cohutta20

A few months ago, my daughter hit a rock in a friend's driveway(North Georgia red clay driveway) and busted the oil pan. She turned it off and pulled over when she noticed it smelling bad and acting different. I towed it home, replaced the oil pan and filled with oil andchanged the filter. When I started it up, it had a slight tick that went away after 10-15 seconds.

Now, the tick is constant, idle through about 3000 rpm. When idling, it almost sounds like one cylinder isn't firing. I went to local autozone to have it scanned, no fault codes, so I'm guessing a misfire isn't a problem.When I have funds, I guess will start tearing it down and see how bad the damage really is.

If anyone wants to give advice or warn me of pitfalls, it would be greatly appreciated. If not, I post more when I start and let folks know what I find.

Danny

10HHR

Do a compression test first

swerv0428

Thats a major task to tear the engine apart. I would definently have it more throughly checked before doing that. It may be something minor that dont require a tear down. In my own personal opinion these electronic cars we have usually seem to have problems after a rebuild.

foolmoon_design

Could be a valve tapping. Compression test all cylinders. If you do pull the head, should see some crescent marks on piston if it's a valve.

843de

Compression test first as noted in earlier posts, then go from there. It may have "wiped" a lifter or cam lobe, so the damage is confined to the top end of the engine.

sleeper

Diagnostics always before any surgery

Compression test, &/or a Leak-Down Test..

firemangeorge

Danny. How many miles are on this engine?
I second what others are saying about a compression test. But, if it's got a bunch of miles on it, you might want to consider either a complete rebuild or go with a used engine.
With no oil in the crankcase,it doesnt take long to beat the crap out of some bearings,crank,rings,cams etc,etc,etc.
Good Luck. Keep us updated.

cohutta20

I know this mioght get mixed reviews but, I used an engine flush and changed the oil and filter again. Didn't see anything out of the ordinary when draining the oil, but when I pulled the filter out, the element and bottom of the canister had more metal content than I would have liked to seen.

I hauled the car to a friend's shop(an Army brother), he initially thought it might be a timing chain. Now that he has had time to diagnose it better, he recommends replacing the engine. Based on what I saw when I changed the oil, I want to agree with him.

I am waiting on his quote right now, then I will decide if I will let him do it or I will do it myself. I took it to him because I don't have the space to do a good tear down, overhaul, and rebuild. An engine swap I can handle.

The engine has over 160,000 miles on it, bought used, don't know if any scheduled services have been done to it other than what I have done.

sleeper

Bummer about finding the metal content, will the bits stick to a magnet ?

Least expensive route may be to search for a good used engine & transplant it.

Might want to try & stick to about same year, seems there are some differences in some, I believe.

843de

Yeah, you really need to find an engine that matches your model year as closely as possible Danny.

Your 2.2 '08 has the Gen II L-61 Ecotec engine which is different from the earlier L-61, and the later LAP Ecotec fitted from 2009 on.

Finding a used '07 or '08 engine would alleviate any compatibility issues.