Marbles in my motor--HELP

suprkoop

Registered User
OK-I think I blew something up. Yesterday I got in my car to go to work.I drove about 2 miles to the freeway on ramp and as I was pulling on the highway I started hearing a ratteling noise.I went back to my house and started checking stuff.Oil level was perfect,coolant was good.At idle it is barely noticeable but when you throttle it under load it sounds like a diesel(real bad).So then I noticed my temp guage not working.Diagnosed a bad sender and replaced it.My fan was also not kicking on and I thougt the sendor may have been the problem,but no.Fan still not working-think its dead.So getting frustrated, I left it alone for a couple of hours and went back at it.I idled the car in my driveway to see if the problem would reoccur and after like 15 minutes I took it for a drive again. Noise still there and no fan but guage working-running warm but not overheating.At first I thought it could be a catalitic convertor rattling but then I saw a ton of steam out my exhaust and trails of water behind my car where I pulled it into the driveway--headgaskets????The wierd thing is that it idles fine,I never had headgaskets go so I dont know if it would idle normal-but the steam and water trails makes me think its a gasket-or is it something worse like a spun bearing.I need help-anyone ever have these sypmtoms????? :confused: :(
 
I believe it is the head gaskets. Mine acted the same way when they went. Idled fine, steam out the pipes, but mine did miss a little when I lightly give it the gas going down the road.
 
Well the noise you hear is denotation. That can and will kill your headgaskets. You need to find why its doing that... Plugs? Bad Gas?


Chris
 
sounds like a headgasket went check for water in the oil also the motor may be toast if you ran much with water in the oil if it spun a bearing it will sound like a woodpecker rapping . lol you might be a redneck if a rod rappin sounds like a woodpecker but when i heard a dodge rappin the other day thats what it sounded like
 
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If its a rod knock it will occure when in neutral while revving motor...If its detonation it will most likely occur under load only...But why would it be detonating is the problem..
 
Ok,I just checked the things that were suggested.It does not look like there is coolant on the oil or vice versa.It does not knock when it is in neutral only under load-or rather, real obvious under load.Will I have to drain the oil pan to see if there is any coolant in there, or should I be able to see on the dipstick?I appreciate your input guys-I just want to get my car fixed.Frustrating!!!! :(
 
Just my input, when i put my motor back together 4 weeks ago and started it up, no sound better... but aftetr about 5oo miles... i heard a "knocking" noise... well its been about 1000miles since and i have realized because of my ported manifolds and stock converters, they are breaking apart cause of the "upped" airflow through them...

jOe
 
If your fan isn't working or your thermostat is stuck it holds the heat in more and causes detonation. On there cars it don't take to much over heating and detonation will be knocking. Two things can happen. Blow the headgaskets, or burnt or cracked piston. Both those can happenn easily with detonation.

EDIT: I noticed you have a 10% OD pulley too. That really add's to the detonation problem if your car is running hot.
 
Thanks for the reply guys-Hey Trick-two things
1-I was thinking the same thing that it was related to the fan or the thermostat since the knocking seemed to be after it ran for a couple of minutes and sounded like an overheat thing(I have cars overheat and they sound BAD-just the SC sounds much worse)but the only thing is the guage is reading just slightly higher than normal :confused:
2-I read your sig-how did you fit two 2 1/2 pipes by your tank?

If my water pump were bad,what would it do or how would I diagnose it?


Getblown--Your cats are bad?Does it make the noise always or after a few minutes of running??
 
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Does it knock when it's warn under load, or even when you just step on the gas? The guage will read lower then normal if you thermostat is stuck. I have had several problems with those. Even new ones have gotton stuck on me alot of times and almost cost me a engine. If you can pull that thing out and push on the middle with your thumb and see if it moves down some. If it's stuck it will kinda pop then move or not move at all.

