Prolonging the life of an engine with a rod knock.

[Gasbuggy]

This is being done purely for fun.

A little backstory. My beloved 95 Accord 2.2 SOHC with 386,000 miles started to knock about 100 miles ago. As some may already know, this engine is a severe oil burner. Approximately 1 quart ever 70 miles at this point. It still ran great. My most recent full tank fuel economy was 29 mpg. It is practically a 2 stroke engine. For the past 40,000 or more miles I have been putting in used engine oil. Mostly half way run synthetic 5w30 or 5w20 from my other cars or a couple family members. The car is beat to [censored], there is not a straight body panel on the car. Hilariously I just recently got PA to let me tag it as a Classic Car.

The knock is pretty bad now and is loud around 2500 rpms and in the 4000 range. It shut off on me after a 26 mile ride tonight and was very tight to crank over. After a minute of sitting, it started right up and I drove it home. Once home I drained that old 5w20 out and replaced it with 4 quarts of Super Tech 20w50 and 1 quart of 85w140 Super Tech gear lube. I also spun on a new Fram orange can filter. The old filter is draining now and had lots of fine metal coming out of it. The knock is still there but the thick mix did quiet it down some. Surprisingly no oil light came on when I first started it up.

Now for the fun part!

Tips and tricks to keep the beast going. No, I am not replacing the engine. I was thinking of pulling the spark plugs until I figure out which cylinder is the problem. Then leave the plug out and disconnect the injector. This car has run pretty well on 3 cylinders in the past. I could push something into the spark plug boot opening that would filter junk from being sucked in.

I suppose I could drop the pan and try to slip some new bearings in, but that seems like cheating.

I'm considering only doing very short trips, under 10 miles. Keep it from getting too hot and wanting to seize.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: Gasbuggy
Now for the fun part!


I wouldn't waste my time. Why would driving around in an old junker with a knocking engine somehow be "fun"?

 

[Lubener]

Of you are not going to fix it, be sure you have comfortable walking shoes with you.

Disabling that cylinder won't help, you still have have a crank spinning at high RPMs with a journal banging around.

Scrap it out and use the money for some "fun".

 

[Boomer]

MANY years ago (50 years or so) I had a friend with a six cylinder Chevy with a similar problem. He pulled the head, pounded a piece of wood into the cylinder, removed the appropriate valves, etc and ran this carbed engine another year. It had a horrible shake at idle but was relatively smooth, as I recall, at highway speeds. Good luck!

 

[CharlieJ]

Try some of the super think oil additives that they sell at autoparts stores. It would be interesting to see if any of them lessened the rod knock.

 

[Gasbuggy]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: Gasbuggy
Now for the fun part!


I wouldn't waste my time. Why would driving around in an old junker with a knocking engine somehow be "fun"?



I never had a confidence issue so driving this beater around in public has always been fun/funny to me. Now that it's knocking, even more fun. But I see your point, what could be interesting about seeing exactly how long an engine can last start to finish.

 

[Trav]

Drop the pan and change the bearing or carry some sneakers with you.

 

[Blinker]

Idk why but I got a laugh out of you mentioning disconnecting the spark plug and driving it around

 

[Gasbuggy]

Originally Posted By: Lubener
Of you are not going to fix it, be sure you have comfortable walking shoes with you.

Disabling that cylinder won't help, you still have have a crank spinning at high RPMs with a journal banging around.

Scrap it out and use the money for some "fun".



AAA Premier Member.


There is literally barely a single saleable part on the whole car, and steel scrap is .4c a pound so nothing there either. Removing compression and combustion from the equation should, in theory, drastically reduce the impact on the bad bearing.

 

[skyactiv]

One quart of oil every 70 miles? Your best off driving it to the salvage yard rather than waiting for it to grenade at the worst time and potentially slowing down traffic and screwing with other peoples lives because your odd sense of entertaining yourself.
You might as well put the title in the glove box, have salvage yard phone numbers with you at all times and hope it when it does throw a rod the salvage yard is open so they can tow it.

 

[Astro14]

Change the bearing. Or get ready to walk.

