I seized a 350 on purpose one time. We were dumb kids playing around. Held it to the floor in park until it finally gave up. Locked up good. Came back the next day and it fired right up. Been a Chevy fan ever since lol!
CK5
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tick tick tick... knock knock knock... KNOCK KNOCK SQUUUUUEEEEEEEEAL
- Thread starter scouthead
- Start date
im not sure if i can do it this weekend, but before the engine is condemned, the pan is coming down. if nothing obvious in the oil pan (there has to be), i will cut open the filter and take a look.
buuuuut, im finally cracking this open tonight. this is my big TBI experiment. it's the motor i built, and the one that was projectile vomiting oil out of the dipstick tube. I cleaned up the back corner of the warehouse and got it on a stand. Tonight i find out what failed and if I want to pursue repairing this one for immediate reinstall in the blazer.
I drove 2 hours from Pueblo to Denver one year when a light knock started in on our trailblazer. Got worse under load. Drove like I had an egg between my foot and the throttle. Limped it in to my folks place with it hammering hard. Full oil pressure but really knocking. Left it there and came back with a trailer. Drove it up and rolled it off under its own power. The day Larry brought it in to have us start working on it the engine literally kicked a rod out as he drove it inside.
Point being. They will run until they won’t. That engine is on borrowed time.
Point being. They will run until they won’t. That engine is on borrowed time.
it will be towed to my warehouse and will push it inside to drop the pan. I want to save that last breath of life in case its really needed!
edit-also, no reason to punch a hole in the block if it is still otherwise rebuildable. I have limited options for upgrades here due to CA Smog nazis... so i need to hang on to some of this TBI stuff!
I like to use this tool to open my filters and check for metal after every oil change. Usually change the oil at first 500 miles with a rebuilt engine. I like to stick with a GOOD conventional oil the first 5k until the rings seat then I'll switch to a good synthetic like m1 0w-40 or Rotella. Something with lots of zinc and phos. Many oils these days have low amounts to make the cat last longer. I stay away from the normal M1 synthetic oils like the 5w-30 since they have much lower amounts that the flat tappet cam requires.
well, if you would stop using the orange brand of filters, you would be more sure of it doing its job, and not have to check every time??
I think I'm moving more towards ignorant bliss. I just want it to start, and run. I will use nothing but WIX or K&N filters, good oil. I just want to get in my buggy and drive by the seat of my pants. no gauges, no speedometer, no tach... I'll shift gears when it feels like a good time to shift gears, if it smells like its running hot, ill back off the skinny pedal for a while...
-you were right Eddie! I really DONT want to know what the head temps are!
-you were right Eddie! I really DONT want to know what the head temps are!
Not my picture (stock photo). I was trying to show the tool itself. I use good quality filters and follow oil filter tests like this one. It doesn't hurt to cut these open after every oil change just to check for metal or any bearing material.
No matter what filter you use, its a good indication if your bearings are going to shit when you look in the filter. If you saw a bunch of metal in the filter, you'd be less likely to take it on a long road trip until you find whats causing the issue first.
No matter what filter you use, its a good indication if your bearings are going to shit when you look in the filter. If you saw a bunch of metal in the filter, you'd be less likely to take it on a long road trip until you find whats causing the issue first.
absolutely. I would actually like to do this at some point, but too many hobbies and projects keep pulling me in other random directions
mixed blessings tonight- ripped open the engine that I had previously built for the blazer - might be a contender for quick rebuild and replacement of the replacement motor!
Tell me about it...
Besides the the house that needs projects completed, I have 3 Blazers, 68 GTO, 23 Willys T, 13 S6 and a Ram 2500 that all need something whether it be an upgrade or repair...
Good to hear!
sssoooo thes pics are not the knocking motor in this thread... this is from the engine that i built form the ground up for the blazer years ago... Had about 55 thousand miles on it, when i found myself chasing tornados across a dry lake (trying to impress a girl)... tornado was caught. girl was impressed.
found out shortly afterward that the vibrations from hauling ass through a dry lake broke off a brake line from the rear wheel cylinder. I tried to carefully drive to town for parts, but someone cut me off and slammed on the brakes... i therefore forced the trans into 1st, dropped the clutch on a screaming engine and turned off the ignition. i dragged the back tires for about 40 feet and avoided a wreck, and soon afterward had the brakes fixed, but only to find oil pumping out of the dipstick tube at higher rpms. big mess and a bad omen. the truck sat for a few years.
