still starts and runs but there is an obvious rod knock. i haven't driven it since I got this information so it's still in the repairable stage. The only shop in town that does engine rebuilds is giving me an estimate of $3500 to rebuild the motor. I have taken good care of my VX inside and out and overall she is in imacculate condition.

Should I sell it? Should I get the motor rebuilt?

I guess somewhere I am hoping for a cheaper solution to this because I still owe money on the car. It doesn't look good though.

I have searched the forum for thoughts so I guess I am just upset and ranting. This sucks!

[mrtew]

That's terrible. Good luck. Keep us posted what you find out and what happens. Hope someone here can help you!

[Gussie2000]

Well folks add me to the engine failure poll.

A month ago my baby was running perfectly. I got a fresh oil change from grease monkey. They switched me over to Pennzoil Platinum synthetic and I used some good oil treatment. Then the knocking started. Subtle at first and then louder. Actually the knocking went away with some throttle at first. I had a mechanic check it out and was told that between the oil and the treatment the engine was cleaned and all the junk clogged some oil pump filter and restricted oil flow and then a rod bearing went out. He said he found shavings in the oil pan and filter. She still starts and runs but there is an obvious rod knock. i haven't driven it since I got this information so it's still in the repairable stage. The only shop in town that does engine rebuilds is giving me an estimate of $3500 to rebuild the motor. I have taken good care of my VX inside and out and overall she is in imacculate condition.

Should I sell it? Should I get the motor rebuilt?

I guess somewhere I am hoping for a cheaper solution to this because I still owe money on the car. It doesn't look good though.

I have searched the forum for thoughts so I guess I am just upset and ranting. This sucks!

First of all you shall never use that pennzoil oil,is the worst oil brand out there.

I don't know what kind of oil treatment you went with,but with the issues this engine came with i'll steer away from any "oil treatment".

If you have the $$$$ go have the engine rebuilt,ask your self if some one at this time will take your Vx with the blowed engine.

Personally,when is time for oil change what i do is this :

1 Unloose the oil pan plug a bit.

2 Run the engine for 5 minutes to get the oil soft enough to flow throughtout.

3 Get the oil pan plug off & let the oil run completly,i mean completly by allowing the oil to pour out for about 30 minutes.

4 Put back the oil pan plug but not tightening it.

5 Pour two quarts of new oil into the engine & run the engine for 10 minutes.

6 Have the oil pan plug off again & you'll be suprised how much old black oil would get outter the engine with this single step.

7 Screw back the oil pan tight

8 Add your 4 1/2 quarts of mobil 1 oil of your choice.

You need no oil treatment more then just two extra quarts of oil to get all that old remaining oil outter the engine.

You new oil you remaing cleaner than the average for a longer time.

I'm very sorry you going thru this situation.

My advice : Get your engine rebuilt.

[Gussie2000]

First of all you shall never use that pennzoil oil,is the worst oil brand out there.

I don't know what kind of oil treatment you went with,but with the issues this engine came with i'll steer away from any "oil treatment".

If you have the $$$$ go have the engine rebuilt,ask your self if some one at this time will take your Vx with the blowed engine.

Personally,when is time for oil change what i do is this :

1 Unloose the oil pan plug a bit.

2 Run the engine for 5 minutes to get the oil soft enough to flow throughtout.

3 Get the oil pan plug off & let the oil run completly,i mean completly by allowing the oil to pour out for about 30 minutes.

4 Put back the oil pan plug but not tightening it.

5 Pour two quarts of new oil into the engine & run the engine for 10 minutes.

6 Have the oil pan plug off again & you'll be suprised how much old black oil would get outter the engine with this single step.

7 Screw back the oil pan tight

8 Add your 4 1/2 quarts of mobil 1 oil of your choice.

You need no oil treatment more then just two extra quarts of oil to get all that old remaining oil outter the engine.

You new oil you remaing cleaner than the average for a longer time.

I'm very sorry you going thru this situation.

My advice : Get your engine rebuilt.

PS: there's a use engine on ebay for $ 2000 with about 70K

[djvx]

keep us/me informed on your engine replacement- how many miles?

[SGT.BATGUANO]

I think we should stay as far away as possible from experimenting with low oil levels in our engines! 2 quarts is not enough! After filling the passages in the engine there isn't much remaining for the pick-up tube and screen to get at. Either use 4 quarts and a can of flush or just drain it and refill.

[Gussie2000]

I think we should stay as far away as possible from experimenting with low oil levels in our engines! 2 quarts is not enough! After filling the passages in the engine there isn't much remaining for the pick-up tube and screen to get at. Either use 4 quarts and a can of flush or just drain it and refill.

Sorry,but i think you missed something about what i wrote.

I'll never suggest as you do any can of flushing formula,it's not a go idea.

And yes,you can use only two quarts of oil to flush out any "remaining" old oil in the engine because the minimum amount of oil our engine should ever run low is 1 1/4.