Far as the duals go I ordered a second middle section that went around the gas tank and made some mods to each a little so they would tuck up ender there together, then fabed my own front and rear. I'm using to thrush glasspacks for resonators and soon flowmaster's for the rear to replace the stock one's. I'll try to borrow a camera and get some pics.
 
koop,

Mine always makes that sound, even when i just start it and give it a little gas in park... sounds like my motor did before it blew but it is coming from the cats not the motor...

jOe
 
marbles... that sounds like your supercharger is worn and or bypass valve sticking open. mine makes this marble sound if i disconnect the bypass valve allowing boost all the time.
 
suprkoop said:
... I saw a ton of steam out my exhaust and trails of water behind my car where I pulled it into the driveway--headgaskets????...QUOTE]

Did everyone else miss this? :confused:

If it's blowing smoke out the exhaust and trailing water, the HG's are done. Also, the ticking under load is probably a bad/failing rod bearing, bent rod etc. If it's really using that much coolant, it's very very very possible you "hydraulic'd" a cylinder. Meaning, enough water got in the combustion chamber that it bent the rod, blew the bearing and or damaged the piston. Water doesn't compress... AT ALL.. .and will bend something if enough gets in the cylinder.

Do a compression check and go from there. If they're not all around 130-150, the motor's toast. I think you're wasting your time looking for an 'easy' fix. Although, all my comments are based on the 'ton of steam' coming out the exhaust.
 
Precisely how much water was coming from your exhaust? Was the steam regular water condensation which dissipates quickly in the air or was it thick, sweet smelling, and hanging in the air in large quantities?

If it was the later, and there was a lot of water (especially discolored water), are you losing any coolant? These things definately indicate a headgasket. Running abnormally warm also indicates one, but if you have no fan then it may be causing that.

Is the noise you are hearing coming from the top end or bottom end? Its very possible you are hearing the combustion process through the bad headgasket, which would sound like a popping under acceleration. This is especially true if the coolant is going through the exhaust.

As for coolant in the oil pan, you are lucky if it is all going out the exhaust. However, it won't be long before it goes elsewhere also. The dipstick can register large quantities of coolant, but not necessarily show smaller amounts in the pan. Look for coolant sitting at the bottom of your oil pan, it will drip out as mostly green when you slightly loosen the drain plug. Also look for abnormally high oil levels on the dipstick.

In any case, it is likely wise that you stop running the engine. You must also find out very soon if there is coolant in the oil, or it will ruin the bearings. I suggest bringing it to the place you would have it fixed to diagnose.

Gooduck
 
Thanks for all the input guys-I think I decided to pull the engine anyways and do a little "massaging".The car has 102K and I've been wanting to do some mods anyways and I guess this is an omen.Since the car is going in the body shop to change colors(some piece of **** keyed my whole car before I had it on the road for the season-aka no insurance :mad: )now is the time to pull the engine.And yes,there is a sweet smell to the exhaust and sizeable water trails so it must be headgaskets.I guess I have been lucky because they are the originals and I am pushing alot of boost(10% pulley).And my right foot does go to the floor alot :D .Bt the way-anyone know where a reasonably priced rebuild kit can be found and what about stegmier(?) heads?Thanks again.
 
Speaking of marbles in the motor, my 94 has this. I bought it on the premise that it had a knock, and needed some other things. To top that, the prior owner had been driving on this rattle for the longest time. It's only noticeable from 2-3k rpm and above. Nobody has any idea on what it is, and the engine builder at the machine shop agreed with me, that with my driving, and had it been a rod knock, i'd have toasted the motor long ago. I've been driving this car for about a 1.5 months now, and no problems whatsoever, besides the rattle. Any thoughts?
 
What exactly does it sound like? Is it just like a rod knock or is there any variance? Can you tell if it is coming from the bottom end, top end, or not the engine at all, perhaps with a stethoscope? Does it sound the same in neutral as it does under load? Perhaps a lifter, or an exhaust leak..
 
What exactly does it sound like? Is it just like a rod knock or is there any variance? Can you tell if it is coming from the bottom end, top end, or not the engine at all, perhaps with a stethoscope? Does it sound the same in neutral as it does under load? Perhaps a lifter, or an exhaust leak..


Its sounds just like the title of my post-marbles bouncing around.I cant really tell were its coming from in the engine because I only hear it under load while driving,so I cant really use a 'scope but it sounds like the bottom area of my engine.It definately is not an exhaust leak.The noise does seem to change pitch with the gas pedal.
 
did you pull the belt off of the supercharger or check the level of fluid the supercharger has? its the allen bolt on the right hand side. should be at the lip of the hole. pull the belt off and see if the noise goes away.

just my $.02
 
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