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Do you see coolant on the ground or does the coolant just keep disappearing? Check the radiator cap. It could be a blown head gasket. Eric has a video on diagnosing blown head gaskets. Make sure that you refill the radiator with the 50/50 premixed coolant; don’t use plain water. Good luck and stay dirty.
You didn’t say how many miles are on the car but since it is an 02 you probably have about 140k mi. How fast is the knocking? Is it a couple times a second or is it more like a rattle? The frequency of the sound is a big clue to it’s source. Piston rings don’t make sounds. It could be the timing chain slapping against the cover. I believe that that engine has a hydraulic tensioner on the timing chain. When the chain wears it gets longer and the tensioner adjust to try and keep the correct tension on the chain. It’s possible that the tensioner can’t keep the chain tight because of low oil pressure between 2-3k rpm. When the engine speed increases the pressure builds up and the tensioner tightens up the worn timing chain. There are plastic guides inside the cover that can break when the chain slaps them, then the chain starts slapping the cover.
That engine also has variable valve timing and that system might have a fault. The can get gummed up over time and the solenoid and valves can fail. That could cause the noise in that one limited RPM range. Do you only hear the noise when accelerating and decelerating or is it constant?You might be able to file an insurance claim to cover the repair costs depending on the type of insurance policy that you have. If some type of contaminant was put in the fuel tank you will have to drain and flush out the entire system from the tank all the way to the fuel injectors and the return fuel line. They sell special cleaning products for that situation. Cleaning out the injectors can be very tricky and it frequently doesn’t work. You can pull off the fuel rail and see how well the injectors are actually spraying fuel.
I would be more worried about the engine oil contamination. Did you examine the oil to see if anything gritty was poured in? That could plug up the oil passages and cause serious damage. You might need to remove the valve cover and the oil pan and flush out everything that you can. Sorry to hear about you trouble, good luck. PS Lock up your truck from now on.You might try using a different engine oil. Better quality oils have special additives to reduce the tappet slap. As my Volvo got older I switched from a 5W-30 to 10W-30 Synthetic blend oil for high mileage engines and that made the tappet noise almost disappear. It also reduced oil consumption by about 40%.
I believe that a special cam shaft alignment tool is needed to reinstall the cam cover. You should definitely check that before disassembling anything. You were not specific about the location of the leak but my 2005 XC 70 has a similar 5 cylinder engine. There is a small hose from the PCV system that goes into the top of the cam cover in the center of the engine. The hose gets very brittle from exposure to the heat from the engine and it cracks leaving oil on top of the head under the plastic cover plate. It is easy to check to see if that is the source of the oil. I have already had to replace mine twice. Good luck and stay dirty.
The engine would heat up after a short drive if the thermostat was stuck open. Does the top radiator hose get hot? Eric has a video on diagnosing cooling system problems. Having absolutely no heat from the heater is a bigger worry as the heater core could be plugged up. That would be caused by a lot of corrosion in the cooling system. Has the coolant ever been changed? The system might need to be flushed out and inspected.
I think that DaFinz is right about the rust. It might take a visit to the muffler shop to get this apart. The flange could be too far gone and it might be easier to just weld the new muffler in to place. I would take it to a professional for an opinion and an estimate. Good luck and stay dirty.
It could be an upper front control arm. I had an Audi A4 which has a similar suspension and it needed new control arms at 80,000 miles. It made a similar noise. The arms are not serviceable so they must be replaced. Use only original VW parts as there are some terrible quality after market parts out in the market. Hope this helps, good luck and stay dirty.
You might not need to remove the valve cover entirely. You may only need to remove the one bolt that is holding the little bracket to the dipstick tube. I can’t exactly remember the set up. Don’t forget to lubricate the O-rings with some oil before reinserting the tube back into place. That is probably how they were lost in the first place. Try to correctly line up everything and don’t force the tube with too much force. It should go back in smoothly if it is properly aligned. Have fun, be safe, stay dirty.
Eric’s video is certainly a very useful source of information. I would recommend that you get a service manual to help you along because Eric cannot provide every detail in the video. You might find one at a local library or a used book shop. Ebay is also a useful source. Eric has a number of videos that involve installing cam cover seals and generally showing some hints and tips for getting gaskets and seals properly installed so they don’t leak. The repair is not an especially difficult job even if you have very limited experience. Take a lot of digital pictures as you disassemble everything so you can have a reference when you start reassemble everything; a cell phone camera works great. Keep the fasteners organized so they go back in the correct location. I lay things out on pieces of cardboard and I write little notes to remind me where the fasteners came from and you can make hoops with pieces of coat hanger wire to hold loose nuts together. I hope you get it fixed up and back on the road without to much trouble. Have fun, be safe, stay dirty.
Engine oil becomes acidic because nitric acid forms from the super heating of nitrogen and water in the combustion chamber. Engine oils have buffering agents to neutralize the acids and protect the engine, especially sensitive parts like bearings. That is the main reason that there is a recommended time for the oil change interval. However, these synthetic blend oils can last about 6,000 miles if you use the correct oil filter. They have extra buffering agents to last longer. The cheap filters are designed to last only about 3,000 miles with standard engine oil. The days of changing oil every 3,000 miles are gone because modern engine oils are far superior.
I used a plastic headlight restoration kit from Meguire’s recently and it worked well. It took a great deal of patience. The Meguire’s kit had some 4000 grit sanding pads that worked good to finish off the lens before polishing. Just work slowly and make sure to use plenty of water and mask off the surrounding areas. This removes all UV protection so you will have to regularly reapply the conditioner to keep the lenses clear. Duplicolor has a kit that seems to have a wipe on coating that lasts longer.
I would check the transmission mounts. The rubber bushings might be failing or a bolt has snapped. It could also be motor mounts but transmission mount/brace is more likely.