Fraschy Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) Driving home from work Friday night, I heard a loud knocking sound coming from the engine. My car had a huge loss of power..and the knock went with the rhythm of the RPMs. Eventually my car died and I had to get it towed. I recently rebuilt this engine, and I have a feeling it's something from the block itself. I tried taking a video of it, you can sort of hear the sound. It sounds MUCH louder and obvious in person. Any ideas? [video=youtube;LLqAgG2qB34] Edited June 27, 2012 by Fraschy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psych0matt Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 OOeoeeeewwww!!! That sounds bad... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wickedbuick Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 If you need a replacement, I have a DOHC in my 96 Cutlass that is healthy. It has a bad trans and I don't seem to have luck finding a matching transmission. I think I am gonna go 3500 swap and 4t65 combo if we keep the car. The engine is still in the car as of now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wickedbuick Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Maybe a spun rod bearing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuminaPower92 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Yep the engines done. Sounds exactly what my cutlass sounded like when i bought it. Your either going to need a rebuild or a new engine. I ended up getting a GM Long block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fraschy Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 If you need a replacement, I have a DOHC in my 96 Cutlass that is healthy. It has a bad trans and I don't seem to have luck finding a matching transmission. I think I am gonna go 3500 swap and 4t65 combo if we keep the car. The engine is still in the car as of now. How many miles and how much? Or wait, if that's a 96, is that OBD2? I wish I could find an L67 and tranny for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cutlass350 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) Bummer! Sorry to hear about your engine. If the car does have an OBD-II engine, be very careful to get an engine that matches the ECM and smog! GM, and other companies, have a tendency of making "small" changes each year that make the engines, hookups, etc incompatible across years. I don't know your location WRT to the junk yards listed in the results of http://car-part.com/ , but a few places had engines in the ~~$500 range for a 1996 Cutlass DOHC LQ1. My guess is that the engine R&R is likely doable without dropping the sub-frame. I do not know with that car. Others likely do know. But, either way, note that it's a lot of work to do an engine R&R on a FWD car! And, *I* strongly suggests yanking the tranny at the same time to avoid possible tranny/torque-convertor damage. And, yanking the tranny with the engine means even more work (disconnecting yanking the front spindles, yanking half shafts, daring tranny fluid, etc, etc, etc). Picture of my car's engine bay after the engine removal: Edited June 27, 2012 by Cutlass350 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wickedbuick Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 I did my engine swap in my garage and I did it from the top and I have pulled the motor for work/upgrades about 4 times since and each time from the top, engine only. It is harder if you don't really know what to do but its not impossible. The DOCH is a tighter fit though so it will not be any easier The engine I have has 174k. I got it from a guy I used to work with and it was his dads and he passed away. It was bought new and seemed to be taken care of. Body and interior is mint too, not a rip or stain in the carpets, leather seats excellent and soft, ect. I has not been driven in a while cause it only has 1st gear lol It is OBD2.... L67 and a 4T65HD shouldn't be hard to find and isn't all that hard to swap. I even have a 3" downpipe that will bolt in. Don't need it since I had headers made Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 the car pictured is a 94-95. I have a good 95 3.4 engine in my garage that I have done the oil drive fix on and has newer timing belt components, but i'm in Indy and look to be too far out of the way for someone from Wisconsin... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cutlass350 Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 For State and local emissions, 94&95's fall into a "gray area" where the smog and testing laws are very specific for that area. Some States only test 96+, that's when OBD-II was required. Some States will do an OBD-II test on a 94/95 if that model/engine has OBD-II. For example, a 94/95 6 cly Mustang has OBD-II. But, a 94/95 5.0L Mustang has OBD-I. The smog equipment/capabilities and ECM calibrations are also why GM and engine rebuilders will group engines into those weird year groups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaxie500XL Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 Most, but not all '95 W's will have the ALDL connector, rather than an OBD connector...if yours has an ALDL, they'll figure out very quickly at an emissions testing station they don't have equipment to test the car... For State and local emissions, 94&95's fall into a "gray area" where the smog and testing laws are very specific for that area. Some States only test 96+, that's when OBD-II was required. Some States will do an OBD-II test on a 94/95 if that model/engine has OBD-II. For