very loud tick/knock

[sciko67]

It started as a tick and got louder and louder. Now it could probably be called a knock. It is coming from the intake side on the engine. Could this be anything fixable, or have I likely bent a valve?

[Raven]

More info would be useful. Year, mileage, engine etc.

P.S. It's not a bent valve. It would be misfiring.

[sciko67]

2003 2wd vibe with 150,000 miles. 1zz motor. It still starts and runs. No check engine light. Power only feels about 1/3 what it is supposed to be. I suspected a bad sparkplug, so I replaced them(coil on plug if that matter). I used NGK platinum. The noise doubled after the replacement. I changed the oil, it was unfortunately very low. Maybe a quart and a half. The oil was silvery. No big metal flakes, but that oil wasn't healthy looking.

[Raven]

You were down almost to half your oil capacity. You should have saved some of the old oil for analysis.
It's beginning to sound (no pun intended) like a rod bearing is gone. Quite terminal for an engine. You're likely looking at a rebuild or used replacement engine. Used engines for the Vibe are plentiful and quite cheap. http://car-part.com/index.htm
There are a lot on Ebay as well.

[sciko67]

I looked up spun rod bearing on YouTube and that is exactly what my car sounds like. How momentous of a project would it be to rebuild the engine?

[Raven]

I looked up spun rod bearing on YouTube and that is exactly what my car sounds like. How momentous of a project would it be to rebuild the engine?

Seeing as it was run very low on oil there is probably other internal damage. Unless you have a friend who is a mechanic and owns a garage it will be expensive for parts and deadly for labor. A low mileage used engine is the way to go.
If you don't stray too far from home you could drive it until it dies if you are planning to replace the engine. If there is an engine not too far away it's no problem to put it in the back of the Vibe to bring it to a garage. I picked up a Subaru EJ25 in Connecticut, 17 hour round trip with my '06 Vibe.

[sciko67]

What is the difference in price and difficulty between a 1zz replacement and a 2zz swap?

[Raven]

You didn't say if your Vibe was auto or manual. The GT is manual 6 speed only. A swap would be involved and expensive. You'd need the GT ECU, wiring harness and complete transmission and engine

[Salsa Guy]

The 2zz swap won't be that bad with the MT. You can put a 03-04 XRS/GT GT ECU in (the 03 has a lower LIFT point). The Harness for the 03-04 1zz vs 2zz is almost identical you may need to add a couple of wires for the LIFT. But if you can find a 03-04 XRS/GT harness that would be the way to go.

[joatmon]

It's beginning to sound (no pun intended) like a rod bearing is gone. Quite terminal for an engine. You're likely looking at a rebuild or used replacement engine.

My 03 base had bad rod bearings and was giving me a knock. I replaced them with a generic bearing set from autozone. Can do it from under the car if you are careful. No pan gasket, just sealant. Cost was about $50 plus an oil change. Car was still running fine when I traded it in on a different 03 about 100K miles later, so I think I'll have to disagree that a worn bearing means the engine is terminal. Might be other damage, but not a sure thing.

I said a "generic" bearing set, because there was a thread here within the past year where apparently Toyota sells slightly different thickness bearing sets, identifiable by a mark stamped on the rod cap.

[sciko67]

We bought our vibe last year for under $6000. Automatic, FWD family car. It had 150,000 miles, but it was in great shape. Now that the engine is blown, my options are, fix it cheap and sell it, or fix it right and keep it. As low and silvery as the oil was, I feel this engine is a bag of worms. Not worth the time even if I could fix it. No other decent car is in our price range, and everything else on this car is in great shape, so I think I am confident enough to spend $2000 on a good, low mileage engine, and push it for another 200K miles. Monkey Wrench Racing has one right in that price range. 25-60k miles on it. 2005+ piston design. I believe I could install it myself. Does anyone have advice or insight for me?

[lannvouivre]

Does anyone have advice or insight for me?

Just wondering, have you done this kinda thing before? If so, I bet you've got it. These cars are cakewalk easy to work on most of the time.

[Raven]

I don't know what part of the country you're in but there's a bunch I looked at in Upstate NY with low mileage in the $1,200 to $1,500 range. There are hundreds listed on this website. Probably one is near you.

http://car-part.com/index.htm

25-60 K is a pretty vague and large spread. They will likely middle man it from a wrecker nearby.

