I need to pick y'alls brains. Yesterday my truck over heated. The weird thing was that even though the temp gauge was reading high the heater was blowing cold air. So I think to myself " F there goes the water pump." I start researching and read that a bad thermostat will do the same thing.

I go buy a new thermostat and gasket, install them and go for a ride. As I'm driving the temp rises very quickly, so I exit off the highway and enter a u-turn thingy. Suddenly the engine dies. I try to start it back up.

It cranks normally for a few revolutions, but then sounds like an extreme load is being placed on the engine. I push the truck off to the side and call a wrecker. As the truck is being pulled up onto the flat bed oil pours out everywhere.

I'm thinking it's a rear main seal but have yet to find anything the describes the kind of oil loss that I saw.

Any Ideas?

Oh, and I heard a weird rattling noise coming from the engine compartment probably a minute before it died, that only lasted for a couple of seconds, but no loud bang like it had thrown a rod.

 

wow thats kool

 

bump. sorry to hear that.

 

Yeah so cool, and thanks for being so very helpful jackass.

Thanks Matt


Jake

 

Man I don't know where to start. Bad water pump could be the cause of the overheating and the immense load (dragging), but why it'd die I don't know.

Where exactly did the oil appear to be dripping from?
When it died, did it turn off right away (like you turned the key off), or did it miss and then die (like if you ran out of gas)?

Best of luck and I'm very interested to see what the problem is.

 

Sounds a lot like you've but a rod through the engine... Does not necessarily produce a "loud bang"

I don't know man - I do wish you luck, and am interested in how this progresses. Sorry to hear about this.

 

If the engine is shot, maybe you can do a 3.4 swap, I've researched that a bit and it sounds quite feasible if you have a 3.0.

 

You either put a rod throught the block or you have a bad main oil seal, but with a bad seal they mostly leak when the engine is running, so if oil poured out while it was being loaded on the tow truck then i would look for a hole in the block somewere.

 

A 3.4 swap would be great, and might even be feasible if I threw I rod, which is my gut feeling, but we'll just have to see how generous the parents are feeling seeing as I've been out of work for a while.

It's had a small leak towards the rear of the engine since I purchased it, but it never got any worse. Which is why I was thinking it may have been the rear main seal finally letting go. I know oil wont leak unless it under pressure but I was thinking maybe it settled in the bell housing and poured out once it was on incline.

As far as it not starting, I thought I read some where that the water pump was run by the timing belt. That led me to believe that if the timing belt was on it's way out it might affect the water pump, and it would definitely affect starting and running.

And as far as the conditions under which the engine died. I had just finished coming to a complete stop when it crapped out on me.

Another thing I noticed was that there was oil blown all over the passenger side of the oil pan, bellhousing, Xcase, diff, and drive shaft.

Thanks for the help guys

One more question. Other than a visual inspection of the block how to do you check for a thrown rod?

 

Afternoon bump!

 

The oil all over the side of the oil pan, Bellhousing and Xcase are leading me ot belive you have a hole in your block. Pull back the rubber in the wheel well and start looking for lots of oil and a hole in the block.

Good luck,

Jeremy

 

Thats what I've been thinking, except maybe not the block but the upper portion of the oil pan.

I was talking to my Auto Tech instructor yesterday after class about it and he's under the impression, as am I, that it threw a rod though the pan because there's no oil in the engine compartment.

 

Well, I was able to take some time to get under it and look around today. The UCA, spindle, and starter are covered in oil as well as the tranny, Xcase, the top of the diff and the drive shaft. The oil pan looks fine, as does the forward area of the engine.

I couldn't see, or reach behind the starter but I have a sneaky suspicion that's where the problem lies.

I'm gonna tow it back to Austin this weekend to have the family mechanic take it in and check it out.

A 3.4 swap is out of the question as is using the 3.0 for my engine repair class this summer, but I do get to drive a topless '87 Runner for awhile so it's not all bad.

 

let us know how it turns out and best of luck

 

I will. Thanks

 

Well, I got it out to the mechanic this weekend. He was able to get his hand back behind the starter and didn't feel anything abnormal.

We agreed that it's probably the rear main seal, like I first suspected.

It's been leaking for a while, the last shop claimed they couldn't find the leak, and it seems like the oil collected in the bell housing and finally poured out when as it was going up the flatbed.

It also turns out that one of the thermostat housing studs had started to work its way out of the block and was leaking.

He's still trying to figure out why it died in the first place, so we'll see what that is...

 

Bummed to hear about your ride. Have you tried taking the oil pan off and having a look at the rods and crank? Or checking the oil to see if it was low or strangely discolored? Crack open the drain plug and see if there are metal shavings as well. The engine could have heat seized - Aluminum pistons expanding faster than the iron block. This could have put a crack some where in the block as well, or even comepletely melted and destroyed the rear main seal of the engine. I have destroyed a 3VZ-E myself by heat seizing. Too much throttle and no coolant/water because of a 5 inch hole in the radiator made by a log on the trail. Coolant temperature sensors also have to have liquid to be able to give an accurate reading. Steam or hot air will not let the basic and almost primitive sensors at the back of the intake read the correct engine temperature. Also, there is no place for water to settle around the sensors if the engine happens to be low on water since the sensor block on the 3VZ-E engines are mounted very high on the intake. Good luck with your research and I hope that you get your truck back on the road soon.

 

well the ratling sound sounds like a main bearing went bad
kinda got the same thing goin on with my truck
but i can still start mine up long enough to move it well look at the oil pan around the flange where it bolts to the block