example, a 94/95 6 cly Mustang has OBD-II. But, a 94/95 5.0L Mustang has OBD-I. The smog equipment/capabilities and ECM calibrations are also why GM and engine rebuilders will group engines into those weird year groups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cutlass350 Posted June 29, 2012 Report Share Posted June 29, 2012 Most, but not all '95 W's will have the ALDL connector, rather than an OBD connector...if yours has an ALDL, they'll figure out very quickly at an emissions testing station they don't have equipment to test the car... For the States and areas that still test OBD-I cars (like Conn), they often use a sniffer while the car is on a dyno (to allow testing at idle and ~55mph). For 96+ OBD-II, as far as I know, every State uses ECM reads (checking IM status, VIN, ECM year, calibration, etc). I keep worrying abut my '92 Olds Achieva and smog testing. The engine still runs fine, very good gas mileage, nice idle, enough power, etc. But, the cam followers have been getting noisier and noisier. And, it burns some oil. I can't get a new engine for that car. IMHO, quad4 rebuilds are a joke at ~$2.5K. All SOHC Quad4's (pre 95) have huge head gasket life problems. So, used is a pure cr*p shoot for a used Quad4. Plus, the body/frame of my Achieva has only a few more years. :-( My luxo-barge (aka 2000 Intrigue) has to last me for 10+ more years. Yea, when my Achieva goes, I will get another car (likely a new Ford Fusion). But, my luxo-barge will be needed as a winter car and second car for 10+ years. The luxo-barge is great in the snow - traction control/stability control, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z34Phoenix Posted June 29, 2012 Report Share Posted June 29, 2012 one of my friends has pulled engines and trans on these a bunch of times and he drops the cradle and lifts the body off of it. then he can roll the sub from out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cutlass350 Posted June 30, 2012 Report Share Posted June 30, 2012 one of my friends has pulled engines and trans on these a bunch of times and he drops the cradle and lifts the body off of it. then he can roll the sub from out How does he do that? You need to raise the car/body ~4feet to get an engine mounted to a subframe from under the car. Without a car-lift, I don't know of any way to lift a car/body/chassis that high, do it safely, and do it without stressing the crud out of the uni-body. Just removing the engine, and not the engine/tranny, is a viable option. But, my concern is that for someone doing it for the first time, there's a decent chance they can stress/damage the tranny case and/or torque convertor. After a person has done the R&R once, they know the "gotchas" they have to worry about. For me, during the removal it was that the AC compressor got caught between the engine and evaporator and the not removing the front engine mount. Nothing big, but enough to have put unwanted stress on the tranny case if it was left mounted. For me, during the install, it was making sure the one of the power steerting lines was routed correctly. Again, nothing big, but it seems like there are always some "gotchas" the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wickedbuick Posted June 30, 2012 Report Share Posted June 30, 2012 I've dropped engines and trans from the bottom on friends/customers cars and you can do it on the ground with large jackstands. Next one we do like that, I'll take some pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fraschy Posted July 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 As for ripping the engine out, I already did that when I rebulit the motor and replaced the tranny. I think I am just going to buy a new car, and part out with this one. Not a fan of the DOHC like I once was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cutlass350 Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 I've dropped engines and trans from the bottom on friends/customers cars and you can do it on the ground with large jackstands. Next one we do like that, I'll take some pics That would be great! I'm also wondering, do you: A) Just jack up the front and leave the rear tires on the ground. Jack up the front and rear. If you do that, do you jack up the front and rear both "at the same time" a little on each, until the whole body is at the height that you want? I've had car bodies fully supported by jacks a few times. I have plenty of heavy duty jack stands. But, I have only big/commercial floor jack. And, I don't trust those light Walmart jacks to jack a car up very far. So, it's been a hassle for me to jack up a car bify and fully support it on just jack stands. I have an asphalt driveway and floor on my portable garage. So, that also means boards under jack stands if I don't want them to dig into the asphalt after ~1hr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wickedbuick Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 Yeah, we just take the front up and leave the back on the ground. It can be faster that way when doing just a transmission but both engine/trans can come out if needed that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cutlass350 Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 Thanks for the info! That's great that it can be done that way! I know with Mustangs, Cameros, and Firebirds, they all all so low already, that you can't lift the front very high before the rear bumper/tailpipe bottom out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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