Antifreeze and Oil mixed + bad sounds = help needed

[Camaro99]

Last weekend, my car started making an awful rattle/ticking/metal hitting metal sound. On Friday I noticed that it was running a little warm(about 215), but only got up there once. Saturday, it would occasionally make the ticking/rattle noise for a couple seconds when it was started. It was driven about 120 miles round trip to a car show that day. Saturday night was when it started making a very loud rattle/ticking noise when running.

After looking it over, we could smell antifreeze in the oil and the antifreeze was very low and had signs of oil mixed with it as well. The oil was a little thin, but still looked fairly decent. We also did not find any oil making it to the heads, listening close you could hear everything in the heads moving(that loud rattle/tick), nor could you see any oil through the fill cap. The car did have oil pressure and ran smooth. There was also some white smoke that came out of the exhaust. It was towed home and has probably been ran about 2 minutes since the sound started.

From what has been described, does it sound like there is a possibility motor can be rebuilt or would it be better/cheaper to just buy a new motor? Also, if we can rebuild it, what kind of prices would be expected to build something that is reliable enough for a daily driver, but better than stock? (if that makes sense) I'm trying to find a sense of where I am and what to do for the best price.

BTW...there is also a local engine/race shop that could do any sort of maching that may be needed.

I have been searching around for the past few days and have found some stuff, but still could use some more. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Edit: I thought I would also throw in that the current motor had 64,000 miles and I am hoping to stay under $2000

[ June 03, 2005, 02:00 AM: Message edited by: Camaro99 ]

[tdz16]

I would say your best bet is to find a low-mileage complete engine from someone here or a junkyard. It'll be your easiest way out of what sounds like a very bad situation. You can reuse all of your accessories and the like. The other option for you if you wanted to spend a bunch, would be LS1 swap. I know you probably won't opt for that, but I figured I'd put it out there first. Now, you also said you wanted a little more power out of the engine, so while its out of the car you could do some mods to it like a larger rocker ratio, maybe a cam, and I'd say a performace clutch while your at it, maybe a spec 2 judging from your current mods + what I suggested. Well, I hope this helps.
~Tom

[Tru2Chevy]

Well, you blew a head gasket and kept driving the car. Not the best idea in the world.

Pull the engine, drop the pan and inspect everything. The bottom end might be ok, but you never know....

- Justin

[Razzer]

You might just replace the headgaskets, and see what that leads to. Your looking at 60$ for bolts and 2 head gaskets @ autozone + Labor. + having the engine cleaned and gone through to see if there is any other damage. Seriously I think you get labor out there a hell of a lot cheaper than california its 80$+ per hour, out there its probably much cheaper. 500$ might fix your current problem or a little more. Unless theres serious damage to your engine just get the bolts and head gasket and continue on with your engine. You never know what you get from a junk yard or ebay.

[1DangerousV6]

yup..blown headgasket causes coolant to leak into the combustion chamber..if its bad enough and you drive it you'll see a nice big white cloud of smoke/steam behind you

[wasjo6431]

sounds like hes ready to throw a bearing if u ask me. yes driving on what sounds like u had a blown head gasket. Wasnt smart. but hey u didnt know.

[aalugo2000]

i had theat same problem... mine wasnt from a head gasket though, from a botched rapair on a main seal (long story). but basically one of my connecting rods became warped. i looked into all the costs, and found that it was about the same price to buy a used 3.8 short block, and get forged pistons, L32 rods, and a new valvetrain if u want, same price as a new 3.8 from gmpartsdirect. i also recieved a very good labor price from the machine shop. so crunch the #'s yourself and see what u find.

[timmiebe]

my advice would be to fix the motor you have. it might be a little more work, but at least you fixed the problem. buying a used motor from a junkyard is risky. i blew a head gasket in my 3.4 and instead of fixing the gasket, my dad insisted it would be easier to just buy a used motor and swap it in. it took a few weeks to get the car running again and we only had a 30 day warranty from the day we bought the motor. a week of driving and the car was having problems, it was a long story how we found the problem, which included many engine diagnostics, long story short the cam had three lobes worn completely down and spun a few cam bearing and i had to rebuild the motor. i will never buy another motor from a junkyard. its not worth the risk, it might be a little faster to just take the old motor out and put the used one in, but you never know what condition the used motor is in. so do what you want but i say just fix the problem

[V8 Killer]

How do people blow head gaskets of the temps need to rise to like 280 degrees?

[Tru2Chevy]

Originally posted by V8 Killer:
How do people blow head gaskets of the temps need to rise to like 280 degrees?

Who told you that crap?

Although high temperatures contribute to head gasket failure, there are lots of other causes as well.

- Justin