Knocking/tapping sound in VS ecotech 3.8L gets louder with RPM

[norlesh]

Hey all, thanks for all the suggestions. So just a recap of everything - checked under drivers side rocker cover everything good, passenger side rocker cover wasn't going to let me remove it without removing the head it seemed like so all I could do was lift it and feel that things seemed to be in place. Underneath I removed the sump not a single flake of metal in amongst the oil, none of the shafts had any play at all from hand - there was minimal back and forth play in direction of shaft on each but I believe that is normal (didn't undo the big ends since I don't have a torque wrench to reinstall so don't know what the bearings actually look like).

So now I have reassembled almost everything (bonnet still needs to go back on) and tested - freekin sound still remains, not noticeable to my untrained ear at idle but definitely there as the revs go past 2k. Just gonna bide my time for a bit (don't need to commute at the moment) to get a good deal on an engine and hoist via gumtree / ebay then try my luck seeing if the engine holds off self destructing until after I use it to drive and pick up the pieces to resurrect it

Once the replacement engine is in I will TOTALLY disassemble this one just out of curiosity before it gets junked.

 

[VR38]

Yes, on autopsy would be fitting.

 

[marcus mcc]

im going with bearing if the oil light is on.

 

[adam10_1990]

This is what happened when i spun a big end,

[video=facebook;591409067586909]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=591409067586909&set=vb.100001534621430&type=2&theater[/video]

This is how i did it

[video=facebook;677508425606126]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=677508425606126&set=p.677508425606126&type=2&theater[/video]

Ended up having a hole the size of my fist that let me put my hand into the sump.
Blew apart the side of the sump, passenger side engine mount.

Turns out i ended up putting the conrod out the block. Because i didnt care and kept driving with the stuffed big end. new engine 150,000 ks for $350

 

[norlesh]

Engine autopsy photos (cause of death - piston big end failure)

Ok so results are in! After reassembly and then driving the engine to go and pick up it's replacement - almost made it home but then hit peak hour traffic on the way back and the engine refused to cope attached is a couple of photos of the cause of death - one of the bolts had snapped the other had come undone - there were multiple contusions to the piston and crank journal but every thing was contained within the engine block when I performed the autopsy.

Not sure how much of the scarring on the bearing surface was there before the proverbial hit the fan and how much of it was from going through the meat grinder (actually had a couple of stalls and restarts before the hole works seized up and I had to get a tow truck for the last 5km (had the replacement engine in the back of the wagon held by seatbelt webbing as it was being hoisted up onto the truck - really glad that didn't fall out the back window )- . Included a shot of one of the bearing surfaces from a good cylinder for comparison.

 

[DavoVP]

Well done !

It must be luck of the draw, I had a engine with a tick like you have described that lived through 100,000k of abuse, It used to see 5k every other day !

It was still going when I removed it.

 

[someguy360]

I bought the statesman with a bad bearing in the 304....had 1psi oil pressure on hot idle and about 5psi at 2000rpm.....yet I drove it for 3000km (including having a trailer on the back with another 400kg worth of engine and driveline in the back up a steep mountain road)

Engine looked pretty nasty when I stripped it down, but didn't grenade luckily

 

[VR38]

Spun bearing really fracked things.
How bad does the back of the shells look?

 

[Jxfwsf]

Pic 1, 2 & 4 Notice the tang is missing on the bearing? Spun right round like a record.

3, copped some flack from the **** fight (surface looks good and the tangs are still intact)

5 & 6.. Hard to say, was it the chicken or the egg first? did the piston get sick of kissing the head or did the big end get sick of being pounded up & down with to much bearing clearance and large gap of nothing... 95% sure it was the piston first, there's some heat damage in the pics you took of the big end bearing but very minimal and it's where the tang used to be, i've seen worse on intact conrods.....

Lol they regularly get referred to as emotec

But emo's cut themself, this clearly wasn't self inflicted.... it was screaming in pain loudly before it gave up.

 

[norlesh]

VR38 - the back of the bearings looked just as bad as the front (sort of like a 3d map of the moon ), Jxm - didn't notice any markings on the head that would indicate the piston had made contact - couple of the metal pieces were actually inside the chamber so I expect they would have made a fairly prominent gouge in the head if the piston had gotten all the way to the top.

But emo's cut themself, this clearly wasn't self inflicted.... it was screaming in pain loudly before it gave up.

LOL yeh - lucky I'm not a parent - all those cries for attention fell on deaf ears (actually had the music up loud on the final drive to drown out the awful racket)