Coming home from work yesterday afternoon, 100? outside, windows down, moderate traffic, I noticed a slight knocking sound under light load between songs. You know the one, lugging the engine in too high a gear (40mph, slight acceleration in 5th), the kind of sound most often easily remedied with a quick downshift. So I grabbed 4th, and started to wonder if it was someone next to me in traffic.

Coasted to a light, radio off, gave it a couple easy throttle revs - sounded fine.
Light turned green, eased into 1st, and there it was again. Still wasn't sure if it was me.
Before I could grab third, still gently accelerating, it started knocking. Almost intermittently.

Shti.

Fortunately, I was less than 50 yards from an Autozone. My oil pressure gauge died last month, and it had been a while since I'd checked the oil, so I figured/hoped I was just a little low and a quick top off would do me right. Dipstick was dry.

Fcuk.

Threw half a gallon of Rotella 10W30 into it, checked the dipstick, now perfectly full.
Checked it again to make sure. Yup. Full.

Backed out of the parking spot like nothing was wrong. Put it in first to head for the exit, definitely knocking. Definitely bearings.

Double fcuk.

Immediately rolled into shady, QuikTrip parking spot, called AAA. It was nice to ride home in an air conditioned vehicle.



Tentative plan of attack:

1. Saturday: See if mom can watch the little one so I can yank the engine, check bearing tolerances, confirm failure.
2. Sunday: Order replacement parts from Rock Auto.
3. Monday: Bum ride to work.
4. Tuesday: Bum ride to work.
5. Wednesday: Bum ride to work.
6. Thursday: Bum ride to airport, fly to Ohio, drown sorrows at DSM/EVO Shootout, then visit Delica importer in Toronto.
7. Following Thursday: Fly home.
8. Friday: Re-assemble and install engine.
9. Saturday: Laugh at how I foolishly thought this was the end of my off-road days.

Fingers crossed, gents.

I have Starion 'black' crank if that would help up the hill here... HB will sound as a bad crank if loooooose ... so will bad cam chain on a auto trans in drive ...

I know you dont need to pull the motor to check bearings on a 2.6 Just drop the oil pan and pull a rod cap. (Also, if its knocking it's more likely a rod bearing, not main )

Got an extra complete 2.6 that is available if needed. Already out, just let me know.

Sorry mate. Not familiar with your banter. HB?

Appreciate all the support, gents. Assuming I can get a couple hours away from the kid, I'll drop the pan and check the rod bearings for sure. Figure I can also pull one crank cap at a time to check wear and tolerance. Really hope they're okay. Would much rather swap rid bearings and call it a day.

Will definitely be pinging folks if things get hairy!

HB = Harmonic Balancer.

Mom came through. Dropped the little one off around 10AM, made a quick stop for Plastigage (which I didn't bother using) and black nitrile gloves (which I used extensively). Checked the HB first. (Thanks!) Tight. Solid. Then proceeded to get a good sunburn on my feet laying in the sun under the truck. Engine's gotta come out.



Bearing glitter is like a cockroaches. If you see one, it means there's a hundred more in the walls. I only pulled the one crank cap (#4). Honestly didn't look that bad, but when sparkly bits slide down with the oil film, you know it's pwnt.



Definitely some scoring on the lower bearing, here, and you can see more grit just hanging out where it shouldn't be.



Rod caps looked a little rough, but not spun. No grit here, just mild scoring.



That's a 1976, Tecumseh-powered Craftsman "Eager-5" in the background, next to a tired 4G63T on a stand. I'd like both to run again one day. Otherwise, this is where I spent more time than I cared to, today.

Rood's parting out his Dukar, which should have a solid lump under the hood. Whether I pull this thing out and rebuild it or just swap for his known quantity all depends on the budget at this point. Fingers crossed...

My question is why. Like did this happen because its higher miles and was run low on oil too many times or is something damaged like the oilmpump is out of spec? If second, rebuild is in order. Otherwise, since you mention budget...

Why not roll in new bearings. Rock Auto closeout had mains and rods for like $25 shipped. Grab a few gallons of cheap oil and 3 filters, plastigauge, oil pan gasket, and an old credit card (to do the rolling) and you should be back on the road for $50 and one afternoon. Flush the oil after 10 minutes, then again, then once more after a day of driving, and set.

I would check the balance shafts, running low on oil can make a mess of them.

Also, when you lose a bearing the cam tends to get scored up. Bearing trash embeds in the head but not very deep... Seems to eat the cam.

Here's my reasoning. When I tore my motor apart to put in dished turbo pistons, my bearings looked much much worst and it was running fine.

So he's saying he's more likely to swap the motor rather than rebuild due to cost reasons, so I see no risk in messing with it this way. Worst case it doesn't work out and kills the cam, well he was swapping out motors anyway. I see a $50 risk... and I have spent more at a bar in under two hours before.

But I agree 100% on the balance shafts. Mine had the bearings pretty hashed up so I eliminated them to be safe. However, that makes it a day or two, not a few hours.