So a buddy of mine and I under took the task of repairing a spun rod bearing in my 97 Sunfire 2.4l.

The issue isnt that we couldnt fix it, because we did.... But now the issue is, after having put everything back together there is still a rattle or knock sound in the engine compartment.

The knock was there as soon as we turned the engine on so I doubt it was the bearing we just put in there. I am thinking it is a bearing we missed or over looked, but Im not sure if there is anything else that could cause a knocking sound in the lower portion of the engine... Any ideas?

did u just replace the one bottom end bearing? I would have replaced all of them, How about the timing chain & tensioner?.

well depending on how long it ran with the spun bearing you may have warped your rod or scarred your crank and it spun again as soon as you cranked it or you prob missed a bad bearing. my advice would be to pull the pan and check the rods again see if there is any play in them

Yeah we are going back in tomorrow. Personally I don't know anything about cars so I have a buddy of mine helping me out. I appreciate the tips though. Ill be sure to keep an eye out on anything that doesn't seem right

yeah, all depends on what all you guys did. If you just threw a bearing in.....very easily coulda spun it again.

but I would check the timing chain tensioner as well.

Well when I bought the car the previous owner said that the same day that they started hearing the knock was the same day they stopped driving the car, then I bought it just a couple of days later.

When we did take out the obviously bad bearing it wasn't too bad.

Is there a way to tell just from listening to the motor run what could be bad? The sound is a rythmic knock. It doesnt scrape or band, just a knock in rythme to the rest of the engine. We threw some heavier oil in there and the knock was still there but not as loud.

I personally have been there for small segments of the repair. I did see the bearing after it was taken out but I wasn't present at the time of the removal. So I personally have no idea what the condition of everything else is in.

The car is getting there, just hope its nothing too too bad. From what I was able to gather the rest of the motor is in good condition and the transmission is only a year old so its worth my time to fix this car. I only paid $400 for it and so far only another $200 for parts.

Did the bearings get replaced while the motor was in the car? Was the motor taken out and taken to a machine shop?



FU Tuning

Ok so here is the low down on everything with the car.

There were two bad bearings. One of the journals with one of the bad bearings is ground down a bit. But neither of the bad bearings are what caused the knock.
The knock is being caused by the wrist pin. It only starts making the knock sound around 2500 RPMs and up. The initial knock sound we were hearing when we turned the car on was the fuel injectors. Due to a near empty garage they echoed so we thought the "click" sound coming from them was actually something worse.

And we also think that there might be something in the transmission. When we put the car in drive it starts to make sound until we let off the brake.

So any suggestions from anyone. We just replaced the bad bearings and I dont know if I want to spend anymore money on the car as its becoming a drain on my wallet.

The only ideas I can come up with are to try and trade the car into a dealer or sell it to a dealer if they would have it. Ive sold a car with a bad tranny to a Buy here pay here place at one point and they ate it up knowing it had a bad trans in it.

Or I could replace the bottom half of the engine. Replacing the crank, rod arms, piston heads, etc. I got a quote from Carquest and they said anywhere between $375-$500 for all the parts we will need for a lower rebuild.

Or I could just replace the entire engine, but its cold outside and we arent really working in a heated garage atm... Funds are tight for the project so if anyone has any suggestions or how long the car could last running it with the wrist pin being bad, any advice, opinions or such would be greatly appreciated.

For money you are better off buying a junkyard motor for around $700-800 and putting in. Quicker as well. A rebuild if done right will cost more and take longer.



FU Tuning

I know Standard Auto wreckers here in Ontario has motors for grabs for 50 $ on parts days....... Rebuilding a 2.4 = not smart thing to do. Just buy a decent junker motor with warranty.



My Cav
I give up...
i'm buying a VW those people love trees, so they should love eachother too... "Andy"

If you are close to a franchise of the Pull-A-Part chain of salvagers you can pick up a 2.4 for ~100 + 30 or so for a DOA warranty/core charge.

You have to pull it yourself, but it's a cheap way to get an engine.


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Sleeper style, they don't see it coming that way.

I appreciate the input guys. Like I said, I am a fairly car retarded person, so pulling off an engine swap is going to be a bit of an issue for me seeing as how I dont personally have any of the tools necessary.

I'll look around and see if I cant find me anything. Is anyone on the Jbody forums in the Rockford, IL area? Might have to start bugging me some locals =P

the crank could be damage and or needs to be turned