Please read again & focus on what i'm explaining.


Greeting !

[Y33TREKker]

While I personally think an occasional engine flush is a good idea in concept, actually performing one is definitely a tough call. I've heard of people using five straight quarts of kerosene for flushing their engines, but the thought of that procedure always scared me because of the simple difference in viscosities between kerosene and engine oil (regardless of the weight). Kerosene is a great gunk and sludge remover when cleaning engine parts if you have the time to let them soak, and is probably one of the main ingredients in off-the-shelf engine flush treatments, so I could see how it would help to clean out hard to reach places like valve lifter bodies and small oil passages, but I'm personally still hesitant to run an engine for any length of time with anything but oil.

I'm also not sure how the various engine seals would maintain a good seal against the leakage of straight kerosene, or I'd be tempted to just drain the oil when it was time for a change, replace the drain plug, fill the entire engine from drain plug to filler cap with kerosene, then let it soak for awhile rather than actually run the engine and risk any bearing to bearing contact because the viscosity of the kerosene didn't provide the same sheer resistance per film thickness of a good engine oil.

Maybe that would be a good experimentation suggestion for something like Hot Rodder Magazine?

[Ldub]

And yes,you can use only two quarts of oil to flush out any "remaining" old oil in the engine because the minimum amount of oil our engine should ever run low is 1 1/4.

Please read again & focus on what i'm explaining.

You can run 2 qts. of oil in YOUR engine, I think I'll pass.

I've waited until it was half a qt. low & added half a qt. of Seafoam. Then driven it for 5-10 miles. But there is NO WAY I'd even let it idle with only two qts. in the crankcase...good luck!

[vt_maverick]

Consider parting it out to help out the fam. You might find you get more money doing it that way than trying to sell a soon-to-be undriveable vehicle.

[Gussie2000]

You can run 2 qts. of oil in YOUR engine, I think I'll pass.

I've waited until it was half a qt. low & added half a qt. of Seafoam. Then driven it for 5-10 miles. But there is NO WAY I'd even let it idle with only two qts. in the crankcase...good luck!

Actually,driving with one quart of oil + half quart of seafoam is way more risky by driving your horse with that little amount of oil
But this is all about perception of what is the best way to clean the engine.
I've always did this two quarts of new oil flush proceed without any issues at all on all vehicules i've ever owned
And again,i never suggested driving the VX with only two quarts of oil;Don't know why you guys keep misleading my words.
However this guys engine is gone so there's nothing we can do more then helping finding a cheap,good running engine with less mileage possible.

[Ldub]

Actually,driving with one quart of + half quart of seafoam is about the same amount of oil i just say you can run the VX before things can go bad (1 1/4),yet still you actually goes further by driving your horse with little amount of oil.Instead i only does this by idling which doesn't allow the engine get at normal temp
But this is all about perception.
I've always did this proceed without any issues at all on all vehicules i've ever owned
And again,i never suggested to drive the VX around with two quarts of oil just at idle for 10 minutes or less just to get any old oil out by addind two quarts of new oil & then draining that oil,don't know why you guys keep misleading my words.

Like I said, YOU do what YOU want with YOUR engine...

Also, I don't know where you learned math, but in my world 5 qts. minus 1/2 qt. = 4 1/2 qt.
NOT two qts.

[hyperkid]

I just wanted to update everyone - i'm sorry for not posting sooner

Well I have my truck back with a replacement motor. It took about half a year for me to save the $4000 bucks to fix her. For half a year i made my car payments while my baby was broken. I was able to find a used motor with 40k miles on it from Houston TX. The replacement motor purrs but I have had a few issues fixed since then. The transmission was shifting very rough so I had the neutral switch replaced and the wiring harness that goes under the motor repaired and tied out of the way. It was resting on the exhaust. I had an idle issue and replaced the TPS sensor which corrected that. And I had a coolant leak which I just fixed this weekend. Coolant was leaking from the seal on the water manifold. I read another post about this and ordered the seals and o-ring. I'm assuming when the replacement motor was installed these were not changed out. The seals were very bad and the o-ring crumbled to pieces when it was removed. Now I am not leaking a single drop of coolant (woot). As good as this replacement motor sounds and performs it still drinks oil like it's starving. Just checked a few minutes ago and i'm down 1.5qt. So that's about it - no other mechanical issues at all. Still have the freakin power window issues so maybe I will try to tackle that this coming weekend. Oh yeah i'm painting my hood insert I will post photos. I also took a video of the new motor starting. Took with my blackberry so don't get too excited. At least you can hear it doesn't knock or ping at all. Through all of this i decided to stick with my VX. I considered parting it out but just couldn't do it. I love my truck - I have wanted one since the first day I saw it back in 2000 and i'm not giving up. I'm gonna drive her until she falls apart - which I will probably fix her even then.

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/sh...hp/photo/18598