I have done the searches - so those of you who were about to 'blast me' for not doing the searches - I beat you to it!!

With that said - I am tearing the engine apart because it was overheating - and after checking a few things out - it comes down to it being my fault when I put the engine back together the first time back in Aug. More on that later - but live and learn I guess...

On a seperate issue - I was getting a 'grinding' sound that started out like gears not meshing too well, then going straight to the 'knocking' sound - this all happened within a short time of me driving (no where close to the house so I was stuck out in the middle of no where) and then it just started overheating.

After some extensive surveying on the engine while I had it apart - I noticed the cam was good, the lifters were good, the push rods were good, the rockers were good, the crank looked good, the pistons and rods and connectors all look good, and there was not a single tiny piece of metal in the oil and/or oil pan when I checked...

I know you might come back and say 'well, you can't simply just look at see if something is bad' but am pretty well seasoned on engines and mechanical thingy's and I cannot truly see anything jumping out at me.

So - what are the 'tell tale signs' of rod knock? And who has had it and what did you do to fix it?

The oil pump was clogged up BTW - the guy who helped me was in charge of the oil pump and the oil pan when I originally put this thing back together in Aug and I think that had a huge factor in why the oil wasn't moving too freely and possibly why it overheated... just my guess...

The heads were slightly warped but the guy at the shop said they still looked brand new....

We shall see...

Thanks!

 

The tell tale signs of a rod knock is a deep thud everytime that rod comes around.
It is caused by to much play in that rod bearing which is caused by lack of oil pressure or age.
The bearing that was ran low on oil wears out and gets loose and then knocks.
This is also caused by just plain old engine wear.
But typically it is caused by lack of oil.

 

Would there be any metal in the oil from this?

 

will sound like hammers in the bottom of the engine.

 

there may be metal shavings from the bearings being worn down.

how much is hard to say. but if have a auto stethoscope and lay under the truck and listen through the oil pan you should hear it clearly. 6-8 inches beyond that pan is the bottom of your crankshaft. if you have a shot rod bearing that is the source.

i had a friend whos 4runner ran for 30k miles with a awful sounding rod knock. so IF it is a knock it could be 100mi or 30k miles till the engine goes KAPUT

 

If the engine was not run a long time with the supposed knock, it may not have visable damage. Check the clearance of all the bearings to the Crank Journals with Plasti-gage. Also, check the Piston Wristpin clearance to both the Rod Bushings and the pistons themselves. This is often overlooked and makes noise at the same frequency as a Rod Bearing knock.

 

I had a '77 Pontiac Catalina with the 400 big block with a rod knock after I severely overheated it.
Drained the oil, filled with 80w gear lube and drove it for a year before I sold it for scrap.