Date:         Wed, 17 Mar 2004 22:40:25 -0800
Reply-To:     Ben S <phlogiston@ISPWEST.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Ben S <phlogiston@ISPWEST.COM>
Subject:      is my engine done?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

this is my first post in a few months due to a broken knee that ended my
winter as a snowboard bum and destroyed my ability to drive.  well, 2
months after my surgery, last week, my doctor gave me permission to put
up to 40 pounds of weight on my bad leg, so i decided it was time to go
for a drive.  i started up my van, which with it's killer stereo and
even better snow tires had been loaned out to my friends a few times to
get to the mountain.  and much to my dismay, i heard a terrible sound
from the engine that i had never heard before.  at first i thought it
sounded kind of like an exhaust leak: it followed the frequency of the
normal engine noise as rpms increased but the sound was out of
phase--the loud peaks of this new noise happened in between the peaks of
the normal noise.  it was loud enough to hear easily inside the van with
the windows up.  i thought that maybe a belt was loose and hitting
something...  so i went back and looked and could find nothing out of
the ordinary.  all rotating parts appeared not to be hitting anything
and i didn't see any exhaust leaking up from under the manifolds.  i
took a short drive and the engine didn't feel weak at all, although my
reference may have been skewed by many weeks without driving.  then i
parked for fear of cratering my engine.

now let me jump back to the last stuff i posted on here, in early
january.  i was having trouble with the low oil pressure warning coming
on when i'd drive hard up long hills.  i was told not to hold the engine
at 4k rpm for so long and to switch to sythetic oil.  well i never got
to do the second one because of that damn tree but i was having good
luck avoiding the buzzer by going real slow in 2nd gear when i drove the
steeper parts of my route to the mountain.  but now my theory is this: i
had a worn bearing that was letting too much oil through and causing the
low pressure when the oil got too hot.  then perhaps one of my stoner
friends pushed the car too hard or maybe the bearing just finally gave
out and now i am hearing the wonderful sound of rod knock.

so here's my question: what should my diagnostic procedure be from
here?  i don't consider myself an expert at identifying engine noises so
should i just take the van to a garage?  or are there some things i
could check first?  is there a way to check for rod knock other than
buying one of those engine stethoscope things?  my van is parked up in
sacramento now by my gf's place and i'm staying down in oakland with my
sister (it's amazing how being unable to walk totally ruins your ability
to live alone) so i can't go check on it right now... but i'm probably
getting a ride up there next week and i'd like to fool around for awhile
trying to diagnose this myself before i give up and go to a garage and
spend money that i already owe to a knee surgeon.

what are some good vw shops up there?  i remember from some previous
posts a reccomendation for ted's german auto... anyone have anythign
else to say on that?  how likely is it that if i have rod knock my
engine will blow up on a short, slow drive to a garage?

thanks for any advice and watch out for trees!!

Ben.