190 psi in 7 cylinders, but #3 only making 55psi.
the "good used" motor was eventually swapped in, and the engine I had built has been sitting in my warehouse at work. then all the bang/knock/ squeeeeeeeeeeling happened last week.
i got the built motor up on a stand last night, and opened it up this evening. the head looks great not much carbon on the pistons. most of the honing cross hatch has been worn off the cylinders, but it is still visible. no metal bits in the oil pan. inside of engine looks fairly new...
no damage to cylinder walls that i can see... pulled the #3 piston/ rod assembly:
found out shortly afterward that the vibrations from hauling ass through a dry lake broke off a brake line from the rear wheel cylinder. I tried to carefully drive to town for parts, but someone cut me off and slammed on the brakes... i therefore forced the trans into 1st, dropped the clutch on a screaming engine and turned off the ignition. i dragged the back tires for about 40 feet and avoided a wreck, and soon afterward had the brakes fixed, but only to find oil pumping out of the dipstick tube at higher rpms. big mess and a bad omen. the truck sat for a few years.
190 psi in 7 cylinders, but #3 only making 55psi.
the "good used" motor was eventually swapped in, and the engine I had built has been sitting in my warehouse at work. then all the bang/knock/ squeeeeeeeeeeling happened last week.
i got the built motor up on a stand last night, and opened it up this evening. the head looks great not much carbon on the pistons. most of the honing cross hatch has been worn off the cylinders, but it is still visible. no metal bits in the oil pan. inside of engine looks fairly new...
no damage to cylinder walls that i can see... pulled the #3 piston/ rod assembly:
Good that you didn't find damage in the cylinder.
So if the piston ring lands are fine, are you going to put it back together with new rings only? Use a dingle ball hone and go?
So if the piston ring lands are fine, are you going to put it back together with new rings only? Use a dingle ball hone and go?
Very, very tempted
It may be scoffed at by most, however after hearing what has been done over the years by others, I would try it. I seem to look at it that if I do something, and it doesn't work, I know who to blame.
You can learn more about your engine overall but having your oil analyzed by someone like Blackstone. Coolant and fuel intrusion, amount of ZDDP left in your oil, and trace elements of bearings that are just starting to go.
My guess is that one of the heads cracked, and when rusty coolant leaked into the combustion chamber it hydrauliced the piston.
Is this guess for the used enginet at currently sits in the blazer? or the eng- i guess i need to start differentiating?
-engine #1 origional to the truck - died when oil pick up fell out @65,000 miles
-engine #2 -I built and completely turd polished it (warmed over within limits of factory TBI). It died when my brakes failed and i slammed it into gear and killed the ignition so i could avoid hitting a dodge neon full of tweekers.
-engine #3 was a used running engine with good oil pressure and good compression that i bought cheap with 120,000 miles on it- this is the tick tick squuuueeeeeeeeel one.
so #3 is still in the blazer. have not opened it up yet
#2 is on the stand and its the one i found the broken rings in.
which one do you think cracked a head?
Dillyp
Registered Member
On the tick tick knock knock SQUEEEEAAAALLL engine, my bet would be on a main bearing. Probably the thrust bearing (#4 cap on a Poncho, can't remember on a SBC). I had a main go bad, and it never made a noise. I had the front face on a thrust bearing chip off, and it made some of the worst noises you can think of. Like a bobcat getting ****ed by a banshee. Shut it off, hauled from the track back home, fired it ip a couple days later, and it was quiet as a church mouse. I drove it for another 8000 miles (dumb kid) before pulling the motor for a cam swap and discovered large chunks of thrust bearing in the pan. Never damaged the main cap, journal or the crank. I slapped a new set of the cheapest bearings summit offered and beat it for another 3 years. This was all in a 79 trans am with a Pontiac 455 in it.
