- This topic has 23 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 3 months ago by
.
-
Topic
-
Well, as I’ve posted before on this truck, it’s got some issues. like buring oil and anti-freeze. But no anti-freeze in the oil.
Well this past weekend, I changed the oil. Found a huge lump of metal flakes on the drain-plug magnet. Not really much in the oil itself. But 2 days afterwards, as I was driving home, the engine stalled twice on me. Once at a stoplight and once while driving and turning. When I got home, I checked the oil and it was at perfect oil level but, the dipstick was covered in metal flakes. The oil was practically gray and black. My dad said, since it’s a thinner oil, 5w-30, it might be gray. I told him, with the most serious voice and deep voice. “Oil should NEVER be gray” and littered with metal flakes like little girls birthday party filled with popped ballons with glitter.” Now mind you, this is the man that knows nothing about gas engines but everything about diesels. He’s also the one who decided to not get the oil changed and now the truck has had a lifter tap for years.
Any way, since then, the engine has burned VERY little oil and has been great with coolant. I guess she wants to live out the last days happy huh? Haha.
Any ideas of what’s going on? Did I make a mistake? What’s to come? I think it’s a bearing going bad but there’s no sound beyond the valve/lifter tap. Thanks.
-
Replies
-
The elephant in the room is that if you get your current engine repaired, whatever the failure may be, you’ve still got an engine with a contaminated lubrication system.
Regardless of what the failure is, the engine needs to come out of the truck, disassembled and gone through thoroughly in order to do the job properly.
Okay, well today while I was driving. The truck’s idle would go up and down. Then, as I would come to a stop, it would stall out. Several times this would happen. Then the power steering started to stiffen up but when I left the dairy to come back home, everything was still the same, stalling, bad idle. But the power steering was fine. Any ideas?
Sounds like your valve train is about to give up. Either that or the crank position sensor is going out (common problem with these).
Would that mean it’ll need a full top end rebuild? New engine? New truck?
Which would be more cost effective?
Really, you should just take the valve covers off and look at the valvetrain. See what’s really going on under there. The rocker arms have needle bearings, which for lack of lubrication, will disintegrate, hence the metal in your oil. The pushrods, which can be pulled straight out when the rocker arm comes off, can be inspected for blockage which will prevent oil from reaching the rocker arms. I wouldn’t go any deeper than that to start with. Once the rockers can no longer operate the valves properly, the engine cannot breathe, and it will run poorly and stall out. If the valvetrain is not causing the performance issue, the crank sensor may be failing. That is pretty common on these trucks, especially considering its age. If you don’t feel confident enough to do the valvetrain inspection yourself, invite a knowledgeable friend come over to help, or take it by a shop you can trust. This type of inspection has to be done hands-on, not over the internet. However, if you decide to open it up, you can take pictures to post and we can help from there if you get stuck.
Right now, we, on the other side of the internet from you, can only guess at what your issue is, and can only offer advice for things for you to check and report back your findings. Do you need a new block? I don’t know. Do you need new heads? I don’t know that either. I do know that there is a serious issue progressing, and if you keep driving it, it may soon quit running altogether, so it needs to be investigated. if the top end is completely rebuilt that should take care of at least some of the issues, provided there isn’t anything going on with the lifters and camshaft, but we don’t know if there is an issue with the lifters or camshaft. A top end rebuild may be overkill if all you need is new set of rockers and pushrods. On the other hand, you may need an entire engine overhaul depending on how extensive the damage is. It’s really hard to say at this point without being able to look, touch, and feel from this side. I’m just trying to be objective, not argumentative. If the truck is in really good shape otherwise, it is probably more cost effective to repair. If the rest of the truck is in a similar condition to the engine, well, you may just want to get a new truck. That is something only you can decide, though.
I’m having the mechanic at my dairy look at the truck while i’m on route tomorrow. He’s reliable. He’s done previous work on her. The rest of the truck’s in great shape. We’ll just have to wait and see. I’ll keep you posted.
But one thing that makes me lean towards a new or overhauled engine is, the truck burns oil, alot of oil. She’ll go through a quart once every one or two weeks. I don’t know if this is a cause of the valvetrain. It also goes through coolant. But no coolant shows up in the oil so that’s a good start. Tomorrow may be the last time I drive it until I get it fixed. Depends what the mechanic at the dairy says. If he says don’t drive it, i’ll borrow a van the dairy has laying around. I’m only driving it because I have no choice. I have to get to work. Especially if i’m going to have to pay reapir bills for my truck. Everything else in this truck is great. No rust, 4wd, transmission great, power steering may need a look, everything but the front bumper is great. My bro crashed into a wall at the dairy and cracked the bumper. Dumbest idea to put plastic on a truck that has an “off-road” package. good job Chevy.
Just as a quick update. Haven’t driven truck since Tuesday. Been driving a company van since. Avalanche has a rod knock. KNew it was going to start soon. I’m now looking for a new(er) truck. Gonna sell the Avalanche maybe. If I get a Chevy or GMC simialr year, I’ll keep the wheels and tires and spare. Just got them put on so yeah, don’t want to waste the money. Thanks for all your help guys. Sad to see my baby go but, things happen. Might keep the truck and rebuild or put a new engine in it. Depends what I’ve got going for me. Anybody know a truck being sold around Newark,DE let me know. Under $7,000 though.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.