1997 3100 knocking
January 2nd, 2012, 12:39 AM
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1997 3100 knocking
Ugh... I've got a couple of cars that I've bought and am trying to flip. The car in question is a 97 Chevy Lumina V6 (3100 motor) with 221,000 miles.
I've put 2,000 miles on it since I got it (meant to sell it quickly, but that's a long story for another thread). I did a motor flush and changed the oil as soon as I got it, and it's been running great. Smooth, quiet, no knocking, good power, etc... way better than you would expect from a car with 221k miles. So yesterday I noticed that it was a quart low on oil. No leaks in the driveway, so it's burning a quart every 2k miles. Instead of using motor oil, I put in a quart of Lucas oil stabilizer. This morning, when I crank the car for the first time (headed home from work) the engine is knocking...HARD. Super loud knocking, and it goes away after the engine reaches operating temperature. It never knocked AT ALL before this morning. I drive home from work, let it cool, and check it again. Same thing. Knocks really loud until it reaches operating temp, then quiets down. My first thought is that the motor was probably already pretty gunked up and putting that thick Lucas in it clogged some of the oil pathways, not allowing the oil to get to where it needs to be, so I drop a quart of motor flush in it and run it for 20 min (hoping to clear out any clogged oil pathways), then change the oil/filter, and drop in some 10w40. No help. It's still knocking BAD at start up, then quieting down when it gets to operating temp. I can open the oil filler cap on the valve cover and see 2 valve springs. With the motor running (at idle and at 2000rpm) I don't see ANY oil movement in there. There's a small puddle of STANDING oil between the valve springs, but it's not flowing/moving at all. Is it supposed to be?
This car is advertised for sale now, so I gotta figure out if this is something I can save, or if the motor is shot.
From Google, I've learned that the 3100 is known to knock, but why did it suddenly start knocking hard, out of no where as soon as I put some Lucas in it? And more importantly, what do I need to do to fix it?
Thank you for any help you can give...
I've put 2,000 miles on it since I got it (meant to sell it quickly, but that's a long story for another thread). I did a motor flush and changed the oil as soon as I got it, and it's been running great. Smooth, quiet, no knocking, good power, etc... way better than you would expect from a car with 221k miles. So yesterday I noticed that it was a quart low on oil. No leaks in the driveway, so it's burning a quart every 2k miles. Instead of using motor oil, I put in a quart of Lucas oil stabilizer. This morning, when I crank the car for the first time (headed home from work) the engine is knocking...HARD. Super loud knocking, and it goes away after the engine reaches operating temperature. It never knocked AT ALL before this morning. I drive home from work, let it cool, and check it again. Same thing. Knocks really loud until it reaches operating temp, then quiets down. My first thought is that the motor was probably already pretty gunked up and putting that thick Lucas in it clogged some of the oil pathways, not allowing the oil to get to where it needs to be, so I drop a quart of motor flush in it and run it for 20 min (hoping to clear out any clogged oil pathways), then change the oil/filter, and drop in some 10w40. No help. It's still knocking BAD at start up, then quieting down when it gets to operating temp. I can open the oil filler cap on the valve cover and see 2 valve springs. With the motor running (at idle and at 2000rpm) I don't see ANY oil movement in there. There's a small puddle of STANDING oil between the valve springs, but it's not flowing/moving at all. Is it supposed to be?
This car is advertised for sale now, so I gotta figure out if this is something I can save, or if the motor is shot.
From Google, I've learned that the 3100 is known to knock, but why did it suddenly start knocking hard, out of no where as soon as I put some Lucas in it? And more importantly, what do I need to do to fix it?
Thank you for any help you can give...
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