stonent
11-29-2013, 07:27 PM
I'm going off the description that my mom gave me. She was on the highway going about 45 and suddenly said there was a banging noise and it stalled. We got it started again but it will no longer idle, it just bounces around under 1000 for a few seconds and dies. If you hold it at around 2000 it will stay running and we were able to get it home. There is a clunking sound I keep hearing when the engine is running at a lower speed.
The car for a while has had an oil leak with about a quart a week habit and it was low enough that the dipstick wasn't showing the level. Which usually means about 2 quarts low. The car has the normal rattling lash adjusters and usually they get much louder when the oil is more than a quart low and she'll have me put more oil in.
Initially from the banging I thought maybe a broken rod or bearing cap but I put some metal rods down the plug holes today and they go up and down with 1 and 4 matched and 2 and 3 matched just like the coil configuration would indicate.
We had to drive the car about 20 minutes to get it home and she said that the noise was much better at higher speeds. When she pulled in to the apartment I could hear the noise.
Thoughts?
I have only been able to look at it at night so haven't done a whole lot of looking. There are no dents in the oil pan. So my thoughts were, broken oil pump, snapped balance shaft belt, or a spun bearing. The car has 235,000 miles on it. Most everything is original except radiator, belts, PS Pump (normal items like plugs and filters have been changed of course). The timing belt was changed about 2 months ago. I didn't plan on it but was investigating the oil leak and didn't know to take the bolts off the main pulley and slid the timing gear off. I changed the belt because it was just as easy to do so at that point (having never changed a belt in my life, prior)
The car for a while has had an oil leak with about a quart a week habit and it was low enough that the dipstick wasn't showing the level. Which usually means about 2 quarts low. The car has the normal rattling lash adjusters and usually they get much louder when the oil is more than a quart low and she'll have me put more oil in.
Initially from the banging I thought maybe a broken rod or bearing cap but I put some metal rods down the plug holes today and they go up and down with 1 and 4 matched and 2 and 3 matched just like the coil configuration would indicate.
We had to drive the car about 20 minutes to get it home and she said that the noise was much better at higher speeds. When she pulled in to the apartment I could hear the noise.
Thoughts?
I have only been able to look at it at night so haven't done a whole lot of looking. There are no dents in the oil pan. So my thoughts were, broken oil pump, snapped balance shaft belt, or a spun bearing. The car has 235,000 miles on it. Most everything is original except radiator, belts, PS Pump (normal items like plugs and filters have been changed of course). The timing belt was changed about 2 months ago. I didn't plan on it but was investigating the oil leak and didn't know to take the bolts off the main pulley and slid the timing gear off. I changed the belt because it was just as easy to do so at that point (having never changed a belt in my life, prior)