I give it 50 miles if it's really rod knock.

And I don't think you're calculating MPG correctly - how much oil did it burn per gallon of gas? If you're buying a gallon of gas in 29 miles, plus a pint (or more) of oil, you're actually getting about 26. The oil burned is part of the consumption....

 

[Gasbuggy]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
Change the bearing. Or get ready to walk.

I give it 50 miles if it's really rod knock.

And I don't think you're calculating MPG correctly - how much oil did it burn per gallon of gas? If you're buying a gallon of gas in 29 miles, plus a pint (or more) of oil, you're actually getting about 26. The oil burned is part of the consumption....



Well, the oil is free but I think your theory would only make some sense if I was dumping the oil in my gas tank.

 

[Astro14]

You're not buringing one gallon in 29 miles, you're actually burning 1.1 gallons per 29 miles. 1 gallon of gas, and .1 gallons of oil. It's burning the oil. Lots of oil.

So - 26 MPG...whether or not some of that fuel is free.

But either way, that engine is not long for this world.

Please avoid highways, rush hour, bridges, and tunnels.

 

[Gasbuggy]

Originally Posted By: skyactiv
One quart of oil every 70 miles? Your best off driving it to the salvage yard rather than waiting for it to grenade at the worst time and potentially slowing down traffic and screwing with other peoples lives because your odd sense of entertaining yourself.
You might as well put the title in the glove box, have salvage yard phone numbers with you at all times and hope it when it does throw a rod the salvage yard is open so they can tow it.



Traffic you say? I don't need this car for any important driving. The area is rural enough that just about anywhere it breaks down shouldn't be inconvenient.

 

[Gasbuggy]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
You're not buringing one gallon in 29 miles, you're actually burning 1.1 gallons per 29 miles. 1 gallon of gas, and .1 gallons of oil. It's burning the oil. Lots of oil.

So - 26 MPG...whether or not some of that fuel is free.

But either way, that engine is not long for this world.

Please avoid highways, rush hour, bridges, and tunnels.



You're very wrong. The oil introduced has no impact on the amount of fuel the OBDI computer tells the injectors to introduce. Oil burning or no oil burning, the mileage would be about the same. Do you really think the oil is turning into additional power? If anything it is hurting performance and economy.

 

[Astro14]

The computer is wrong.

And so are you.

You have TWO fuel sources. TWO things are being burned to support combustion. Oil, and fuel. That car is using oil as fuel. It's being burned. The computer can't see it, but it is happening.

If it wasn't using a quart every 70 miles, you could use the computer, even then, they're known to be inaccurate, but your free oil is being burned in that engine. And MPG Is how many miles you go on a gallon of fuel.

You've got to count ALL the fuel...not just what the computer sees.

Regardless, you're still a hazard to traffic, so please stay out of congested areas.

 

[Gasbuggy]

This thread is really going off the rails.

Back on topic. A video of it idling.

 

[ShotGun429]

As a engine builder here: dont waste your time, You truly are endangering yourself and the motoring public around you. give it up.

 

[Gasbuggy]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
The computer is wrong.

And so are you.

You have TWO fuel sources. TWO things are being burned to support combustion. Oil, and fuel. That car is using oil as fuel. It's being burned. The computer can't see it, but it is happening.

If it wasn't using a quart every 70 miles, you could use the computer, even then, they're known to be inaccurate, but your free oil is being burned in that engine. And MPG Is how many miles you go on a gallon of fuel.

You've got to count ALL the fuel...not just what the computer sees.

Regardless, you're still a hazard to traffic, so please stay out of congested areas.


You don't have a clue. Oil and gasoline are not equivalent producers of power. Not even close. You factoring them together as equals makes absolutely no sense. Maybe I should get a humidity reading every time I drive and factor the water I'm burning too...

I might not stay out of traffic, but feel free to keep your inane commentary out of my thread.

 

[Gasbuggy]

Originally Posted By: ShotGun429
As a engine builder here: dont waste your time, You truly are endangering yourself and the motoring public around you. give it up.



Yes, I truly am taking my life in my hands by driving a car that, like all cars, will eventually break down.