91YotaNewB

okay so the truck is a 91 3vze sr5 about 255k

oh and besides bad gas and too much starting fluid.

was driving home the other night and at about 35 in 3rd gear my engine got real loud. Almost like something was knocking .... said f it and drove it the rest of the way home.... it starts but doesn't hold idle after it's warmed up and the knock is VERY loud on the passenger side cylinder 3 is the one I think it is... the oil only had about 3000 miles on it but during the winter I let it sit for about a month... changed the oil it was kinda thick... and when it started to slow down was kinda chunky mm... chunky...

I guess what I'm saying is I think the Head is F'd probably from my lack of care. I was just gonna pull the heads and get them totally redone IE: new valves done with whatever the "state of the art" methods are.
but before I plan on getting the heads done should I pull the oil pan and check the bearings? see if one maybe slipped?
or should I drive it til it takes a crap and buy a new engine?

brian2sun

Depending on how bad the oil sludge is, you may need a new engine, rebuild this one, or just swap a 3.4 in there. I would pull a valve cover off to see how it looks in there and that'll give you an idea of what you're up against. If you continue to just drive it, you'll probably grenade it.

91YotaNewB

yeah I watched the oil intently as it drained and even took some and well put it on a paper towel to spread it as thin as i could. I didn't see any metal shavings. and when I pulled the valve cover off I couldn't see any dmg other than I just put new oil in and the oil in the cover looked a little dirty rolled it over.

so thats a definate don't bother spending 225-75 for a rebuilt head, just get a new engine?

brian2sun

I would guess it's a rod knocking so new head(s) probably aren't going to help. I would go around with a stethescope and try to find out if the knock is in the bottom or top end of the motor.

91YotaNewB

a rod? connecting rod? that's the only rod in the 3vze OHC engine I can think of... so that would definately be a lower end problem... Ideally I would like to replace just a couple parts Ei. connecting rod 30$'s Valves 8$ a piece minus the labor of course.... so I guess the best way is just to pull it apart and actually find out whats making the noise. I've looked on yotatech and a few of the other pages wanting info about engine knocks and never found a page that came to a final conclusion of what caused the engine knock. the fix is always to replace the engine. how come no one has found out what caused the engine knock?

If anyone sees this and HAS found out what caused an engine knock in a 3vze motor please post your solutions.