[sciko67]

In in Indiana. Nothing is listed around here that I trust. I haven't done an engine change before, but I've done almost everything around it. Disconnect Intake, exhaust, everything on the serpentine belt, spark plugs, injectors, transmission, hoses, wires, motor mounts, and I figure it should lift out.

[sciko67]

There is a company in Ontario, California called Kar King Auto that sells remanufactured 1zz engines with the improved piston design, all new gaskets, piston rings, etc, New oil pump, and new water pump, for $2100 shipped to me in Indiana, I keep the core. I think I've found my best bet.

[Raven]

That sounds pretty decent. The shipping alone from Cali would be expensive.

[sciko67]

What Kar King does to all rebuilt engines:
complete engine disassembly
(pistons, rings, bearings, timing chains, plugs and other parts are discarded)
thermal and or chemical cleaning 
(engine block, cylinder heads, cranks, cams)
engine block crack inspection 
(Visual and/or Magnaflux)
crankshaft reconditioning 
(Grinding and Micro Polishing)
boring and honing of cylinders
connecting rods are inspected and replaced with new or rebuilt ones as required
block resurfacing as required
assembly to precision OEM Specs
in-house remanufacturing of cylinder heads
new or remanufactured rocker arm assembly

Parts replaced in all Kar King rebuilt engines:

new main and connecting rod bearings
new pistons and wrist pins
new piston rings
new cam bearings
new timing components
new freeze plugs
new or rebuilt oil pump
gaskets – full set

[lannvouivre]

Sounds excellent!

[Nasmfell]

We bought our vibe last year for under $6000. Automatic, FWD family car. It had 150,000 miles, but it was in great shape. Now that the engine is blown, my options are, fix it cheap and sell it, or fix it right and keep it. As low and silvery as the oil was, I feel this engine is a bag of worms. Not worth the time even if I could fix it. No other decent car is in our price range, and everything else on this car is in great shape, so I think I am confident enough to spend $2000 on a good, low mileage engine, and push it for another 200K miles. Monkey Wrench Racing has one right in that price range. 25-60k miles on it. 2005+ piston design. I believe I could install it myself. Does anyone have advice or insight for me?

Car could not have been in that great of a shape if your engine blew in just under 1 year.

[Raven]

[/Car could not have been in that great of a shape if your engine blew in just under 1 year.[/quote]

Read the 3rd post.

[sciko67]

Car could not have been in that great of a shape if your engine blew in just under 1 year.

Unfortunately I let the oil get way too low. I had an overconfidence in the car and let life distract me. Not s mistake I'll make again.

[lannvouivre]

Car could not have been in that great of a shape if your engine blew in just under 1 year.

At that mileage, it may have begun to burn oil fast enough to get too low before he realized it was happening. I did read that someone's oil consumption got really bad after 100k miles.

[sciko67]

Can the transmission be left in place when pulling the engine, our will I have to pull CV shafts and all?

[Nasmfell]

Car could not have been in that great of a shape if your engine blew in just under 1 year.

Unfortunately I let the oil get way too low. I had an overconfidence in the car and let life distract me. Not s mistake I'll make again.

I see, still if you would have known this engine may have been/is an oil burner, you probably would not have bought the car, right?

[Nasmfell]

Car could not have been in that great of a shape if your engine blew in just under 1 year.

At that mileage, it may have begun to burn oil fast enough to get too low before he realized it was happening. I did read that someone's oil consumption got really bad after 100k miles.

That's too bad.

[sciko67]

End of the day, I'll have a good looking family car with a freshly rebuilt engine for under $8000. I'm optimistic and I'm good with that.

[sciko67]

Once again though, does anyone know if I need to pull the transmission to pull the engine, or can I leave it in place? I figure if I have to pull the CV shafts, it will add 6-8 hours to the job. That crap sucks. Can I just disconnect the engine from the transmission and pull it out?

[Raven]

99.9% sure you need to take out the whole thing. My brother did when he swapped engines.

[03GTMatthew]

Sciko67

PLEASE KEEP US POSTED ON THE STATUS.

Also please upload pictures of the steps you took and advice for future vibe owners!!

Your contribution will be very rewarding and knowledgeable.

Also have you ordered the engine from CA.? Is that the final choice?