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engine sound and cel codes

2K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  higguns 
#1 ·
hello,

I recently had my oil pressure light come on while driving. I immediately pulled over and turned the car off. I checked the oil and was down about 2-2.5 liters of oil. Luckily I had a jug in the car that I just bought to do an upcoming oil change. I filled it up and turned the car back on. Car ran, but was making a knocking sound. The engine light has been on since. I drove the car home like a little old lady and parked it in the driveway.

I checked the codes and it is showing p0011, p0012 and p0138. All reference Bank 1 (which if I'm correct would mean cylinder #1??). The car runs like poop and sounds horrible.

Reading online I determined that it likely spun a connecting rod bearing and that it could possibly be fixed. My question is that would these codes show if that was the case? To me it sounds more like the sound is coming from the top end of the engine, but I'm no pro nor did I listen under the car.

Have audio/video but this forum won't let me post it or post a link to it.
 
#2 ·
Engine? Mileage? Oil change history? Any idea why the oil was that low, and how long it might have been that way?

Anything CAN be fixed if you're willing to put enough $$ into it. But, depending on the answers to the above questions, it's likely not going to be worth fixing this engine. If the vehicle is in good shape otherwise, you should be able to find an engine from a wreck to swap into it. Or buying a rebuilt with a warranty is another option, if you prefer that instead.
 
#5 ·
Bank 1 references a row of cylinders, not just one. A V8/V6 would have 2 cylinder banks but an inline 4 only has one. The noise doesn't really sound like a knock to me, its too sharp. Given the codes it could very well be the VVT acting up. I would erase the codes and see which ones come back. You don't have to drive the car far if at all for that to happen, just get the engine up to temp.
 
#7 ·
So I took the valve cover off to check things out and found that one spark plug well had a lot of oil it. It was filled to the top of the spark plug. The next two were about half way up and the last one only had a tiny bit at the bottom (almost none at all). I am figuring it is likely due to a bad valve cover gasket, but wondering if it may be related to the issues I've listed above or not? I can replace the valve cover gasket and plugs without a problem, just don't know if its worth it at this point if the engine is toasted.

Thoughts?
 
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